Investigating the Significance of Formative Assessment in Developing EFL learner’s Writing Achievements.

Abstract

This research dealt with the importance the formative assessment and feedback that enhance EFL learners’ writing skills. In other terms, this study attempted to investigate the effectiveness of formative feedback with respect to the learners' written production development. To conduct the survey and achieve the expected goal, we relied on two different research tools, viz., a questionnaire and classroom observation. The questionnaire was administered to fifty five (85) third year literary stream learners in Emir Abedelkader Secondary School at Dahmouni. It was used to probe our respondents’ attitudes towards the writing skill and their viewpointsvis-à-vis the idea of receiving feedback during the sessions of written expression. Moreover, clasroom observation was undertaken mainly to identify the teacher's role during the course of teaching writing. The findings show, on the one hand, that the participants are aware of the need and the importance of feedback and find it the best way to improve their written production and they also reacted positively to the teacher’s feedback during teaching. On the other one, classroom observations reveal that teachers’ emphasis on the importance of providing learners with feedback to enable them improve their writing skills during the devoted sessions depends on learners' needs and abilities. Constructive formative feedback is similar to a fertile ground for planting the seeds of development and activation of learners’ written production during the writing process.