CSE-Informed Summary Writing as Criterion-Referenced Self-Assessment: Chinese EFL Students’ Engagement with Reading

The paper explores Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions and experiences of CSE-informed summary writing used as a criterion-referenced self-assessment practice in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Thirty-nine sophomores majoring in International Business participated in the study. The data collected consist of student reflective journals and individual retrospective interviews. Results showed that the students reported greater cognitive, behavioral, and affective engagement with reading through completing successive summary-writing tasks. A set of factors were identified as affecting the learning effects of summary writing, including the synergy of summative and formative assessment elements, the workload of other assignments, the assessment formats, and the choice of reading materials. The study sheds light on how CSE-derived criteria were incorporated into summary writing to support criterion-referenced self-assessment and engagement with reading in the Chinese EFL context.