FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT AS AN EFFECTIVE TEACHING/LEARNING OPPORTUNITY

Back to Page Authors: Azza Hassanein

Keywords: formative assessment, effective teaching, Arabic, backward design, learning opportunity

Abstract: All teachers need to test what their students have learned. Recent trends support the assessment that simulates the cognitive and communicative demands of real-life tasks. Formative assessment (FA) is advocated by many types of research as it has positively affected students’ achievement. Besides, it allows teachers to monitor the learning process (Ozan & Kıncal, 2018; Kline, 2013; Ortega & Minchala, 2017; Huisman, 2018; and Meador, 2018). The paper aims at sharing an example of effective practice in using FA in a course that the presenter taught. The course was aimed at developing native speakers’ linguistic and cultural competencies. The instructional activities of the course revolved around communicative and collaborative reading, writing, watching videos, presentations, and debates about some issues of interest to students. Backward design mode was used for designing the course curriculum. FA was designed before lessons to evaluate students’ performance based on the learning outcomes. The assessment took place during face-to-face, online activities, and assignments. It helped the teacher gather evidence of her students’ problems, so as to be able to make adjustments to her instructional methods based on her students’ needs. The feedback that students received was a low-stakes form of assessment since they were graded for level of effort and participation. Like teaching, learning was positively affected. That was manifested in the students’ final projects and their evaluations of the course and the teacher. As a result, foreign language teachers are encouraged to use FA. In order to receive the payoffs of such an assessment, it has to be carried out sustainably during everyday activities.