The role of diagnostic writing assessment in promoting Chinese EFL students’ learning autonomy: An action research study

Writing is a productive language skill that is difficult to improve and derive confidence from. Despite the abundant studies on product, process, or genre approaches to teaching writing and teachers’ feedback, there is a paucity of research into English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ responsibility for writing improvement and diagnostic writing assessment feedback. The present study employed an action research approach to explore the role of diagnostic writing assessment in promoting Chinese upper-intermediate EFL students’ learning autonomy. Questionnaires, reflective journals, and portfolios were utilized to elicit data, which were analyzed within Benson’s three-dimension learning autonomy framework. It was revealed that the diagnostic writing assessment impacted all dimensions of learning autonomy, helping EFL students form realistic perceptions of their writing abilities, formulate approachable remedial learning goals, select appropriate learning methods and content, monitor learning processes, and evaluate learning outcomes. It was also found that teacher interventions could significantly enhance EFL students’ learning management. This study highlighted the role and tested the feasibility of adopting diagnostic writing assessment to facilitate EFL students’ autonomous learning.