A Study on Students’ Learning Motivation Across Formative Assessment Training in China's Higher Vocational Colleges

The fast globalisation and the growing significance of English as a worldwide lingua franca have made English language ability a crucial competency in contemporary society. However, a notable disparity in English language proficiency has been observed among EFL students in China’s higher vocational colleges. One of the significant reasons for this phenomenon is the wide use of summative assessment by EFL teachers in China’s higher vocational colleges. Another factor contributing to this gap is students’ low motivation to learn English. The formative assessment training program attempts to empower teachers and students in China’s higher vocational colleges to improve students’ learning motivation and English competence. The present study explores how intrinsic, extrinsic, and motivation interact with learning motivation among EFL students in China’s higher vocational colleges across different phases (before, during, and after) of formative assessment training in China’s higher vocational colleges. This study employs a quantitative research method; 250 EFL students from China’s higher vocational colleges participated. Data was collected by questionnaires before, during, and after formative assessment training. Pls-seem was used to analyze related data. The results indicated a positive relationship between intrinsic, extrinsic, and learning motivation but a negative relationship between motivation and learning motivation before, during, and after formative assessment training among EFL students in China’s higher vocational colleges. The present study's findings also suggested the fluidity of the relationships between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, motivation, and learning motivation across different training phases. The present study's findings not only enrich our understanding of student’s motivation in the context of formative assessment but also provide deep insight into the effective implementation of formative assessment in China’s higher vocational colleges and beyond.