Formative Assessment as an Innovative Strategies to Develop ESP Students’ Writing Skills

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29408/veles.v6i1.5174

Abstract

Most undergraduate students experience summative assessment more than formative. In fact, formative assessment is more constructive than summative assessment, which impacts students’ development. Notwithstanding the benefits, research about the incorporation of formative assessment in the ESP class is somehow rare. This recent research focuses on enacting formative assessment in ESP classes regarding students’ writing skills in Indonesia. The researchers employed a case study research design to investigate how ESP teachers implement formative assessment in their classes. The participants are two EFL teachers who teach Business English subjects and forty students majoring in Economics. The researchers gathered the data from close-ended questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and class observation. This study revealed that ESP learners were provided with multiple chances to enhance myriad facets of their writing skills and establish a good attitude regarding Business English subjects and formative assessment. Thus, educators are required to implement the formative assessment concept in their classes since the educators’ and learners’ involvement can achieve teaching and learning improvement and reflection. Future research should focus on the more particular aspects of formative evaluation, like how to give feedback and classroom discourse, which are equally useful in teaching writing.

References

Abdollahzadeh, E. (2010). Undergraduate Iranian EFL Learners’ Use of Writing Strategies. Writing & Pedagogy, 2(1), 65–90. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v2i1.65

Basturkamen, H. (2013). Developing Courses in English for Specific Purposes. In University of Auckland, New Zealand (Vol. 53, Issue 9). Palgrave Macmillan.

Bennet, R. E. (2014). Preparing for the future: What educational assessment must do. Teachers College Record, 116(11).

Bennett, R. E. (2011). Formative Assessment: A Critical Review. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 18(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2010.513678

Birjandi, P., & Hadidi Tamjid, N. (2012). The Role of Self-, Peer and Teacher Assessment in Promoting Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing Performance. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(5), 513–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2010.549204

Black, P. (2016). The Role of Assessment in Pedagogy and Why Validity Matters. In The SAGE Handbook of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (p. 725_739).

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and Classroom Learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy, and Practice, 5(1), 7–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969595980050102

Burner, T. (2016). Formative Assessment of Writing in English as a Foreign Language. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 60(6), 626–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2015.1066430

Cauley, K. M., & McMillan, J. H. (2010). Formative Assessment Techniques to Support Student Motivation and Achievement. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 83(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098650903267784

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Pearson.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Estaji, M., & Mirzaii, M. (2018). Enhancing EFL learners’ vocabulary learning through formative assessment: Is the effort worth expending? Language Learning in Higher Education, 8(2), 239–264. https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2018-0015

Ferris, D. R. (2014). Responding to Student Writing: Teachers’ Philosophies and Practices. Assessing Writing, 19, 6–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2013.09.004

Gardner, J. (2012). Assessment and learning. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Guo, Q., & Xu, Y. (2020). Formative assessment use in university EFL writing instruction: a survey report from China. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 00(00), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1798737

Khodabakhshzadeh, H., Kafi, Z., & Hosseinnia, M. (2018). Investigating EFL teachers’ conceptions and literacy of formative assessment: Constructing and validating an inventory. International Journal of Instruction, 11(1), 139–152. https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2018.11110a

Lebedev, A. V., Pinkovetskaia, I. S., Rozhkov, M. A., & Tsybina, L. V. (2020). Implementation and peculiarities of English for specific purposes course design at Ogarev’s Mordovia State University. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(1), 178–182. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.080122

Lee, I. (2011). Formative Assessment in EFL Writing: An Exploratory Case Study. Changing English: Studies in Culture and Education, 18(1), 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.2011.543516

Lee, I., & Coniam, D. (2013). Introducing Assessment for Learning for EFL Writing in an Assessment of Learning Examination-Driven System in Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22(1), 34–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2012.11.003

Liu, Y., & Hu, G. (2021). Mapping the field of English for specific purposes (1980–2018): A co-citation analysis. English for Specific Purposes, 61, 97–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2020.10.003

Mauludin, L. A. (2018). Dynamic Assessment to Improve Students’ Summary Writing Skill in an ESP Class. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 36(4), 355–364. https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2018.1548296

Naghdipour, B. (2017). Incorporating formative assessment in Iranian EFL writing: a case study. Curriculum Journal, 28(2), 283–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2016.1206479

Nicol, D, & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2004). Rethinking Formative assessment in HE: A Theoretical Model and Seven Principles of Good Feedback Practice. The Higher Education Academy Generic Centre. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assessment/ASS051D_SENLEF_model.doc

Nicol, David, & MacFarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative Assessment and Selfregulated Learning: A Model and Seven Principles of Good Feedback Practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070600572090

Nimasari, E. P. (2018). An ESP Needs Analysis: Addressing the Needs of English for Informatics Engineering. JEES (Journal of English Educators Society), 3(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.21070/jees.v3i1.1085

Patton, M. Qa. (2015). Aualitative Research and Evaluation Methods: Fourth Edition. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Rachmawati, D. L., Fadhilawati, D., & Setiawan, S. (2020). The Implementation of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in the EFL Setting: A Case Study in a Secondary School in Indonesia. English Teaching Journal, 8(2), 91–102. https://doi.org/10.33884/basisupb.v7i2.2484

Rachmawati, D. L., & Purwati, O. (2021). EFL Teachers’ Attitudes and Competence in Developing HOTS-Based Formative Assessment. JEES (Journal of English Educators Society), 6(2), 184–196. https://doi.org/10.21070/jees.v6i2.1060

Rahimi, M. (2009). The Role of Teacher’s Corrective Feedback in Improving Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing Accuracy Over Time: Is Learner’s Mother Tongue Relevant? Reading and Writing, 22(2), 219–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-008-9139-5

Rahimi, M. (2013). Is Training Student Reviewers Worth its While? A Study of How Training Influences the Quality of Students’ Feedback and Writing. Language Teaching Research, 17(1), 67–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168812459151

Sabarun. (2018). Needs Analysis on Developing EFL Paragraph Writing Materials at Kalimantan L2 learners. English Language Teaching, 12(1), 186. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v12n1p186

Saliu-Abdulahi, D., Ole Hellekjaer, G., & Hertzberg, F. (2017). Teachers’ (Formative) Feedback Practices in EFL Writing Classes in Norway. Journal of Response to Writing, 3(1), 31. www.journalRW.org

Salmani-nodoushan, M. A. (2020). English for Specific Purposes. English for Specific Purposes, 7(1), 247–268. https://doi.org/10.25264/20.05.2020

Shrestha, P., & Coffin, C. (2012). Dynamic Assessment, Tutor Mediation and Academic Writing Development. Assessing Writing, 17(1), 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2011.11.003

Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. SAGE.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and Society: The Development of Higher Mental Processes. Harvard University Press.

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2022-04-23

How to Cite

Rachmawati, D. L., & Hastari, S. (2022). Formative Assessment as an Innovative Strategies to Develop ESP Students’ Writing Skills. Voices of English Language Education Society, 6(1), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.29408/veles.v6i1.5174