Investigating the Effect of Formative Assessment on Algerian Third Year Secondary School Pupils’ Text Comprehension

Abstract

The role of formative assessment in improving students’ outcomes has been acknowledged in many contexts; it is regarded among the best ways to develop students’ learning competences and raise their level. Accordingly, the present work attempted to highlight its effects on Algerian secondary school pupils’ text comprehension (third year foerign languages) on the basis of a quasi experimental research design. The analysis of the different research instruments (pupils’ questionnaires, teachers’ interview, and tests) revealed that formative assessment has a focal role in developing the Algerian pupils’ text comprehension through focusing on the major language competences mainly the grammatical competence. On the basis of these research findings, some recommendations were proposed for an effective use of formative assessment practices in the Algerian classroom, in addition to other suggestions related to text comprehension.