Abstract:

Formative feedback is the type of feedback that is given to learners to help them understand where their work is lacking and provides strategies to help them improve their writing (Bloxham & Campbell, 2010). According to Graham, Harris and Herbert (2011) formative assessment can be conducted by the teacher, the learner or a peer. Hyland and Hyland (2006) state that formative feedback is necessary for L2 learners to improve their writing and to motivate them to write more.Esambe, Mosito and Pather (2016) draw a distinction between synchronous- asynchronous formative feedback. Synchronous formative feedback happens while the learner is actively engaged with the writing task (Brophy, 2004). This means that the teacher, positioned as the ‘more knowledgeable other’ provides immediate feedback on the learners’ mind maps and drafts as learners work towards completing these. Asynchronous formative feedback on the other hand, is provided once the learners complete their final drafts (Clark, 2012).

An area identified for development is how teachers provide feedback to their learners. Kepner (1991) conducted a study on the use of written feedback to develop Spanish L2 students’ written skills. It was concluded that teachers needed to consider different modes of providing students with feedback as not all students understood and could use the feedback effectively. Akinyeye and Pluddemann (2016) found that due to large learner: teacher ratios, a less than coherent curriculum and inadequately trained teachers, teacher feedback during and after the writing process was compromised. They found that the number of formal written assessment tasks was unrealistic especially in classrooms with large numbers, so teachers tend to rush through their marking to keep with the demands of the curriculum thus compromising the quality of the feedback that they provide to their learners on their written submissions.

The purpose of this study was to analyze how the teachers and learners used formative assessment in the writing cycle, if at all, and why they used formative assessment in the writing cycle as they did. This study is relevant as it contributes to our understanding of assessment techniques that teachers are using in the writing cycle and the effectiveness of these techniques. This study was a qualitative case study, conducted under the interpretivist paradigm. Two teachers from different schools participated in the study. To gain an in-depth understanding of how and why the teachers’ used formative assessment in the writing cycle, semi-structured interviews, structured observation schedules and questionnaires were the chosen data collection methods. The data that were analyzed for this study were: video recordings from the interviews and lesson observations (3 lessons each were observed in School A and B), notes from the structured observation schedule and the learners’ written submissions, 21 from School A and 18 from School B.

It was found that teachers need to have a clear understanding of the purpose of each stage of the writing cycle. If this understanding was lacking, then their assessment techniques will be unsuitable, thus the learner will be deprived of the benefits of using formative assessment to improve their written submissions. Adding to this, teachers need to be adequately trained about assessment and feedback techniques in the writing process and that policy documents need to be explicit about their expectations in this regard.

Keywords:

Formative assessment, writing cycle, L2 learners, assessment, feedback.