English Language Learners` Perceptions of Formative Assessment

چکیده مقاله

In spite of the fact that many teachers, administrators, and researchers emphasize the superiority of formative assessment, few actually practice what they preach and static assessment is still the common practice. Few studies also show how EFL learner populations may react to this kind of propagated assessment. The present study investigated the washback effects of formative assessment on undergraduate Iranian EFL learners’ perception of assessment as a way of learning and teaching. 77 female and male undergraduate EFL learners in two homogeneous groups (40 in the control group and 37 in the experimental group) participated in the study through convenience sampling. The experimental group received the treatment of the study, (formative assessment) over a ten-week period. The formative assessment procedure was completed in five 90-minutes sessions (one every two weeks) while the control group was on the usual traditional EFL teaching practice. At the end of the study and after the statistical comparisons (to be reported elsewhere), a qualitative semi-structured interview was done with a focus group including 14 learners and the sessions were recorded with consent. The interviews were transcribed and coded producing interesting results.