Impact of Formative Assessment on Raising Students’ Motivation: Case of Third Year EFL Students at The University of El-Oued

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of formative assessment practices on raising students’ motivation at the University of El-Oued. It also aims at exploring teachers’ current understandings of formative assessment and feedback to enhance students’ motivation and achievement. In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, a descriptive research design was employed to allow both quantitative and qualitative description of the relevant features of the collected data. The study entails the use of students’ and teachers’ questionnaires and classroom observation. The questionnaires were administered for both teachers and third year EFL students at University of El-Oued to find out about students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards formative assessment besides their views about receiving formative feedback in raising their motivation. The analysis shows students’ positive attitudes towards their teachers’ formative assessment and feedback during instruction. Furthermore, the results of the classroom observation reveals that students are highly motivated and have a strong desire towards learning when the formative assessment practices are introduced .The findings show that formative assessment practices in English language at university classes is an integral part of the teaching and learning process. Thus, it is recommended that teachers should incorporate it into their classes to enhance their students’ motivation.