Mi Tesis Final

Implementing formative assessment in an EFL class
Implementing Formative Assessment in an Eighth - Grade EFL Class at a Private School in
Bogotá
Eliana María Rubio C.
Universidad Pedagógica Nacional
Judith Castellanos Jaimes
February, 2013
Acuerdo 031 del 04 de diciembre de 2007 del Consejo Superior de la

Note of acceptance:
___________________________________
Director: Judith Castellanos Jaimes M.A.
___________________________________
Juror: Luz Dary Arias
__________________________________
Juror: Melba Libia Cárdenas
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Artículo 42, Parágrafo 2:
« Para todos los efectos, declaro que el presente trabajo es original y de mi total autoría; en
aquellos casos en los cuales he requerido del trabajo de otros autores o investigadores, he
dado los respectivos créditos. »
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To my husband, for his unconditional love,

for his patience, and for making his my dreams.
To my daughter, her love, her kindness, and

support encourage me to fight for my goals.
To my family, for believing in me, in my

dreams, and appreciate every single challenge
I assume.
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Acknowledgements
First of all, I want to thank God for giving me patience and wisdom during all of the
development of my study. Second, I want to acknowledge my professors of the Foreign
Language Teaching Master’s program at Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, especially Dr.
Luis Alfonso Ramirez who taught me a different way of thinking and learning. Also, I want
to thank my thesis director Judith Castellanos, who has been not only my guide during all
the process of my research, but my inspiration to search new paths in my professional life.
Finally, I want to thank my friend Clara Inés, for believing in me and giving me constant
support.
Also, I would like to thank my eighth grade students at the school for their
disposition and good attitude during the implementation of my study, and the Principal of
the school for the opportunity of being teacher researcher during the school year.
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Abstract
Assessment is an important issue in foreign language teaching learning; however,
there is a necessity of changing the paradigms in relation to it. It is important to understand
that assessment is not the result of the learning process; it should be seen as one important
aspect inside it. The evaluation of foreign language learning in some schools does not
include formative elements which allow the students to be aware of their own learning
process and recognize their abilities and weaknesses in the use of a foreign language. This
study was focused on observing and analyzing the role of the implementation of formative
assessment in the language learning process at a private school in Bogotá. Sixteen students
from eighth grade participated in the study for over seven months. Students’ artifacts,
informal and semi structured interviews were the principal source to gather data. The
information obtained after the implementation of formative assessment revealed that it
promoted learner awareness that fostered the planning of metacognitive strategies for future
learning,
Key words: Formative assessment, learning awareness, metacognitive strategies.
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List of Appendices
APPENDIX A. Insttitutional Consent Form
APPENDIX B: Parental Consent Form
APPENDIX C: Student Informed Consent form
APPENDIX D: Students’ journal Sample
APPENDIX E: Informal Interview Transcriptions Sample
APPENDIX F: Semi Structured Interview Transcription Sample
APPENDIX G: Timetable
APPENDIX H: Pedagogical Intervention Timetable
APPENDIX I: Matrix for Journals
APPENDIX J: Matrix for Interviews
APPENDIX K: Formative Assessment Formats
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Table of contents
Page
Abstract
List of appendices
Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………10
Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………………..12
Justification………………………………………………………………………...14
Chapter 2: Literature Review… …………………………………………………………...15
Assessment…………………………………………………………………………15
Formal Assessment…………………………………………………………19
Informal Assessment……………………………………………………….20
Formative Assessment…………………………………………………………… 20
Peer Assessment……………………………………………………………23
Self – Assessment …………………………………………………………24
Feedback ………………………………………………………………….25
Learner Autonomy ………………………………………………………………. 25
Metacognitive Strategies ………………………………………………… 31
Chapter 3: Research Design ………………………………………………………………33
Type of Study ……………………………………………………………………. 33
Research Paradigm ……………………………………………………………….33
Research Approach ……………………………………………………………….35
Setting ……………………………………………………………………………. 37
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Participants …………………………………………………………………….. 38
Researcher’s Role ……………………………………………………………… 39
Data Collection Instruments …………………………………….…………….. 40
Artifacts..................................................................................................... 40
Unstructured / Informal Interviews........................................................... 41
Semi Structured Interviews....................................................................... 43
Data Collection Procedures................................................................................... 44
Chapter 4: Instructional Design………………………………………………………… 46
Curricular Platform............................................................................................... 47
Vision of curriculum................................................................................. 47
Vision of Language................................................................................... 49
Vision of Learning.................................................................................... 50
Vision of Classroom.................................................................................. 53
Pedagogical Intervention...................................................................................... 53
General Pedagogical Objectives............................................................... 54
Timetable................................................................................................... 55
Formative Assessment Formats................................................................ 55
Chapter 5: Data Analysis And Findings……………………………………………...… 56
Data Analysis…………………………………………….……………………. 56
Approach …………………………………………….………………… 56
Perspective……………………………………………………………… 57
Procedures……………………………………………………………… 58
Categories………………………………………………………………. 59
Category 1: Feeling toward formative assessment…………….. 61

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Formative assessment provokes feelings ………………. 63
Students value the role of the feedback in formative
assessment ………………………………………………. 67
Category 2: Formative assessment fosters metacognitive
strategies ………………………………………………………. 69
Self – reflection on their learning process ……………… 71
Self – reflection about task fulfillment. …………………. 72
Category 3: Formative assessment encourages strategies for future
Practices …………………………………………………………. 73
Strategies to develop communicative skills……………….. 74
Chapter 6: Conclusions and Implications……………………………………………… 77
Conclusions …………………………………………………………………….. 77
Implications……………………………………………………………………… 78
Limitations ………………………………………………………………………. 81
Further Research ………………………………………………………………… 82
References………………………………………………………………………………. 84
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Chapter 1
The process of evaluation in foreign language learning and teaching in
Colombia has had important improvements in the last ten years; the Programa
Nacional de Bilinguismo and The Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages have generated new expectations in terms of planning, methodology and
assessment, mainly. The syllabuses of most of the schools in Colombia are based not
only on these important documents but also on Lineamientos Curriculares para
Lenguas Extranjeras, (2009) and Estándares Básicos de Competencias en Lenguas
Extranjeras, (2006).
However, the syllabuses that hold English teaching in some private schools,
have not been as effective as it was planned, and the expected level of English has
not been reached in most cases; there can be many reasons, but one of the most
important could be the level of motivation which may be affected by the assessment.
Although new methodologies have been developed, the evaluation systems used by
many schools have remained the same for years, when the most relevant issue was
the grade at the end of each term of the school year. It is not new that this kind of
quantitative evaluation does not allow accomplishing one of the most important
goals of education: to learn for life; instead, the students only do the activities and
prepare for the tests to get a good grade, leaving aside the real sense of learning.
The problem in many schools is probably the evaluation strategy, which is
limited to grade tests and activities presented by students. In most of the cases those
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activities and tests do not show the real process of the students in foreign language
learning, which means that there is no qualitative evaluation, and the assessment is
not taken into account. In this regard, it is necessary to implement a system of
evaluation which covers both assessment and evaluation; assessment is understood as
the valuing of the learning process, and evaluation is a dynamic process which
involves objectives, goals, standards, procedures, and guidelines that determine the
validity of the assessment.
According to Spandel and Stiggins (1990), the implementation of assessment
and evaluation in foreign language learning and teaching would have benefits not
only for the students but also for the teachers. The students would become aware of
their own foreign language learning process. Likewise, they would recognize their
strengths and weaknesses would have the opportunity to improve their English level,
and the most important of all, increase their motivation because they would feel the
class is meaningful. Additionally, teachers would know better their students, and
assessment would let them observe facts inside and outside the class; In this way,
they could obtain evidences for a deep analysis of their students’ foreign language
learning process, and they may get enough elements to value at the end of each term
during the school year. As a consequence, the summative assessment would be better
than before.
Finally, the implementation of formative assessment and different evaluation
strategies would influence the second language teaching/learning process because
both teachers and students would have the opportunity to observe, analyze, and
change each one of the activities and instruments used during the class; this would
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permit teachers to improve the strategies and methodologies used, and the students
may become conscious of their own learning process.
Statement of the Problem
The evaluation of foreign language learning in Sans Façon School (SFS) does
not include formative elements which allow the students to be aware of their own
learning process and recognize their abilities and weaknesses in the use of a foreign
language. Regarding the Sistema de Evaluación y Promoción de Estudiantes
(SIEVES, 2011), the evaluation aims at living the concepts, procedures, and values in
specific contexts; the main goals in the SIEVES are to learn to learn, to learn to do, to
learn to be, and to learn to live with others; however, it does not include elements that
promote the development of metacognitive strategies in the students during the
learning process. This situation is reflected in the results of a semi-structured
interview applied to15 students from seventh grade at the end of 2011; according to
this, the evaluation is more quantitative than qualitative, for the students the grades
are more important than learning at the end of the process. Besides, the final test at
the end of each term is the most important grade during the process, with a value of
20%. The remaining 80% includes workshops, listening exercises, oral and written
activities, and the students’ behavior during the process. The pupils interviewed
recognize that in many occasions they only develop the activities to achieve the
minimal grade to pass all the subjects, particularly English. In regards of this, Brown
(2007) and McCann (1994) state that the implementation of formative assessment in
foreign language learning have benefits for students and teachers. On the one hand,
students might be provided with information related to their own development of
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competences and skills, which allows them to become aware of their learning
process. On the other hand, teachers may obtain detailed evidences with respect to the
learner’s processes.
The implementation of formative assessment instruments like self, peer
assessment and journals would improve the foreign language learning because the
students would have the opportunity to receive information from others about their
performance and express their feelings, ideas, and opinions toward their own process.
This would be the basis that supports the teacher to give the students appropriate
feedback that could permit them to progress in their language ability.
Statement of the Research Purpose
This research project aims at the identification of the relationship between
formative assessment and eighth-graders’ learning process in SFS.
Objectives
General
 To show how formative-assessment contributes to the development of the eight-
graders’ awareness of their own learning process and to the improvement of their
language level.
Specific
 To observe the students’ perceptions on evaluation and the way it affects their
learning process, by implementing formative assessment strategies and
instruments.
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 To analyze how the students’ perceptions on assessment lead them to design
their own strategies for further learning.
To determine the students’ language level of improvement after the
implementation of formative assessment.
Research Questions
 What are the students’ perceptions toward formative assessment?
 What do the students’ perceptions inform us about the role of formative
assessment in their learning process?
Justification
This research project is meaningful for all the people who are involved in it.
First, the implementation of formative assessment in an eighth-grade EFL class in
SFS would help the students become aware of their own learning process through the
application of different instruments such as peer and self-assessment formats,
informal and semi-structured interviews, and journals. These may help students
reflect, plan and apply strategies to improve their own learning process.
Second, the school would make changes in the system of evaluation
(SIEVES) because the results obtained after the study may promote a deeper
reflection of the evaluation strategies which are used in the school to assess learners;
these changes would be very useful for the teachers because they would offer them
the possibility of reflecting on their own teaching process and the way they have
evaluated their students learning process up to now. As a result, they may include in
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their evaluation strategies components of formative assessment in order to get better
results in terms of their students’ learning at the end of the process.
Finally, the present study would contribute to the ELT community in
Colombia. In regards to Ley General de Educación, (chapter 3 article 80) the
educational system should design and apply criteria and procedures in order to
evaluate the quality of teaching and learning (Translated from the original. P.37). In
addition to this, Lineamientos Curriculares Idiomas Extranjeros from Ministerio de
Educación Nacional establish that the evaluation in the classroom is a support for
teachers to obtain useful information about how the students learn, how much they
learn, and the effectiveness of the process, in this way, they can review their own
methods and better their teaching processes. Taking this into account, the
implementation of formative assessment in the learning process would provide
teachers with the appropriate strategies to gather the data mentioned above and
achieve the goals proposed at the beginning of the process.
Chapter 2
Literature Review
This chapter supports theoretically formative assessment and its role in language
learning and teaching. To do so, this literature review presents and describes assessment as
an ongoing process in language learning and not as a final activity to grade the learning
process. The chapter develops the key constructs of this research study. The first construct
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is assessment, which involves formal and informal assessment. The second construct
addresses formative assessment that includes teachers, peers, self-assessment, and
feedback. Finally, the third construct is learner autonomy, including metacognitive
strategies to develop communicative skills. These constructs are based on the most
important theoretical aspects to take into account when implementing formative assessment
in English language learning.
Assessment. In this study, assessment is presented as an ongoing activity in the language
learning process. Lambert and Lines (2000) define assessment as “the process of gathering,
interpreting, recording and using information about pupils’ responses to educational tasks”
(p. 4). To begin examining deeply the definition, assessment has been considered as a
synonym of evaluation; however, they have different meanings. On the one hand,
evaluation is a broader term. Harris and McCann (1994) state that “evaluation involves all
the factors that influence the learning process, such as syllabus objectives, course design,
materials, teachers’ performance and assessment” (p. 2). In addition to this, for Germaine
and Rea Dickins (2000), and Rodríguez Diéguez (1998) evaluation is the process of
collecting information about students’ performance, analyzing it, and making decisions for
future planning.
On the other hand, assessment follows a narrower view. Rea Dickins and Germaine
(2000) affirm that it is directed to the final part of the process, this means, what the students
have learned about specific aspects. Additionally, Burke (1993), Cizek (1995), Lambert
and Lines (2000), and Malderez and Wedell (2007) state that assessment is a process which
involves three important steps, namely gathering information based on what happens in the
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classroom, analyzing the data collected, and planning future actions to improve the learning
process.
However, the view that informs the present study understands assessment in a wider
way. According to Brown (2004) and Harris and McCann (1994), assessment has many
other aspects that should be considered during this process; that is, teachers make
assessment of their students’ performance all the time; That is to say since the beginning
with the diagnosis, continuing with the drawing of the achievements, the analysis of
strengths and weaknesses, until giving an effective feedback which contributes to
overcoming difficulties. This implies that in the foreign language learning process
assessment is relevant because it engages both teachers and students, it is present through
all the stages of the teaching–learning process, and provides students with valuable
information to improve their performance.
According to Brown (2004), assessment covers every single action present in the
classroom; thus, all the activities and tasks in which the students participate are observed
and assessed by the teacher and sometimes by classmates, consciously or unconsciously.
The author affirms that the assessment can be intended or incidental; this kind of valuation
permits teachers to support students in their language learning process because they can
practice, make mistakes, receive feedback, and improve without being graded in a formal
way. Harris and McCann (1994) state that the information received during the classes is
useful not only for the students but for the teachers because it is the basis to reflect, plan,
and implement new strategies, activities, and tasks during the process, not at the end of it.
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In addition to the importance of feedback, Harris and McCann (1994) and the
Council of Europe Institution (2009) remark on the importance of the students’
participation in the assessment process; they should know the achievements of the course
and the way they will be assessed. To inform them about the assessment criteria gives to
this process a degree of reliability, that is to say, when the teacher applies the same kind of
assessment to different groups and tasks the results must be the same. In the same way,
teachers must have clear objectives for the assessment; thus, the process will have validity
for the people involved in it.
Bonilla (2000), states one form of qualitative evaluation attempting to foment a
general understanding of fundamental concepts involved in the application of assessment to
the oral skill, and the way this assessment can contribute to the new claims about the
building-up of cognitive competences. From a study in which six teenage students from
middle upper social class participated, the researcher drew the main conclusions that to do
assessment it is important to keep in mind the achievements and achievement indicators;
besides, the teacher must keep information to explain the real advancement of the students.
Moreover, assessment is different to testing because it helps students to improve their
abilities and performance. Finally, through assessment the teacher could observe the
process and determine that it is an ongoing way of evaluation.
On the other hand, Muñoz, Palacio and Escobar (2011) relate the way of
assessment to the teachers’ beliefs about it; the implementation of the project was focused
on teachers’ perceptions about assessment in general and practices related to the oral and
writing assessment systems in particular. This research study had 62 foreign language
teachers as participants who presented different tests and answered interviews about the
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appropriate assessment in the classroom. The findings of the study show that most of the
teachers affirm that assessment is relevant in teaching and learning, it has formative
purposes because it engages teachers to analyze the processes, to recognize their
weaknesses, and improve teaching through meaningful activities.
Additionally, López and Bernal (2009) point out the importance for teachers at any
level to change their opinion about assessment and start to see the process as formative
more than summative. The research, which had as participants 82 teachers of different
levels (primary school, secondary school, university, technical institutes and language
institutes), was focused on the perceptions of Colombian English teachers about assessment
and how they use language assessment in the classroom. The outcomes of this study depend
on the training of the teachers with respect to assessment. The teachers who are trained in
language assessment show positive views towards assessment: assessment aligns learning
and instructions, it monitors learning, it implies communication with students, and it
encourages students to learn. On the contrary, teachers who are not trained in language
assessment show negative views: assessment is a summative proccess, assessment is an
obligation, it controls and lets teachers get power.
Regarding the focus of the present project, that is, the implementation of formative
assessment in order to analyze its role in the students’ learning process, the concept
presented by Bonilla (2000) mentions that the assessment of activities in the classroom is a
process that should be inherent to language learning and which promotes cognitive
competences; however, the view of assessment in this study is centered on the teacher´s
role in the classroom; the students only participate as subjects to be evaluated. Therefore,
there is no evidence of the importance of assessment in the learning process.
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On the other hand, Muñoz, Palacio, and Escobar (2011) and López and Bernal
(2009) state in their findings that some teachers have a perspective of assessment which is
formative because the data analysis showed that a number of participants believe that
assessment is present during the teaching-learning process. Although these research studies
focused on teachers only, this perception informs the present study in terms of the necessity
of changing the paradigms present in EFL classes and understand that assessment must be
present in every single moment in the class, not only at the end of it.
Bearing in mind the information above, Harris and McCann (1994) and Brown
(2004) describe two kinds of assessment which are related to the way assessment is
carried out during the teaching learning process and the type of observation teachers make
of their students’ performance inside and outside the classroom.
Formal assessment. Brown (2004), defines formal assessment as a series of
activities designed and planned to evaluate the achievement of goals and the development
of skills. On the other hand, Harris and McCann (1994) define formal assessment as testing.
According to them, tests are very important because their use permits the teachers to
observe the progress of their students, compare their performance during the class, and
observe the progress of the students during the course. In relation to the present study, this
kind of assessment is evident due to the periodicity of some activities like the presentation
of journals and the final tests at the end of each term.
Informal assessment. Harris and McCann (1994) define informal assessment as “a
way of collecting information about our students’ performance in normal classroom
conditions” (p. 5) and relate it to continuous assessment which implies every moment in the
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classes during the course. To complement this definition, Brown (2004) states that
“informal assessment is embedded in classroom tasks designed to elicit performance
without recording results and making fixed judgments about students’ competence” (p. 5).
Harris and McCann (1994) and Brown (2004) remark that informal assessment deals with
a careful observation of the students aiming at giving them advice and an appropriate
feedback when necessary; in that way they would reflect on their own performance. Brown
(2004) establishes that informal assessment involves formative assessment, which is the
second construct that supports this research study.
Formative assessment
With regards to this study, formative assessment is an ongoing process whose main
goal is to assess the students’ learning in a continuous way; this implies a series of steps the
teachers follow to promote students’ reflection on their language learning. Sadler (1989)
affirms that “formative assessment is concerned with how judgments about the quality of
student responses can be used to shape and improve the student´s competence by short–
circuiting the randomness and inefficiency of trial and error learning”(p. 121). To
understand the concept in depth, formative assessment has been considered as informal
assessment because it is not limited to testing in the classroom; it rather involves a
continuous observation of the classroom activities.
Accordingly, Blanchard (2001) affirms that formative assessment encourages the
students to be aware of their achievements and their future learning goals. This kind of
assessment is a feature of the classroom, and it is part of the teaching learning process
because teachers, peers, and students themselves can participate. Moreover, Castillo and
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Cabrerizo (2003) point out that formative assessment lets teachers obtain information
about the components of the learning process; it aims at observing, guiding and improving
the same.
Nevertheless, the views of formative assessment which support this research study
are stated by Brown (2004), The Common European Framework of Reference for
languages (2009),and Lambert and Lines (2000). According to Brown (2004), most of the
assessment teachers do in the classroom is formative. For the author, to apply formative
assessment implies:
Evaluating students in the process of “forming” their competences and skills with
the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. The key to such
information is the delivery (by the teacher) and the internalization (by the student)
of appropriate feedback on performance, with an eye toward the future continuation
(or formation) of learning. (p. 6)
In the same way, The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(2009) and Lambert and Lines (2000) assert that formative assessment is a continuous
process in which the teachers use the information collected to feedback their students in
terms of their weaknesses, strengths and to plan future courses. They argue that the strength
of formative assessment is that it helps the students to improve learning because they
become aware of the way they learn and the way they have learnt, and helps to improve
teaching because teachers can know their students and plan work appropriately. In relation
to this, Lambert and Lines (2000) describe the importance of mistakes as the elements
which give clues to improve learning. Finally, Brown (2004) affirms that formative
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assessment is focused on the development of language learning that is promoted when
teachers give advice to their students related to their performance; that feedback must
provide elements to improve language learning abilities.
In regards to the information above, Torres (2004), implemented formative
assessment through self-assessment practices as a way to promote critical thinking. From
this case study, the participants of which were six students of sixth grade from a public
school, the researcher established as the most relevant conclusions that self-assessment
promotes critical thinking. Students can set their learning goals through the implementation
of self-assessment and become aware of their weaknesses when they judge themselves, that
is, the students assume a reflective attitude during the self-assessment process. Finally,
different ways of assessment promote critical thinking because the students assume an
objective position toward their own process.
In the same way, Rodríguez (2004) applied formative assessment in his research
project. The study was focused on determining the students’ perception toward self
assessment practices in listening comprehension. The participants were 21 pupils studying
at a basic level, and the data were collected from 15 participants. The most relevant
conclusions were related to insights about self–assessment and the development of their
listening comprehension; thus, the participants think self- assessment is very important for
the EFL class, they feel that they have the opportunity to work on their strengths and
weaknesses because they believe that this kind of assessment lets them identify limitations
and overcome them. In relation to their listening comprehension they found it valuable to
assess their own performance because in that way they could recognize their problems and
plan strategies for the next activity.
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The findings of the two studies show that formative assessment promotes students’
self-reflection which encourages the participants to be aware of their own learning process.
Consequently, during the self–assessment process the students observe their own
performance in a critical way, identify their achievements and difficulties, and plan
different strategies in order to improve their performance in future actions.
The findings mentioned above are pertinent for the present research as they explore
the role of the formative assessment in the language teaching-learning process, as this is a
valuable element which helps teachers and students to reach the achievements through the
reflection on the way they teach and learn, and students to develop different metacognitive
strategies to better the fulfillment of their tasks.
In regards to the previous information, Brown (2004), Brindley (1995), Harris and
McCann (1994) and Castillo and Cabrerizo (2003) pinpoint that formative assessment
includes one form of assessing learning it is self – assessment; besides, Brown (2004) adds
another form, that is peer-assessment. Additionally, the authors remark the importance of
feedback as a valuable tool to progress in the language teaching-learning process.
Peer assessment. According to Brown (2004), peer-assessment is founded on
collaborative learning, the main principle of which is that the learners can teach each other
any subject; the author affirms that this kind of assessment is an important tool in the
language teaching-learning process because it is centered in the learners’ awareness.
Bearing this in mind, and from the point of view of the present study, peer-assessment is
one part of the formative assessment process, which engages students not only with their
own learning process but also with their peers’ process.
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Self–assessment. There are some authors whose studies include self-assessment as
a way to involve students in the assessment process in the classroom. Castillo and
Cabrerizo (2003) define self-assessment as “The activity that the main characters of the
educational process does about their own performance”(p. 90). They argue that self-
assessment is a means which helps the students to know their own process, feel motivated,
and reinforce their learning. Furthermore, they state that the pupils should be responsible of
their development; that means, reflect on the progress of their learning, their achievements
and their failures.
In addition, Brown (2004) defines self-assessment as
the ability to set one´s own goals both within and beyond the structure of a
classroom curriculum, to pursue them without the presence of an external
prod, and to independently monitor that pursuit are all keys to success (p.
270)
In the same way, he affirms that this kind of assessment encourages learners to feel
motivated to develop skills successfully.
Concerning the current research, the concepts presented by Harris and McCann
(1994), and Cram (1995) are relevant because they conceive self-assessment as a tool
which benefits the students in the observation of their own performance and the
arrangement of strategies to improve. Harris and McCann (1994) state that self-assessment
can help teachers to obtain data about learners’ beliefs, necessities, wishes, and concerns
about their learning, this information can be gathered during the class and it is related to
methodology, material, resources and mates. Moreover, they highlight the impact of the
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process in the learning as the necessity to observe what we have learned and what we need
to do to advance. In the same way, Cram (1995) affirms that self-assessment provides
learners with information which lets them know what and how they learn; based on this, the
students can develop autonomy and become aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.
Feedback. In relation to the present study, feedback is the information the students
receive from teachers or peers about their performance in terms of both strengths and
weaknesses; therefore, it is important to explore its role in formative assessment. Lambert
and Lines (2000) say that “formative feedback” goes beyond correcting mistakes; it should
imply a dialogue between teachers and learners, which can be oral or written. The most
important is the mutual learning as result of a good communication that searches to build
self-esteem and to raise awareness in every student. Additionally, Crooks (2001) suggests
that feedback should emphasize on the positive aspects of the students’ work, on strategies
to improve students’ performance and the achievements of the learners in relation to
previous tasks.
Additionally, Taras (2003), suggests that feedback will become effective for both
teachers and students who are involved in it; the author affirms that it is very important to
show the pupils the benefits of the feedback they receive and ask them to inform how they
used it in regards of future activities. Besides, Nicol (2008), poses that it is very important
to include peer feedback to support teachers in this stage. As the current research is focused
on the implementation of formative assessment, feedback is a crucial issue inside the
process because it provides valuable information for the improvement in the language
learning process; this means to motivate students to plan and to look for different ways to
develop their own learning skills; in respect to this, Hattie and Timperley (2007), state that
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students better their learning when “they receive information on a task and how to do it
more effectively, and this feedback is related to learning goals” (p.84).
Concerning self and peer assessment, Nicol (2008), remarks that they are formative
because they promote reflection about the learning process. When the students give and
receive feedback on the effectiveness of their work in relation to the learning goals they
become aware on their strengths and the aspects they need to improve. Besides, the author
presents 12 principles to obtain effective assessment and feedback; some of them constitute
the basis for this research:
1. To provide students information on how to achieve goals during the process.
2. To promote students’ commitment in extra activities inside and outside the
classroom.
3. To give complete feedback, this helps students to do self-reflection.
4. To give the opportunity to improve performance.
5. To promote a positive influence of summative assessment in learning.
6. To promote interaction among peers and among teacher – student.
7. To facilitate self-assessment process and reflection.
8. To give students the opportunity to participate in the designing of assessment
plan.
9. To involve students in decisions based on assessment guidelines of the
institution.
10. To help communities in learning process.
11. To promote positive feelings toward learning process.
12. To give teachers information, this could be useful in their teaching.
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The data presented above take us to conclude that when pupils are continuously
involved in processes of formative assessment, they start to develop autonomous learning
skills, which means that they are able to learn by their own and become to be responsible
on their process.
Learner Autonomy. In order to support the data collected in the second cycle of
the present study, it is important to clarify the concept of learner autonomy. Ellis and
Sinclair (1989), Nunan (1988), Little (1991), Benson and Voller (1997), and Lowes and
Target (2003) grounded their studies on the definition presented by Holec (1981): “Learner
autonomy is the capacity to take charge of one´s own learning” (p. 3).
As regards the definition above, Ellis and Sinclair (1989) emphasize the value of
promoting autonomy in learners, so that they can make supported decisions about the
contents, the way, the moment, and the place they learn. In the same way, Nunan (1988)
proposes nine steps for the teacher to achieve learner autonomy:
 To give clear goals to the learners, so they will feel involved and will have the
possibility to select their own goals.
 To allow the students to set their achievements.
 To motivate the use of the foreign language in different contexts, in order to
promote awareness of their learning process.
 To help the learners to find their ideal styles and tactics.
 To inspire students’ choosing.
 To let learners design their own activities.
 To stimulate students to take the teachers’ role and to be researchers.
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On the other hand, Little (1991) points out that autonomy is the ability of relating
reflection, choices, and actions; in this sense the learner would establish a special
connection between the process and the topics to learn. Moreover, he states that “an agenda
set by the learner himself is likely to be more purposeful and effective both immediately
and in a longer term” (p. 4). Benson and Voller (1997) declare that autonomy can be
promoted in different ways and stages during the learning process; at the moment the
students learn by themselves to develop abilities through autonomous learning, to
encourage autonomy in case it is not implemented in the school policies, to make learners
responsible of their own process, and to give to them the opportunity to choose the way
they learn.
Holec (1988), discusses his own definition of learner autonomy by presenting the
concept of self-directed learning. The author defines autonomy as the ability to be aware of
one’s own learning; this capacity is learnt in a conscious or unconscious way and involves
the learner in self-directed learning. Additionally, Holec (1988) presents several steps for
self-directed learning:
 Setting the goals
 Outlining the topics and advances
 Choosing the methodology to be applied
 Observing the learning process
 Assessing what has been learnt
However, the approach of learner autonomy stated by Lowes and Target (2003) is
the most relevant with regards to the purposes of the present study. They affirm that an
30
autonomous learner is a person who learns on his/her own; therefore, every pupil in the
classroom can be autonomous if the teachers provide the possibility to learn by using the
foreign language inside and outside the class, observing their process critically, assessing
others and themselves, reflecting and planning for further activities. That is to say, students
should be responsible of their learning process; teachers can show the path, motivate the
students to achieve the goals on their own, but it is the learners’ decision to try by
themselves.
Caceres and Cabrales (2012) implemented independent activities aiming at
identifying how the students of basic level accomplish the learning of English under a
perspective of autonomy. The results obtained after the data analyses were varied; with the
implementation of autonomous work, the learners started to use an increased number of
ways to work and control the contents. Moreover, the participants affirmed that they learnt
better ways of analyzing by classification, deduction or interpretation, which evidenced the
use of interpretative and constructivist learning models. However, the study showed that the
implementation of autonomous strategies make difficult time management, monitoring, and
assessment. Additionally, a number of participants continue using traditional strategies to
learn, as repetition, copying, and translation. Finally, the researchers pinpoint the
fundamental role of the teachers to generate autonomy in the classroom; that is, teachers
should reflect on their planning and develop explicit programs and strategies which
enhance autonomy.
Cuesta (2011) addressed his study to the students’ perceptions toward autonomy and
its use in English learning and determined the relation between autonomy and the activities
done both in and outside the classroom. The findings of the study, the participants of which
31
were 8 teachers and 110 high school pupils, indicated that the student participants do not
evolve autonomously in their learning process, they do not set learning goals or plans;
besides, they do not do self-assessment to determine strengths and weaknesses, and they do
not get involved in independent work outside the classroom, because their perception of
autonomy depends on their feelings about planning, monitoring, and assessment. Finally,
Cuesta (2011) claims that there are no clear autonomy criteria among the teachers;
therefore, the students do not feel engaged with the learning process, and as a consequence,
they do not reflect on their learning and do not plan any strategy to improve it
Ariza (2003), concentrated his research study on gaining students’ insights about
autonomous learning, and how they are evident in multiple learning experiences. The study,
in which 21 students of Basic English were involved, showed that during the learning
experiences learners found the way to learn beyond the classroom; although they did the
tasks evidencing autonomy, they expressed the importance of teachers’ support to enhance
self-directed learning through tasks, guidance, and assessment. In relation to the way the
participants understand autonomy, the data illustrated that they feel involved in their own
learning process and reflect on their strengths and weaknesses Moreover, autonomous work
gave to the learners the possibility of constructing knowledge, setting personal goals, and
using different strategies to improve. As a conclusion, Ariza (2003) explains that
assessment is evident along autonomous work where peer-correction, teachers’
observations, and answer keys from tests are the elements students use to assess their own
performance.
Picón (2011) points out the importance of learner autonomy to foster metacognition
and critical thinking in a group of 19 high-school students. He directed his study to
32
determine how teacher–student partnership promotes students’ autonomy. After data
analysis, the researcher concluded that the participants showed learner autonomy in three
different ways: becoming aware of their learning process, enhancing metacognition, and
developing critical thinking. Considering this, the learners implemented metacognitive
strategies by planning, self–monitoring and self–assessment, and critical thinking through
the discussion about grades held on valuable arguments.
Finally, it is important to highlight the study Thanasoulas (2000), addressed to
learner autonomy, as the concepts and ideas stated in it inform the current research
regarding formative assessment promotes learner autonomy. Thanasoulas (2000) argues
that learner autonomy is a continuous process where the students assume their own
learning helped by the teachers, who guide them to be conscious and to find the appropriate
strategies to use in learning. He added that learner autonomy is related to self-direction and
self–assessment.
Moreover, Thanasoulas (2000), states that constructivism and critical theory are the
theoretical foundations of learner autonomy, as the first is based on the principle of
building of knowledge as the approach that enhances learner autonomy. Similarly, he
affirms that the beliefs present in the critical theory on the construction of knowledge from
the social interests view inform learner autonomy as learners become conscious of their
social context. Furthermore, he considers that learner autonomy is obtained when certain
requirements: “cognitive and metacognitive strategies, motivation, attitudes, and
knowledge about language learning” (p. 7) are accomplished with the help of the teachers,
whose role is to be advisers who teach the students not only forms of solving their
problems, but also let learners find solutions for them.
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The results of the studies presented above are relevant for the present study, as they
demonstrate that learner autonomy is promoted through the implementation of different
elements in the classroom, as independent work, self–monitoring, peer and self–assessment
(formative assessment), along with the teachers’ guidance; besides, the findings showed
that learner autonomy implies the development of metacognitive strategies which learners
use to improve their own language learning process.
According to the theoretical references and the focus of the present study, it is
important to explain the metacognitive strategies, as they are one of the main goals of
implementing formative assessment in an EFL class.
Metacognitive strategies.
Oxford (1990), defines learning strategies as “specific actions taken by the learner
to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed , more effective and
more transferable to new situations” (p.8), she classifies them in direct and indirect
strategies. Direct strategies are those related to foreign language: memorization, cognition,
and compensation, indirect strategies are metacognitive, affective, and social; all of them
are useful in tasks in which the four communicative skills are involved. Oxford (1990),
states that metacognitive strategies permit learners manage their own learning process by
analyzing, planning strategies, and assessing; she affirms that in a second language learning
process they look for support in these kinds of strategies to establish a relation between
previous knowledge and the new one; besides, they feel motivated to work in team, do
more activities, they become conscious of their own process, and the assess themselves.
Thus, Oxford (2003), expresses that recognizing owns learning, arranging an L2 task,
34
collecting and organizing materials, planning a study context and schedule, observing
errors, and assessing tasks achievements are part of the metacognitive strategies.
In the same way, Chamot (2004), describes learning strategies as “the thoughts and
actions that learners take in order to achieve a learning goal. She presents two
metacognitive models; the first which is addressed to learning instruction includes four
processes: planning, monitoring, problem solving, and evaluating, teachers use this model
to focus on a learning aspect in which students need more support. The second model
related to learning goals, involves metacognitive strategies of “planning, monitoring,
managing learning, evaluating language learning and learning strategy effectiveness” (p.4).
Concerning this study, the model that informs this study is the second, as formative
assessment implies the five processes stated above; the students plan future learning,
monitoring and managing learning during peer, teacher and self-assessment, besides, they
evaluate learning by self-assessment, and determine the effectiveness of the strategies when
they receive feedback in further activities.
Additionally, Wenden (1982) points out that metacognitive strategies are used to
manage, monitor or control language learning. Wenden (1982) directed the studies to the
students’ knowledge about their language learning and its impact on the metacognitive
strategies. She added that the choosing of the strategies depends on the students’ beliefs
about the way the language is learnt.
In regards to the information above, Thanasoulas (2000) presents in the study the
author states five main metacognitive strategies:
 Directed attention: Focus on overall issues of the activity,
35
 Selective attention: Focus on particular issues of the activity.
 Self-monitoring: Reviewing one’s performance at the moment of the
activity.
 Self–assessment: Analyzing one´s performance regarding one’s own
parameters,
 Self–reinforcement: Motivating oneself for achievements
Finally, Hedge (2003) states that metacognitive strategies involve a
series of aspects as planning for learning, thinking about learning and how to make it
effective, self–monitoring during the learning, and evaluation of how successful learning
has been after working on language in some way (p.78). In this way, the students can
observe and review current work, improve and predict future learning. As in the present
research formative assessment implies a deep reflection on language learning process, this
analysis can be done taking into account the aspects above.
In this chapter I explained the theoretical constructs which support the present
study. I exposed my point of view about assessment, formative assessment, and learner
autonomy. In the next chapter, I will present the methodology of the study
Chapter 3
Research Design
This chapter aims at describing the methodological procedures I followed during the
implementation of the present study. First, I explain the type of research in relation to
36
the project. Next, I describe the setting, including place and participants. After that, I
address the triangulation matrix including the instruments to be used regarding the
research questions. Finally, I present the data collection instruments used and procedures
followed during the data analysis process along the implementation of the two cycles of
the research study.
Type of study
The present study adheres to two issues: paradigm and approach, for the research
purpose, which was to aim at the identification of the relationship between formative
assessment and the learning process of eighth graders in SFS. The paradigm is of a
qualitative nature, and the approach is action research. The arguments for selecting these
are explained below, based on some authors and in concordance with the objectives of
this study.
Research paradigm. The current study adheres to a qualitative approach to
research because its main objective is to observe what occurs during the implementation
of formative assessment in an EFL class. According to Johnson (2008), in this kind of
research the most relevant issue is the collection of qualitative data and the objective
exploration or discovery; this means: “The qualitative research let study a phenomenon
in an open-ended way” (p. 359). Thus, the researcher observes reality just the way it is.
As researcher, I observed all the process aiming at the collection and analysis of data
related to the possible findings drawn from the implementation of formative-based
assessment in an EFL class.
37
Other important characteristics of qualitative research are presented by Creswell
(2003). The author states that in qualitative research the researcher can obtain data from
a real context by using the appropriate methods and strategies; this way of data
collection permits the students to be involved in the research project. Besides, the
researcher has the possibility to redefine the issues of inquiry regarding the information
collected and its interpretation. This project reflects the previously mentioned
characteristics because it aims at analyzing a specific situation in the classroom by
applying different methods of inquiry to collect data, for example questions that can be
redefined in any moment of the process if necessary.
Moreover, this study was designed taking into account three of the twelve
characteristics of qualitative research proposed by Johnson and Christensen (2004).
First, the design of this research was framed in the attempt to gain insights from the
students’ perceptions toward formative assessment, without manipulating or controlling
the data. Additionally, the design was flexible; that is, it was open to modifications
during the process,
Second, the data collected were qualitative; they were obtained through the
observations and experiences of the teacher–researcher and students regarding the
implementation of formative assessment. Besides, the teacher–researcher participated in
the study assuming a respectful, responsible, and ethic attitude, understanding the
context where the process was carried out.
Lastly, the method applied for my data analysis allowed exploring and obtaining
detailed information, identifying relationships, and establishing patterns. Besides, the
38
data analysis was done under a holistic perspective, which implies more than cause-and-
effect relationships and rather tries to identify interdependences and systems. Finally, the
researcher had to express the perceptions in an impartial manner, avoiding
generalizations because the findings could vary depending on the context.
This type of study has been criticized for “its failure to take into account how
human situations, experiences, and behaviors construct realities which are inherently
subjective” (Burns, 2003, p. 22). This issue was overcome by proposing an emic
perspective which focuses on the subjectivity of the participants, that is teacher–
researcher and students, and on situations.
Research approach. The research approach that informs the present study is action
research. In the view of Parsons and Brown (2002), action research is a kind of inquiry
which is implemented by teachers aiming at improving their own performance in the
classroom. This kind of research involves observations done in order to collect
information that teacher–researchers use to analyze, to reflect, to plan, and apply better
strategies in their classes.
Furthermore, Miller (2007) affirms that action research is a normal part of the
teaching process because teachers are always attentive to classroom issues, gathering
information, and modifying aspects related to the school setting. The author adds that
action research gives teachers a structure to understand why – when – how the students
improve their own learning process.
The present study fits into the definitions presented above because it aims at the
identification of the relationship between formative assessment and students’ learning
39
process. It was addressed to the setting, a Catholic school in the north of Bogotá; and it
emerged from a problem I identified in a seventh-grade group during the development of
the classes, in relation to the kind of assessment in the foreign language learning process.
Additionally, Lewin (1946), Stringer (1996) and Nunan (1992) argue that action
research is focused on solving practitioner’s local problems and has three main
characteristics: it is developed by practitioners (teachers), it is collaborative, and its main
goal is to change things. Burns (1999) added more features: action research is contextual,
and it is based on problems within a specific situation, it is evaluative and reflective, its
objective is to bring about changes, it promotes collaborative investigation and the changes
are based on the collection of data.
Following the above, the context of this project is an eighth-grade EFL class in a
school in the north of Bogotá. The study is based on the influence of assessment in the
language learning process. I reflected on the analysis and interpretation of the data collected
during the implementation of a formative assessment in an EFL class. Last, I proposed a
series of strategies which are involved in formative assessment to foster learner autonomy.
Finally, the development of this study was informed by the action research cycle as
stated by Kemmins and Mac Taggart (as cited in Burns, 2003). I carried out my study in
two cycles; the first cycle included 10 sessions in which I addressed the instructional design
based on the formative assessment in language learning, and I made changes taking into
account the preliminary data analysis. I implemented the second cycle during 10 sessions in
this cycle I directed the instructional design based on the development of learner autonomy
40
through the metacognitive strategies. When I finished the intervention, I analyzed and
triangulated the data from the two cycles.
Setting. The participants of this study are 13 and 14 year-old girls from eighth grade
in a private school in the north of Bogotá. It is an institution with 113 years of experience,
promoting in its students a humanist philosophy under the principles of piety, simplicity,
and work. The curriculum of the school is not only supported by the principles and
standards of the Colombian Ministry of Education but also by the fundamentals of
personalized education.
Personalized education is a pedagogical model that is based on three main
foundations, philosophical, pedagogical, and methodological, which involve the
development of the values of autonomy, singularity, opening, and transcendence through
the teaching-learning process. In this regard, the school aims at the reinforcement of
Christian values, set on a high academic level, emphasizing on learning foreign languages,
and committed with the education of leaders capable of facing the challenges of a
globalized world.
In relation to the aspect of assessment, the evaluation system at SFS is based on a
document that is called System of Evaluation at Sans facon School (SIEVES). This
instrument explains the assessment and promotion criteria taking into account the
guidelines and school’s policies of the Colombian Ministry of Education. Regarding the
SIEVES, the assessment in SFS is participative, open and flexible; furthermore, the
achievements proposed enhance the development of four important aspects. First, the
cognitive aspect, which is related to goals and competences; another issue is the procedural,
41
which is directed to learning by doing, the axiological aspect, which is addressed to learn to
live with others, to be autonomous, and to transcend. Lastly, the aspect of coexistence,
which aims at learning to experience values.
Considering the ethical aspects, I presented a consent form to the Principal of the
School in order to ask for permission to implement the study. It was necessary to clarify
that the school’s name wouldn´t be used unless she permitted, in the same way, explain the
characteristics of the study, time, and participants. Additionally, she was asked to approve
parents and students’ consent form. Appendix A is an example of the consent form I
presented.
Participants. At the school, there are three eighth-grade groups. For the purpose of
this study, the sample was taken from one of the groups, composed by 15 girls between 12
and 14 years of age, and who belonged to social stratus 4 or 5.
In the year previous to the study, the teacher identified a lot of differences among
the students with respect to their language level, during the development of the tasks inside
the class and outside the class, the students evidenced both strengths and weaknesses in the
management of the four communicative skills. Additionally, the teacher realized that the
students understood assessment only as quizzes or exams they presented during each term
but not as a process s immersed in foreign language teaching and learning.
According to the description I stated of the participants, it was a non – probability
sample; Hanigmann (1982) states that this kind of sample attempts “to solve qualitative
problems, such as discovering what occurs, the implications of what occurs, and the
relationships linking occurrences” (cited in Merriam 1998, p. 61). This study presented
42
information about what occurs with the language learning process of the sample, taking into
account the application of formative assessment after the activities or tasks.
Moreover, in the view of Chein (1981) and Patton (1990), the purposeful sampling
is the most appropriate sampling strategy, as it is supported on the data the researcher
wants to find, comprehend, and analyze (cited in Merriam 1998, p. 61). The sample of the
present study was purposeful; the participants presented the conditions to provide complete
data of the process. In addition, this was a typical sample in that “it reflects the average
person, situation or instance of the phenomenon of interest” (Merriam 1998, p. 62). The
sample was selected for joining all the characteristics to represent the whole group, to
implement formative assessment and observe what would occur with the learning process.
Considering the ethical aspects, I sent a consent form to parents to inform about the
project, and to ask for permission to implement the study with their girls, the document
contained a short description of the objectives, activities the students would develop during
the process, and general information about the project itself. One example of the consent
form I sent to parents is in appendix B. In the same way, I sent a consent form to students,
who then signed and gave the permission; its content was an explanation of their role
during the research process, the procedures which would be used by the teacher to gather
the information, and the benefits of the project for them. It was necessary to clarify that
their names would not be used unless they would permit it. One example of the consent
form for the students is in appendix C.
Researcher’s role. According to Bell (2005), the role of the researcher in this study
is participant and observer. Bell (2005) states that the researcher takes part in the daily life
43
of a group of persons, learning, watching, inquiring, gaining insights, and understanding the
life of the individual or group involved . The role of the researcher was not only as
researcher but as the teacher, who had two main functions, teaching and observing what
happened during the implementation of formative assessment in the learning process.
As this study was implemented in the school where I was working, it was necessary
to “employ multiple strategies of validity to create reader confidence in the accuracy of the
findings” (Cresswell 2003, p. 184). For the research I as researcher used different
instruments to collect data; after that, in the triangulation I compared the findings
establishing data reliability and validity.
Finally, Marshall and Rossmann (1999) argue that the researcher’s role is related to
ethical aspects which are involved in interpersonal issues as “building trust, maintaining
good relations, respecting norms of reciprocity” (p. 85). Considering these aspects, I was an
active participant during the activities, in that way I could know my students’ opinions,
needs, interests, capacities, and interact with them during the process.
Data Collection Instruments
In order to collect the appropriate information to answer the research questions, I
selected two different techniques to collect data. Starting with documents or artifacts, I used
students’ journals. I then continued with semi structured and unstructured or informal
interviews According to Wallace (2006), these techniques are classified as “introspective”
(p. 124) because the interviewer aims at obtaining information about interviewed’ beliefs,
ideas, experiences, interactions, and so on. The parameters to select the instruments were
the findings obtained from the piloting process and the theoretical framework.
44
Artifacts. In the words of Merriam (1998), documents are” ready-made sources of
easy access to the investigator” (p.112). Besides, the author affirms that “a qualitative study
of classroom instruction would lead to documents in the form of instructors' lesson plans,
students assignments, objects in the classroom, official grade reports and school records,
teacher evaluations, and so on” (p. 120). With respect to this research, the artifacts or
documents are the journals the students wrote after assessing speaking and writing activities
during the implementation of the study; based on them I could analyze the participants’
perceptions, feelings, and opinions towards formative assessment, and their metacognitive
strategies to improve in their learning process.
Besides, I selected this instrument attending the words of Merriam (1998), who
states that documents contain valuable data to answer the research question, and they can
be obtained in a logical and systematic way. The students’ journals were meaningful for me
because they gave to me the information related to their point of view about formative
assessment I could analyze their perceptions about peer assessment, teacher assessment,
and self-assessment. In the same way I obtained information related to the strategies the
students would implement to improve their communicative skills. A sample of the artifacts
is appendix D.
Unstructured / Informal Interviews. According to Wallace (2006),“we use
questionnaires and interviews when we want to tap into the knowledge, opinions, ideas and
experiences of our learners, fellow teachers or whatever” (p. 124). Additionally, Merriam
(1998) affirms that one of the objectives of an unstructured interview is to know about an
issue or to ask questions in future interviews; besides, this instrument can provide insights
and understanding to the researcher. Therefore, this data collection instrument was a way to
45
obtain information about formative assessment in an open way; based on these data I
analyzed the data and I reflected upon the findings to answer the questions.
Informal interviews were a form to gain students’ insights about the formative
assessment that the teacher–researcher implemented in class; the questions of the
interviews were about the way the listening and reading activities were assessed, the
feedback received, strategies to improve learning, and task fulfillment. According to
Wallace (2006), “this open – ended approach may engender a relaxed atmosphere where
personal data can be revealed” (p.147). In regards of this, the students knew they were
participating in the interview; they expressed their opinions in a reasonable way. I recorded
each of the interviews during the classes and transcribed the complete information,
including further questions and answers which came up during the process. A sample of an
informal interview transcription is in appendix E.
I used this technique to collect information about the system of assessment I
implemented in the sessions. During the piloting stage I identified the importance of the
data I could obtain to answer the two research questions, mainly when I asked questions to
the students about formative assessment in order to understand students’ perceptions
towards this issue.
This instrument has some limitations. First of all, the interviewer may get confused
due to the diverse points of view and unconnected segments of information; and second, it
is difficult for the researcher to manage the great adaptability required by an informal
interview. To avoid these limitations, I stated the questions regarding the research questions
46
and I re-directed the interviews when the information was not related to the topic of the
study; besides, I assumed an impartial position to avoid assumptions of subjectivity.
Semi–Structured Interviews. In the words of Merriam (1998), “the semi structured
interview is a half way between the ends of the continuum” (p. 74); this means that the
interview is a combination of more and less organized questions. Additionally, the author
states that most of the interview is led by a series of questions or issues to be discovered
which do not have a previous organization. For the purpose of this study, the use of this
instrument provides information about students’ perceptions towards formative assessment,
As Merriam (1998) states, “this format allows the researcher to respond to the situation at
hand, to the emerging worldview of the respondent” (p. 74).
Furthermore, Wallace (2006) indicates that the questions in a semi-structured
interview motivate the participants to give more complete and detailed answers. This
instrument was used to collect valid and detailed data because I could review the interview
recording and the transcription many times in order to identify patterns and reflect upon
them. It gave me information about students’ perceptions and opinions towards the
implementation formative assessment during the learning process and to establish further
relation of the feedback to metacognitive strategies to develop communicative skills. A
sample of a semi-structured interview transcription is in appendix F.
However, this technique has some limitations; on the one hand, a semi-structured
interview could take a lot of time; on the other hand, the number of persons to interview
must be limited. To avoid these limitations, the instrument was piloted taking into account
the time for the interviews; with respect to the number of persons, only the participants of
47
the study were interviewed so that the interviewer could manage the interview process and
the data collected during this process.
Data Collection Procedures
In this part of the chapter, I explain the procedures to administer each of the
instruments above. Therefore, I include every single detail of the frequency and
methodology of using the artifacts, the informal interview and the semi-structured
interview. Besides, I describe the process of triangulation of the instruments. Lastly, I
present a chronogram with the sessions and the instruments which were used to collect data
during each of the sessions.
First of all, the artifacts were the journals that the students wrote to answer the
questions related to their perceptions, opinions, and feelings towards formative assessment
and its influence in the learning process. Then they were read and analyzed, and the data
obtained were organized in a matrix. As Wallace (2006) states, “ journals can provide
access to hidden affective variables that greatly influence the way teachers teach and
students learn” (p. 63). One sample of the mentioned matrix is in Appendix G.
Second , the informal or unstructured interviews were applied after the activities of
oral and reading comprehension. These interviews were used to gain insights of the
students’ perceptions and opinions in relation to formative assessment, and how this form
of assessment influences the participants in the planning of strategies to improve the
learning process. With respect to this, Merriam (1998) affirms that “some time is spent in
an unstructured mode so that fresh insights and new information can emerge” (p. 75). As I
recorded the interviews, first, I transcribed the content of each of them, then I read and
48
analyzed the data; finally, I organized the information in a matrix. A sample of the matrix
about informal interviews is in Appendix H.
Third of all, the semi-structured interviews were applied at the end of each of the
two cycles of the research process. They were used in order to obtain information about
students’ feelings, ideas, and opinions towards the complete formative assessment process.
These two interviews demanded a lot of time. In words of Merriam (1998), “Usually,
specific information is desired from all of the correspondents, in which case there is a
highly structured section to the interview” (p. 74). The first semi-structured interview was
applied at the end of the first cycle of the study. It aimed at obtaining data about the
students’ perceptions towards the form they were assessed after each of the activities, the
feedback received, and their task fulfillment. The second interview at the end of the second
cycle of the research was to collect data about learning strategies and metacognition
founded on formative assessment. As in the first interview, it was recorded, transcribed,
and the content tabulated in a matrix. In appendix I there is a sample of the transcriptions of
the interviews.
As a tool for action research to build and strengthen validity and reliability of the
study, I triangulated the data from the different instruments, which in words of Sagor
(2000) refers to “the use of multiple independent sources of data to establish the truth and
accuracy of a claim” (p. 113). It was important to use this method to analyze the data to
confront and compare the findings from artifacts, informal or unstructured interview and
semi-structured interviews. By confronting those instruments, I could identify the patterns
and common findings to support and draw conclusions.
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Chapter 4
Instructional Design
The present chapter contains the pedagogical issues which are directly related to the
implementation of formative assessment activities. The first aspect I present is the
vision of curriculum and the type of syllabus that underlie this instructional design. After
that, I introduce the vision of language. Next, I address the vision of learning followed
by the vision of classroom that describes the context of the research study. Finally, I
describe the pedagogical intervention supported by the formative assessment formats
that I applied during the activities, and the timetable which shows a description of the
pedagogical objectives, the activities for each session, and the instruments to collect
data.
To understand the goal of the instructional design it is relevant to consider the focus
of this research study; namely, the role of formative assessment in the English learning
process of eighth-graders. The study aims at identifying the relationship between
formative assessment and the students’ learning process.
Curricular Platform
The curricular platform supports the implementation of formative assessment
instruments like self and peer assessment, the journals and different aids to bridge the
gap between formative assessment and the English learning process. The platform
combines a functional vision of language with the experiential and autonomous visions
of learning in the context of a formative assessment classroom, the vision of curriculum
as practice, and a notional-functional syllabus. The fundamentals of these visions are
50
exemplified in the pedagogical intervention of this research study with the presentation
of the objectives and the parameters of the formats to implement the self- and peer
assessment and the prompts to write the journals to evaluate the English learning
process.
Vision of Curriculum
The research study takes on two curricular perspectives: curriculum as practice and
a notional-functional syllabus, to support the formative assessment. In the curriculum as
practice, the students participate in the construction of meaning, they are the subjects in
the language learning process, and the assessment is not a result or a product it is
immersed in the whole process. According to Grundy (1998), a curriculum as practice is
informed by human interaction; for this reason, it is related to the interaction between
teachers and students and also peer to peer (p. 100). Thus, the teaching-learning process
is centered in the learning understood as the construction of meaning through different
ways of interaction among the participants of the process and their own reality.
In regard to evaluation in the curriculum as practice, the expected achievements
become the interpretations that all the subjects, students and teachers; give to their own
experiences and practices. Likewise, in formative assessment the achievements are
defined by the interpretations the subjects make based on their experiences, practices
and reflections on their own learning process. From the point of view of formative
assessment, a Foreign Language program in the curriculum as practice would be a
process conformed by many components. Among such components, the learning of the
language, the formative assessment, and the relationship between them are the most
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relevant aspects. The curriculum as practice implies a continuous process; thus, the
implementation of formative assessment elements like the journals, and the self and peer
assessment, on the one hand, would provide teachers with elements to observe, analyze,
and interpret different aspects of the students’ learning. On the other hand, it allows
students to become aware of their own achievements, strengths, weaknesses, abilities,
and disabilities as well.
Additionally, in the curriculum as practice “assessment is part of the learning
process” Grundy (1998) states, “Assessment is given during the practices developed
through the learning experiences” (p. 111). In this curriculum, formative assessment is
continuous; it is given before, during, and after the activities, involving all the aspects
which are related to the educational process. Furthermore, formative assessment
supports the students in the construction of meaning through the interpretation of their
own reality.
In conclusion, a Foreign Language program framed in a curriculum as practice
offers the opportunity to revise the learning process continuously, to analyze needs, and
to assess the students’ learning process from different points of view and interpretations
of reality. Such interpretations involve both teacher’s and the students’ view, and help
the students become aware of their own process.
Another perspective that supports formative assessment is a notional-functional
syllabus. Brown (2007) defines a notional–functional syllabus “as a way of organizing a
language learning curriculum in which the instruction is given in terms of notions and
functions” (p. 33). On the other hand, Markee (1997) describes the functional syllabus
52
as the first syllabus centered on the learner and communication (p. 16). Similarly to the
curriculum as practice, in a notional - functional syllabus learning is supported by the
learner’s needs and the interaction with reality. With respect to assessment, in a notional
- functional syllabus it is focused on recognizing the use of linguistic components that
are part of the language the students are learning; thus, some instruments which are part
of the formative assessment (peer assessment, self-assessment, and journals) would be
helpful to support the students in the analysis and recognition of their own language
performance.
Vision of language
Framed within such curricular perspectives, this research study presents a functional
vision of language in which the learning is centered in doing things; paraphrasing Tudor
(2001), the objectives of a learning plan underlie the use of language supported by the
specific contents according to the situation. Based on this, the assessment process can be
seen as the element which helps teachers and students to observe their progress in the
language learning process in terms of the use of language.
Additionally, Tudor (2001) states that the functional teaching approach is based on
a needs analysis that is divided into two stages: the first stage is an initial analysis
carried out by students and teachers; and the second is a continuous analysis of the
teacher’s and learners’ experience supported by the interchange of feelings towards
learning. The implementation of the formative assessment during the second stage of
this research, the needs analysis permitted students and teachers to gather information
about strengths and weaknesses of the language learning process; thus, the use of
53
journals would provide teachers with information about learning experiences, feelings
about teachers, classmates, activities, interests, expectations, goals and plans for future
learning; and the self and peer assessment would inform about students’ performance,
learning preferences, feelings towards the development of communicative skills and
intrinsic motivation. Finally, formative assessment as part of the needs analysis would
be one of the basis for the planning of the language learning program.
Vision of Learning
As this study is supported by a functional vision of language, it holds two visions of
learning, experiential and autonomous. According to Tudor (2001). in the perspective of
the experiential vision, there are two goals: to use language for communicative purposes
and to learn language itself. Additionally, Tudor, (2001) describes the five principles
which characterize the experiential vision of learning: message focus, holistic practice,
use of authentic materials, communication strategies, and collaborative learning.
Concerning the formative assessment as the main issue of this research study, it is
important to describe the relationship among the five principles mentioned above and
this system of assessment. Tudor (2001) establishes that the principle of the message
focus aims at the stimulation of learning and the development of communicative skills
through the communication of messages. The activities linked to this principle would be
evaluated through the implementation of the formative assessment; thus role play,
information gap, simulation and opinion gap activities which are centered on the
students’ interaction, may be assessed by the implementation of self and peer
assessment. This lets students receive feedback in terms of appropriate use of language,
54
message comprehension, and vocabulary; as this activity exchanging of ideas, opinions,
and feelings among the students, the journals would be helpful to reflect on the feedback
received after doing the activities.
With respect to the principle of holistic practice, Tudor (2001) states that it involves
communicative activities from different dimensions focused on the ideas the students
have and the tasks to be done. Regarding formative assessment, it would be present
during the development of the activities; thus, the students may become aware of their
own learning process. Moreover, Tudor (2001) affirms that the use of collaborative
modes of learning implies collaboration among learners which is evident in the role play
and the information gap. In this way, formative assessment may be present in the way
they share their ideas, opinions and feelings towards the language learning process.
Additionally, Brown (2007) pinpoints that experiential learning relates
communicative skills to reality . In this respect, Eyring (1991) says: “What experiential
learning highlights for us is giving students concrete experiences through which they
discover language principles by trial and error, by processing feedback, by building
hypothesis about language, and by revising this assumptions in order to become fluent”
(p. 37,as cited in Brown, 2007, p. 291). In respect to formative assessment, it is evident
that important elements established above by Brown (2007) and Eyring (1991) are the
support of the assessment process. The implementation of the self and peer assessment
formats and the journals would provide students with feedback from their teachers and
mates about their process; in that way they would make a revision of their process based
on the feedback received.
55
Regarding the autonomous vision of language, Hedge (2003) states that
learner autonomy has to do with the characteristics of the self-directed learner, who is
responsible for the learning, establishes the learning goals, is conscious of the language
sources, is very effective with the use of time and generates learning strategies. With
respect to these features, Rubin (1987) defines them as “any set of operations, steps,
plans, and routines used by the learner to facilitate the obtaining, storage, retrieval, and
use of the information that is what learners do to learn and regulate their learning” (p.19,
as cited in Hedge, 2003, p. 77). In relation to formative assessment, it is important to
observe that this process promotes cognitive and metacognitive strategies. According to
Hedge (2003), the application of activities that involve analogies, repetition, writing
descriptive and opinion texts and inference, imply planning for learning, thinking about
learning, self-monitoring, and self-assessment aiming at reflecting on how to make
learning effective.
From the view of the present study, the metacognitive processes are present through
the implementation of peer and self-assessment (see appendix H, formative assessment
formats) during the formative assessment process; thus, the students may have the
opportunity to reflect on their own learning process based on the feedback received from
their mates and teacher, becoming aware of their own learning monitoring and planning
strategies for future learning.
Vision of Classroom
The vision of classroom this research study holds is a formative assessment
classroom. Genesee and Upshur (1996) establish that assessment has three main
56
components: information, interpretation, and decision making; thus, information can be
the feedback received after the tasks, the interpretation, the analysis of the feedback in
relation to the performance and the decision making which is related to the strategies for
future learning.
In this classroom context, formative assessment was immersed into the three
components; thus, the information is the feedback learners received from their mates and
teachers in the peer assessment formats; the interpretation is the moment when they read
and analyze the feedback in the formats and recognize their strengths and weaknesses;
and the decision making when they do their self-assessment by filling the corresponding
formats or by writing the journals based on the feedback received, and making plans,
thinking about strategies, and setting goals to improve their performance and future
learning.
Pedagogical Intervention
In this stage of the current study I explain the activities I did during the pedagogical
intervention. First of all, I state the objectives of the pedagogical intervention; second, I
explain the timetable of the activities implemented; and third, I illustrate the
implementation of the peer and self-assessment and journals as instruments of the
formative assessment.
General pedagogical objectives. The pedagogical objectives of this pedagogical
intervention are addressed to the implementation of formative assessment in the
language learning process:
a) To obtain feedback about the learning process
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b) To reflect on the feedback received during the formative assessment
c) To state feelings and opinions about the relationship between the feedback received
and the learning process
d) To plan strategies to improve in future learning
These objectives address the research objectives because they aim at analyzing
students’ beliefs towards formative assessment and at gaining insights about the role of
formative assessment in the learning process.
To obtain feedback about the learning process, the students had the opportunity to
give and receive peer assessment through filling a format where they wrote their
opinions about aspects as fluency, clarity, interaction, use of vocabulary, creativity and
coherence in oral and written practice, adding comments and suggestions to their
classmates. Besides, they received information from the teacher after doing listening and
speaking activities.
To reflect on the feedback received during the formative assessment, the students
met with their classmates to talk and analyze the information received in the peer
assessment; they expressed their feelings and opinions about it. Moreover, they reflected
on the feedback received after listening and reading activities and the strategies the
teacher gave to them in order to improve their performance.
In order to state feelings and opinions about the relationship between the feedback
received and the learning process, the students wrote journals at the end of each week; in
these journals the students answered questions about feelings, the value of the feedback,
58
ideas and strategies to improve their performance, and insights about their learning
process.
To plan strategies to improve in future learning, the students analyzed all the
feedback received from their classmates and teachers, and at the moment of filling their
self-assessment formats, they wrote their opinions about the use of learning strategies
and how they think to implement them to improve in future learning.
Timetable. The activities were structured and designed aiming at following the process of
formative assessment; this is, peer assessment, teacher’s assessment, self-assessment, and
reflection on the feedback. With regards to this, to assess their performance during the speaking
and written activities the students received peer feedback, in relation to reading and listening
comprehension they got teacher feedback. After this, the students analyzed the feedback they
received and reflected on their own process through self – assessment, according to Brown
(2004). Finally, they planned strategies to improve future learning, as Wenden (1992) and Hedge
(2003) stated. The timetable is attached in Appendix I.
Formative assessment formats. Peer assessment formats were applied at the end of
four speaking activities. The teacher assessed reading and listening comprehension
activities of four sessions, the students did self- assessment after receiving peer and
teacher feedback each two weeks. The formative assessment formats are in Appendix J.
Chapter 5
Data Analysis and Findings
This chapter describes the analysis of the data collected and the findings of this
research study. First, I describe the research approach for data analysis. Then, I explain
59
the perspective I used. After that, I present the data analysis procedures, including details
about the data analysis process I followed. Finally, I analyze each category and connect
to previous studies and the theoretical framework that guides the present study.
Data Analysis
Approach. In order to analyze the data, I used the grounded approach defined by
Corbin and Strauss (1990) as letting emerge theory from the data collected in a
systematic way and analyzed along the research process; thus, I aimed at obtaining
insights through the analysis of data I collected during the pedagogical intervention.
This approach involves a series of careful steps: to read the data, to find patterns, and to
present some categories of the analysis. That is to say, researchers use categories
obtained from the data to focus on making implicit belief systems explicit. To guarantee
a (good) thorough theory, I followed the steps established by Freeman (1998): “Naming,
grouping, finding relationships and displaying” (p. 99).
Perspective. As the objectives of my research study are to observe and analyze
students’ perceptions about formative assessment and to gain insights about the role of the
formative assessment in students’ learning process, I decided to use an emic research
perspective. According to Freeman (1998), “The term emic refers to meanings that the
insiders of a particular sociocultural group assign to a situation” (p. 70). Regarding the data
I collected, the emic perspective consists of students’ perceptions toward formative
assessment through the way they assumed the feedback they received during this process,
and the way they used the information they received in their further learning. As a teacher
researcher and English teacher of the participants during three years, I was an insider who
60
was familiar with the classroom situations when I implemented the formative assessment
based on the activities I had planned. I knew the setting, and the participants who were
involved in my study. Hence, I had a wide vision of the context from which I collected
data, the student’s characteristics, background, and some experiences.
The data collected come from the participants and the teacher. First, from the
transcripts of the informal and semi-structured interviews, I selected quotations to support
the analysis of the categories. Second, from the artifacts (students’ journals) I took excerpts
to support the findings and the perceptions they had toward the formative assessment
process. In conclusion, the data collected come from (the inside of) the research
participants and the context, assuming an emic perspective.
Procedures. The process I conducted to analyze the data assumed the analytic tool
called microanalysis (Corbin & Strauss, 1990), which consisted of a deep analysis of the
raw data in the artifacts and interview transcriptions. I carefully read all the data from the
instruments in order to get a general view of them. Then, I did a second reading looking for
recurrent regularities in the data (Patton, 2002), to organize this recurrent information I
underlined data with different colors as a way of classifying the excerpts taken from the
instruments, Next, I gave a name to all the pieces of data that I had colored before. The
names I used were grounded codes (Freeman, 1990), because they represented the
information that emerged from the data. After this, I started to look for the patterns that
were related to each other, and I identified the issues that were repeated; this helped me to
establish the preliminary categories and subcategories that could be the basis to build the
final categories. These preliminary categories are grounded as well (Freeman, 1998)
61
because they emerged from students’ similar and consistent opinions and perceptions
toward formative assessment.
When I had identified preliminary categories and subcategories, it was important to
establish the relationships among them; this step of the process is called finding
relationships, and it is mentioned by Freeman (1998). According to Corbin and Strauss
(2008), this process is named “axial coding”, in which the researcher finds the relationships
and understands them (regarding) analyzing their properties and dimensions. In this part of
the process, I read carefully and analyzed students’ opinions and perceptions that I found in
the artifacts and transcripts, in order to detect if the relations among categories and
subcategories (had support) could be supported or not.
In order to establish validity, I followed the triangulation process proposed by
Freeman (1998) that is to relate different data collection instruments on a single point. As I
mentioned in chapter 3, the instruments I used to gather data were artifacts, informal
interviews and two semi-structured interviews. Thus, I had the opportunity to analyze data
from different sources.
After the step above, I designed a matrix in order to display the relationships I found
among categories and subcategories; this display let me as researcher observe the way the
parts were related into a whole (Freeman, 1998). In the next section, I present a detailed
description of the interpretation I did of the categories and subcategories found.
The final step of the process I followed was naming. I read and analyzed the data
found in the instruments in order to minimize bias, and make sure the research is reliable
62
and dependable. Besides, I wrote short sentences about the recurrent aspects I found, after
this I classified these statements taking into account the research questions; in that way I
could establish the categories and subcategories of the research.
Categories of the analysis
As the purpose of this study is the identification of the relationship between
formative assessment and eight-graders’ learning process in SFS, I present the categories
and subcategories stated during the data analysis process. Figure 1 displays the categories
and subcategories and the relationship with the research questions.
Figure 1: Categories resulting from the data analysis
Questions Core Category Categories Subcategories
RQ1: What are the Formative Feelings toward 1. Formative

students’ assessment a formative assessment assessment
perceptions toward road to learner provokes feelings
formative autonomy
assessment? 2. Students value the
role of the feedback
in the learning
process
RQ2: What do the Formative 1. Formative 1. Self-reflection on

students’ assessment a assessment fosters their learning
perceptions inform road to learner metacognitive process.
us about the role of autonomy strategies.
formative 2. Self-reflection about
assessment in their task fulfillment.
learning process?
2. Formative 1. Strategies to
assessment develop
encourages communicative
metacognitive skills
strategies for
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future practices.
The core category formative assessment a road to learner autonomy, was
formulated in order to respond the research questions and as a guide for the categories and
subcategories of the study. Based on the information collected and analyzed, this category
shows an evidence of how the implementation of formative assessment process in a second
language classroom promoted the development of metacognitive strategies that encouraged
the improvement for future practices. During the data analysis process, I could determine
the way the students assume self – assessment and perceived the information received after
peers and teachers’ assessment. The findings demonstrated that students considered
feedback motivated them to establish metacognitive strategies which would support them to
better their communicative skills, consequently, their performance in the use of language.
The category feelings toward formative assessment was stated as a response to the
first research question as it describes the perceptions and opinions that the students have in
relation to the implementation of the formative assessment in the learning process. The data
I analyzed show evidence of the way the students perceive this kind of assessment.
Formative assessment provokes feelings, was the main aspect I found in the first stage of
the data analysis process. In this phase, the participants expressed insights about peer
assessment, teachers’ assessment and self-assessment. Moreover, students value the role of
the feedback in formative assessment reflecting on the information received from their
mates and teachers.
With regard to the second question, the category formative assessment fosters
metacognitive strategies was proposed as the data collected showed that during the self-
64
assessment activities the students started to do self-reflection on their learning process and
self-reflection about task fulfillment based on the analysis they did about that feedback.
Finally, the category formative assessment encourages strategies for future
practices was drawn from the process of awareness in relation to their task fulfillment; in
this stage the participants assessed the way they developed the tasks and planned new
strategies to develop communicative skills, that is listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
After making a brief description of the categories and subcategories that emerged
based on the data collected during the implementation of formative assessment in foreign
language learning, in the next stage I describe in detail each category showing examples of
the data gathered from the different instruments as well as participant’s original words, as
they were produced during the formative assessment process.
Category 1: Feelings toward formative assessment
This category is related to the main question, namely what the students’ perceptions
toward formative assessment are. The participants in this study show that they assume
formative assessment in diverse ways; thus, they perceive the process in a positive,
negative or changing way, depending on the reflection they do on the information received
from their mates, teachers, and their own assessment. Thus, they consider as good the
feedback in which their mates and teachers recognized both positive and negative aspects
of their performance, and encouraged them to continue improving; on the contrary, they felt
the information received was negative when their peers approved their work without taking
into account those issues to improve. In relation to changing feelings, some of the
participants assumed the feedback in a varied way depending on the kind of communicative
65
skill used during the activity. Concerning this aspect, Brown (2004), affirms that feedback
in formative assessment should give all the components to better the use of language. The
participant’s insights to this respect reveal that the teacher’s and mates’ concepts are very
important for them.
In respect to the aspects above, the students had the opportunity to reflect on them
in different moments. Thus, they were involved in a quantity of tasks in which they could
apply peer, teacher, and self-assessment assess and be assessed by their mates and their
teacher. In regard to the information received, they could value the feedback.
In order to illustrate this category, I present the following examples in which it can
be observed how the students assumed peer assessment, the teacher’s assessment, and self–
assessment, and how important the feedback was for them.
S1: “Me gusta mucho saber que puedo hablar y una de mis compañeras me puedan
evaluar, me sentí bien, y también sentí que hice bien mi trabajo”
(Journal 3, April 30th, 2012)
S2: “Con los self –assessment puedo mirar mis fortalezas y debilidades durante todo
el año y proponerme una meta para ser mejor en mi debilidad”
(Journal 10, Sept. 12th. 2012)
S10: “Pues yo pienso que yo no sabía bien cuáles eran mis errores, y además yo
pienso que me ayuda mucho porque igual tú no puedes tener siempre tu punto de
vista pues porque nunca vas a ver los errores que tienes, entonces creo que las
66
únicas personas que los pueden ver realmente son las personas que están a tu
alrededor”.
(Semi structured interview 1, Sept.27th. 2012)
S4: “Me sentí mal, ya que no he mejorado mi práctica oral. Mi compañera no me
dio casi ideas, sólo me dijo que mejorara el control del nerviosismo y mirar más al
público”
(Journal 4, May 9th. , 2012)
S8: “Pienso que ella fue muy general en cuanto a mi evaluación ya que en la
gramática no tenía errores. Mi proceso de escritura pienso que ha sido un poco
lento”.
(Journal 6, July 18th. 2012)
S14: “Bien, en realidad la evaluación no fue demasiado profunda, fue muy
superficial a mi parecer”.
(Journal 6, July 18th. 2012)
Formative assessment provokes feelings. After receiving and analyzing the
information in the assessment process, the students wrote journals and participated in
informal and semi-structured interviews in order to express the perception they had toward
the information they received from their mates and teachers, and the reflection they did
during the self–assessment. In respect to peer’s assessment, Brown, (2004) argues that this
67
type of assessment is important in language teaching- learning because it is focused on
learners’ awareness, and engages students in both their own and their mates’ learning
process. Moreover, Castillo and Cabrerizo (2003) state that self–assessment helps the
students to recognize their own process, to feel motivated, and to improve their learning. In
the following excerpts it is shown that students experienced positive, negative, and
changing feelings toward the assessment they took part in after doing the activities.
S7: “Bien, acepto que tengo varias cosas que mejorar pero en general lo acepto y me
sentí bien”
(Journal 3, April 30th. 2012)
S10: “Me sentí muy bien, pues recibir la opinión de una compañera es muy
importante pues nos dirá que tenemos bueno y en que estamos fallando para así
mejorar un poco”
S10: “Me sentí mejor pues he fluido un poco más, ya no me bloqueo tanto y me dice
ella que tengo pocos errores, entonces creo que igualmente de los errores se aprende
cada vez más.”
(Journal 4, May 9th. 2012 )
For these students, peer assessment is very important regarding the way they
perceive their own learning process; thus, they think that the opinions of their mates with
respect to their performance during the activities can help them to be aware of their
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strengths and weaknesses, and this motivates them to improve in the language learning
process.
S7: “La verdad me sentí mal porque no me fue nada bien y todo porque tuve
muchos nervios”
(Journal 4, May 9th. 2012)
S5: “Pues en las evaluaciones que me realizaron mis compañeras, pienso que lo
hicieron de una manera muy superficial, porque no se dieron cuenta más allá de lo
que, ósea no tomaron en cuenta los pequeños errores, sino pensaban más cómo era
como el contexto en sí, entonces no se daban cuenta si pronunciaban mal o si y ya”
(Semi-structured interview, Sept. 27th. 2012)
S6: “Principalmente siempre ponían algo muy básico, no decían muy puntualmente,
entonces pues la retroalimentación no era pues……buena porque no ponían
puntualmente nada, como retroalimentación”.
(Semi-structured interview, Sept. 27th. 2012)
The perception these participants have with respect to peer assessment is negative
because they think that the information they received was incomplete and very superficial;
besides, they feel the feedback is not enough to promote the reflection on the learning
process and generate plans in order to improve it.
S2 “Me sentí bien pero lo que ella me dijo no me pareció porque dijo que lo había
hecho bien y en realidad no lo había hecho tan bien”
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S11: “Pues yo me sentí bien porque me parece que una compañera te evalúe es una
forma muy constructiva de mejorar, y aunque a veces uno siente que lo que la
compañera escribió como que no concuerda mucho con lo que uno hizo, pero pues
yo pienso que esas cosas pasan, y son cosas que le sirven a uno para mejorar”
(Semi-structured interview 1, Sept 27th. 2012)
S13: “Bueno yo me sentí bien pero de alguna manera la evaluación de compañera es
incompleta, ya que es una persona de tu mismo nivel que ve errores mínimos y o no
ve cosas que de pronto tu si sientes, pero los otros no entonces no te ayudan a
mejorarlos, pero es bueno porque a veces ves desde otro punto de vista como estas
aprendiendo la segunda lengua”
(Semi structured interview 1, Sept. 27th. 2012)
These students have changing feelings toward formative assessment, as they
think that this kind of assessment is favorable for their learning process because it helps
them recognize aspects that they cannot see on their own; besides, they assume the
observations from their mates as a way to improve. However, they think that the feedback
received from their mates is incomplete, they feel that their mates do not observe and assess
as carefully as they expect; moreover, they do not agree with their mates opinions because
the information is not coherent with the way they did the activity.
S1: “Pues al realizar la autoevaluación me sentí muy bien ya que pude ver con más
claridad lo que he podido entender y aprender”
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(Journal 6, july 18 2012)
S3: “Me sentí bien porque creo que puedo evaluarme y cuestionarme sobre las cosas
que estoy y no estoy haciendo bien para mejorar en mi proceso de aprendizaje”
(Journal 10, Sept 12 2012)
S16: “Pues la autoevaluación te permite a ti misma reconocer todo lo que has hecho
y a la vez mirar qué quieres tu misma sin la necesidad de una ayuda mejorar para
lograr conseguir todas las metas que tú te planteas sin la necesidad de la ayuda del
otro”
(Semi-structured interview 1, Sept. 27th 2012)
The perception these participants have in relation to self–assessment is
positive, because they think it is a good opportunity to experience self–reflection on their
own learning process. According to the students, they felt well when they do this kind
analysis, although their performance is not as good as they aimed.
Students value the role of feedback in learning process
After the students received the teacher’s and mates’ opinions about their
performance during the activities and their language learning process, they analyzed these
and expressed their own point of view in relation to the information received. In regard to
this, Lambert and Lines (2000) affirm that formative feedback is more than the correction
of mistakes; it should imply a dialogue between teachers and learners. At the moment
students wrote or talked about the feedback they received, they showed how important this
is for them because it is valuable for them to know others’ opinion about their performance.
71
Therefore, Crooks (2001) suggests that feedback should emphasize the positive aspects of
the strategies the students implement to improve their performance in future tasks. The
following examples demonstrate that the students value the information received after
teachers and mates’ assessment, and the perception they have depending on the source of
the feedback, that is, mates’ feedback or teacher’s feedback.
S6: “Pues cuando la profesora hacía las correcciones, yo me di cuenta de mi
proceso, en las actividades, me fue fatal y ya después fui mejorando y ya al final
pues…me fue bien. La profesora daba las recomendaciones y la retroalimentación y
pues era específico, decía que faltaba practicar escritura y pronunciación según el
tipo de actividad era y ya”
(Semi-structured interview 1. Sept 27th. 2012)
S9: “I think the feedback was good because I learned more new things”.
(Informal interview 5. Sept. 5th. 2012)
These students expressed their point of view toward teacher´s feedback, they
recognize that this information helps them not only to recognize their advancements in
language learning, but the difficulties they have at the moment of using the language to
accomplish the tasks. Besides, they feel the teacher is interested in their language learning
process.
S11: “Pienso que he avanzado que con los feedback, he reconocido y me he dado
cuenta de las cosas por mejorar y corregirlos para avanzar”
(Journal 10, Sept. 12th. 2012)
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S8: “Al recibir estas retroalimentaciones puedo comparar si he mejorado,
empeorado o me quedé igual, ya que ella me está viendo como espectadora y se da
cuenta de cosas muy diferentes a las que yo veo”.
(Journal 4, May 9th. 2012)
These two students highlighted the importance of their peers’ feedback in the
process of becoming aware of their own language learning process, as they recognized how
important it is for them to receive this kind of information in terms of recognizing strengths
and weaknesses, doing self–corrections, and thinking of new ways to improve their own
learning process and the fulfillment of the tasks they did during the whole process.
Formative assessment fosters metacognitive strategies. This category answers the
second research question; namely what do the students’ perceptions inform us about the
role of formative assessment in their learning process. The participants in this study show
that they perceive the formative assessment as a means that permits them to reflect upon
their own learning process supported on the feedback received through the formative
assessment process. Concerning this aspect, Brown (2004) states that the key aspects of
formative assessment are the expression and interpretation of an adequate feedback on
students’ performance. In addition to this, the internalization of this feedback is related to
the implementation of metacognitive strategies. Hedge (2003) suggests that these strategies
come from self-observation during the learning process and the formative assessment of the
tasks.
Additionally, the implementation of the formative assessment brought about a self-
reflection on the learning process based on peer and teacher feedback, and the
73
selfassessment of their task fulfillment. Thus, the students started to plan their own
strategies to improve their future learning process Thanasoulas, (2000) defines
metacognitive strategies as “the skills used for planning, monitoring, and evaluating the
learning activity” (p. 5).
Chamot (2004), proposes a metacognitive model that involves the processes of
planning, monitoring managing learning, evaluating language learning, learning strategy
effectiveness, this category shows evidence on how students develop these strategies in the
different stages of formative assessment.
In the next stage, I present some excerpts where the students’ reflections on teacher
and peer feedback can be observed, and how they plan metacognitive strategies for future
learning.
S14: “La retroalimentación me sirvió para aclarar algunas dudas y para ver algunas
maneras diferentes de hacer los ejercicios”
(Journal 7, Aug. 2nd. 2012)
S7: “Me sirvió para aclarar en qué me equivoqué, por qué me equivoqué y para una
próxima vez no volver a cometer el mismo error”
(Journal 7. Aug. 2nd. 2012)
S7: “Para el próximo listening voy a estar más concentrada eh… leer mejor el
enunciado y pues utilizar tal vez la misma estrategia pero darle más coherencia a las
frases”
(Informal Interview 4. Aug. 4 2012)
74
S16: “En el primer ejercicio me fue bien pues sólo me equivoqué en dos, una fue la de
Chae porque no conocía esa palabra y en heart porque no entendí hears, pero después
me puse a leerla y me di cuenta, en el segundo pues no fue así muy cuando era
escuchar, pero cuando era escuchar sin texto, pero después cuando era con el libro si
me fue bien”.
(Informal Interview 1. Oct. 16th. 2012)
After stating the category two, in the following section I present the two subcategories.
Each subcategory is explained and illustrated with examples selected from the data and
interpreted regarding the theory.
Self-reflection on the learning process.
The implementation of formative assessment in the learning process promoted in the
students the self–reflection on their own process; thus, they had the opportunity to receive
feedback that encouraged them to think of the way they were assuming the learning
process, and their projection for the future. In respect to this, Blanchard (2001) argues that
formative assessment motivates students to be aware of their achievements and their future
learning goals. Moreover, the participants did an on-going analysis of their process, which
led them to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, the development of their skills, and
their difficulties in relation to the use of the second language. According to Lambert and
Lines (2000), the strength of formative assessment is that it helps students improve their
learning process because they become aware of the way they learn and they have learnt.
In respect to information above, the reflection on owns learning process promotes in
the students metacognitive strategies which enhance improvement in language learning, the
75
participants of the study demonstrated they planned their learning based on the feedback
received, besides, they monitored and managed their learning process as they recognized
their strengths and weaknesses; moreover, they assessed themselves by self-assessment
process, and evaluated learning strategies effectiveness because they determined if the
strategies used in previous tasks were effective or not.
S2: “ El tema de lo trabajado lo comprendí antes y durante pero en el second
conditional me equivoqué porque no me confié en lo que yo sabía y me confundí
con el primero pero ya todos los temas quedaron claros”
(Journal 1 , Nov. 1st. 2012)
S8: “Yo me siento floja en la parte de entender, ó sea me demoro muchísimo en
entender, digamos yo estoy escuchando una canción y me toca mejor dicho
cerrarme los ojos y recontramega concentrarme para poder entender que quiere
decir, o digamos cuando estoy hablando no es que fluya mucho sino soy como
trabada digámoslo al momento de hablar, en cambio en cuanto al momento de
escribir pues es como un poco más fácil y pues la lectura también”
(Semi-structured interview 2. Nov. 14th 2012)
These students reflected on their learning process based on the information they
received during the formative assessment. As it is shown in the excerpts, they have become
aware of their comprehension of the topics, their abilities and difficulties in the
development of the communicative skills, and the way they develop the tasks in order to
76
achieve the learning objectives. In this way they developed metacognitive strategies which
support them to better future learning.
Self–reflection about task fulfillment
The language awareness students developed through the formative assessment,
permitted them to assess not only the learning, but the way they developed each one of the
tasks taking into account different aspects as the kind of tasks, their motivation, their
abilities or difficulties to fulfill them, the strategies they implemented to complete them,
and the plan for future tasks. In regards to this, Hedge (2003), suggests that metacognitive
strategies involve, among other aspects, self–monitoring when learning and evaluation on
how successful learning has been after working on language in some way. As the
implementation of formative assessment encouraged the participants to reflect on the whole
learning process, the development of metacognitive strategies involved the analysis on the
tasks carried out in and out the classroom; thus, they had the opportunity to think of
important issues which involves task fulfillment: in what extent they felt motivated to do
the tasks, if they preferred one task to another, the communicative skill used in the task, the
time assigned, if the task was meaningful or not, if they did it in an appropriate way or not
(performance), and the kind of assessment they received after fulfilling the task.
S2: “Cuando yo hago las actividades siempre me motiva que es para mejorar,
cuando hago actividades del libro pues no es que me gusten mucho y se me
dificultan muchas veces hacerlas, pero lo hago porque sé que puedo aprender y que
hay muchas cosas de las que están ahí y las puedo aprovechar después”.
(Semi structured interview 1 – Sept 27th 2012)
77
S6: “Pues yo pienso que uno siente cuando lo hizo bien y cuando lo hizo mal,
normalmente yo siento que lo hice mal pero pues cuando uno siente que lo hace
bien, pues uno dice ah muy bien, pero siempre uno comete errores; por lo menos lo
de la entrevista esa ay es que lo terminamos y estaba muy cortico, entonces dijimos
qué hacemos y duramos como treinta segundos hablando e improvisamos el resto,
casi todo fue improvisado”
(Informal interview 7. Oct. 26th. 2012)
The first student demonstrated that she became aware of her own process as she
developed metacognitive strategies related to the tasks, she reflected on different aspects,
motivation, how useful was the task, and her preferences in regards to tasks. The second
student analyzed the way she developed the task, she stated that she knew the good and the
bad aspects of her task fulfillment; she evidenced awareness in issues as her performance,
the time assigned for the task versus the time she spent, and the communicative skill which
permitted her to do improvisation.
Formative assessment encourages strategies for future practices. This category
was stated taking into account research question two that is what do the students’
perceptions inform us about the role of formative assessment in their learning process. The
students showed that their reflections on their teacher’s and mates’ feedback and their self–
assessment helped them become conscious of their strengths and weaknesses in relation to
the development of the communicative skills. Accordingly, Brown (2004) suggests that the
main advantage of formative assessment is “to assess the students in the process of forming
their competences and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process”
78
(p. 6). Thus, students observed their own use of language in relation to the four
communicative skills and identified their abilities and disabilities; in that way they felt
encouraged to plan different strategies to strengthen their abilities and to overcome their
difficult.
According to the information above, in the next stage I present two examples where
I describe the way the students may assume their progress in the development of the
communicative skills, and their plans of future actions in order to improve them.
S2: “Pues para mejorar mi ortografía en Inglés pienso hacer escritos de algo queme
pase o cosas de mi interés que me motiven para mejorar y lograr mi objetivo, ser
mejor en Inglés y poder ser buena en ello, y también mejorar mucho mi gramática y
la ortografía porque siento que no soy tan buena en esos dos aspectos”
(Journal 13, Nov. 16th. 2012)
S1: “La mejor estrategia en listening es encontrar música en Inglés, tratar de
aprendérsela después de que uno la entienda y poder sin necesidad de buscarla,
encontrarle el significado y luego ver si acertó, para el writing lo mejor es inspirarse
diría yo”
(Journal 10, Set. 12th. 2012)
Strategies to develop communicative skills
The formative assessment implemented in the language teaching- learning process
involves different stages that lead the students to go inside themselves and analyze their
own learning process, as I mentioned before. Thus, the feedback given by teachers and
79
mates encouraged the students to observe their learning in a different way, as it permitted
them to develop language awareness, to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, to reflect
on task fulfillment, and to find strategies to improve the language use; as a result they
become autonomous learners. According to Little (1991), autonomy is the ability of relating
reflection, choices, and actions to the learning process. Additionally, Lowes and Target
(2003), affirm that each student in the classroom can be autonomous if the teacher gives to
them the possibility to learn by using the foreign language in different contexts, observing
critically their process, assessing others and themselves, reflecting, and planning for further
tasks related to the development of communicative skills.
S14: “I get mistaken at speak, I try to memorize other people accent to get into
myself so I would be better” [sic].
(Informal Interview7, Oct. 26th. 2012)
S12: “Para el listening pues yo creo que seguir practicando y en vez de sólo
practicar en clase, también buscar uno en la casa entrevistas en Inglés, canciones y
cosas así porque de resto…”.
(Informal Interview 6, Oct. 16th. 2012)
S7: “Entonces lo que voy a hacer de ahora en adelante es digamos cada párrafo por
decirlo así que lea es las palabras que no conozco escribirlas y pues buscar la
traducción y tratar de agarrar ideas; si ó sea ya sabiendo las palabras y lo que
significan ya darles cómo, ó sea no tan literal sino más contextualizado”
(Semi-structured interview 1, Sept.27th. 2012)
80
The previous data confirmed that the students were involved in a process of self–
reflection, where they recognized the way they developed each task regarding their abilities
or difficulties in relation to each communicative skill (listening, speaking, reading and
writing). Moreover, they are very conscious that they need to improve in the process, as
they state different strategies to improve both their performance during the tasks and the
use of the skills mentioned above.
In this chapter I have presented the analysis of the data collected as well as the
findings of my research. The categories stated were explained and characterized in the light
of theory and supported by data collected from different instruments. The implementation
of formative assessment influenced the participants’ language learning process, as they
became aware of this through peer, teacher, and self–assessment, the analysis and
internalization of the feedback, and the development of metacognitive strategies for future
learning.
In the next chapter, I present the conclusions which can be drawn from the analysis
of data, and the implications of these findings.
Chapter 6
Conclusions and Implications
This chapter shows not only the findings of the two cycles of the research study, but
it also presents the implications of implementing formative assessment strategies for
students in high school and for the institutions themselves. Besides, it describes the
81
limitations of the research and finally, it offers some recommendations for further research
on assessment, teaching and learning processes, learner autonomy, and strategies to develop
metacognitive skills.
Conclusions
The purpose of this research was the identification of the relationship between
formative assessment and eighth graders learning process in San Facon School. There were
fifteen sessions divided into two cycles, which included peer assessment, teacher’s
assessment, self – assessment, and planning for future learning based on the principles of
formative assessment. In the same way, the research study provided a description of the
students’ perception about the implementation of formative assessment in their language
learning process.
In regards of the first research question, which focus on the students` perception
toward formative assessment, the findings of the first cycle suggest that most of the
students who took part in the formative assessment process perceived peer assessment as
incomplete and not reliable enough, and waited for the teacher`s feedback. About self –
assessment, at the beginning they were afraid of recognizing their own level, but as time
passed by, they became aware of the importance of self-assessment to develop language
learning strategies, metacognitive processes and autonomy.
Additionally, the findings of the second cycle imply that the information received
from mates and teacher involves three aspects: first, this kind of data made students think
about the way they developed their tasks; second, they analyze their own learning process,
and third, they show how they felt toward formative assessment. In relation to the last
82
aspect, they demonstrated that they experienced positive, negative, and changing feelings
when they received the feedback from their mates and teachers. Besides, the students
assumed the feedback as a very important issue in formative assessment process; thus, they
valued the information as an element that gave them the opportunity of improving their
future learning process by implementing self – study methods, like looking for key words
when reading and listening, practicing pronunciation by repeating songs, searching for TV
programs, magazines, and some other materials related to their favorite topics as means to
better their language skills.
Implications
The implications that come from the development of this research study include
four different issues: first, to focus on the ELT community, second, to state the implications
for the applied linguistic field, third, to center the attention on Sans Facon School, which is
the place where the project was developed, and finally, to think on the benefits of the study
for the teacher-researcher.
Regarding the view of the process of evaluation and assessment within the ELT
community in Colombia, the implementation of formative assessment implies, first of all, a
reflection on the way English is evaluated in our country. It is important to change the
paradigm of product-oriented assessment and to start thinking about assessment as a
process that is immersed into the language learning that promotes the learners` awareness,
based on the feedback received and the use of strategies to improve students’ performance.
In the second place, the importance of including assessment and evaluation in the
programs for teachers´ development, so that teachers can have the opportunity of reflecting
83
on topics related to analytic and participative assessment processes, as Cárdenas et al,
(2010) state: “One of the conditions for professional development should be the promotion
of programs framed on vision oriented to the process more than the products” (translated
from the original. P.56). Taking into account this, teachers could start to generate
assessment systems that value the whole process rather than the final.
In relation to the applied linguistic field, this research study has three main
implications; namely, the view of assessment and evaluation, the use of formative
assessment in language learning, and the development of learning autonomy through
formative assessment. First, the view of assessment and evaluation in second language has
changed during the last decade; however, it is necessary to continue promoting its sense of
process more than the product; as Harris and McCann, (1994) state: “When teachers carry
out assessment, we have to measure the performance of our students and the progress they
make”. (P.2). Thus, English teachers in any context should bear in mind that assessing
every single activity our students do in class, is shown in the final results.
Second, the use of formative assessment in foreign language teaching engages both
teachers and learners with the whole learning process. According to Brown, (2004) during
the formative assessment the students are evaluated in the process of building their abilities
in order to help them to carry on their progress (P. 6). Thus, formative assessment promotes
a continuous reflection on the feedback students receive, not only from their teachers, but
their peers. In this way, students become conscious of their strengths and weaknesses, and
use strategies in order to make their asserts even stronger.
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The last implication in relation to the applied linguistic field is the development of
the learning autonomy through the formative assessment. Concerning this aspect,
Brown, (2004) argues that “The primary focus of this kind of assessment is the ongoing
development of the learner´s language” (P. 6). In consequence, the appropriate
information received during this process motivates the learners to plan and apply
strategies which permit a constant improvement in the language learning.
For Sans Facon School, it is important to remark that the study may contribute to
the development of the critical thinking of the students with respect to the process of
assessment and evaluation in foreign language learning. At the same time, in regards to the
Evaluation System of Sans Facon School (SIEVES) it could be valuable to share the
research study with the Foreign Language Department for two reasons. First, to know
about this research project may motivate foreign language teachers to reflect upon the way
they evaluate their students, and to implement the formative assessment as a way to make
more effective their teaching learning process in the classroom. Second , a study about
assessment may give the educational community the possibility to have a different
perspective of the evaluation, since they would know the students’ learning process not
only from the point of view of the teachers but also the classmates and learners themselves.
For the participants of the study, the implementation of the formative assessment in
their learning process implies the use of different “metacognitive strategies or self-help
strategies” (Hedge, 2003 p. 91); that is, students plan based on the information received
during the feedback from their teachers and peers. As a result, learners become self-
directed learners who according to Hedge (2003), “ are self-motivated, take the
initiative, know what they want to learn, have their own plan for learning, become aware
85
of the language use, organize the time for learning, and improve the learning strategies
permanently” (p. 76) This process allows the students to take a more active and
reflective role during the learning process where assessment is applied.
The last implications have to do with the role of the teacher as novice researcher.
Through a deep reflection of my practice not only as a teacher but also as a researcher, I
became aware of a number of aspects that I need to change in order to improve my
professional practice. First, the way my students assume the formative assessment of the
learning process shows me the importance of involving them into the process, which
implies changing the paradigm of the student as an object to be evaluated into the idea of
a student-subject who participates actively in the process. Second, I realized that the
learning autonomy is a good way to promote language awareness in my students; which
means that feedback received during the formative assessment, is a support to develop
metacognitive strategies that help them to improve the communicative skills.
Finally, the washback that is defined by Brown, (2007) as “a feedback in the form
of useful diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses” (p.451) is focused on teaching and
learning mainly. It could be a very beneficial instrument for testing because through it I
could change my view of the tests and use them for assessing my students and taking the
grades to discuss with them about strengths and weaknesses and to plan further work
based on the incorrect answers.
Limitations
Even though I had the opportunity to develop the present study with my students
and that my experience helped me to grow as teacher and researcher, I faced some
86
limitations related to time and the development of more tasks to observe the
improvement of my students in the use of language once they applied their
metacognitive strategies.
First, I could not fulfill the pedagogical intervention in the second cycle due to the
fact that I had to accomplish not only the curriculum of the school, but lots of extra class
activities which are important for the institution. Moreover, it was difficult to apply
peers’ assessment and self – assessment, especially in listening and speaking activities,
due to the number of students (40) and their lack of attention. In addition to this, some of
the students were not interested in their mates’ activities, it made difficult to collect
meaningful information from the peers’ assessment because it was not as clear and
objective as the students expected. Finally, some of questions of the peer assessment
formats used did not permit participants to objective in regards to their own development
of communicative skills.
Further Research
This research provides an insight of how foreign language learning could be related
to formative assessment. Thus, it becomes an example of how the implementation of
formative assessment in the foreign language classroom enhances a process of self-
reflection on learning that promotes learner autonomy. In regards to this, further research
that aims at the assessment of the use of metacognitive strategies in the development of
communicative skills, may promote formative assessment using similar procedures as
the ones I applied here.
87
As for my own future teaching and research, I think it could be interesting to
explore formative assessment of the use of metacognitive in listening and reading
comprehension, implementing different tools which help students to improve these
skills; it may enrich my practice as a teacher and a researcher.
88
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Appendix A
Institutional consent form
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Appendix B
Parental consent form
Maestría en enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras
meleprogram@upn.com
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98
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Appendix C
Student Informed Consent Form
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Appendix D
Students’ Journals Sample
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103
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Appendix E
Informal Interview Transcriptions Sample
INFORMAL INTERVIEW TRANSCRITPTION # 2 JUNE 13 2012
Research Questions:
1. What are the students’ perceptions toward formative assessment?
2. What do students’ perceptions inform us about the role of formative assessment
in their learning process?
Informal Interview # 1 Questions:
1. Did you learn new vocabulary while read the story?
2. Did you understand the message of the story?
3. Was it easy or difficult to summarize the story in the cartoon?
4. Did you use the strategies given by your teacher?
1. S14 I learnt some new vocabulary but not the words exactly just the idea, because
it was like the same words but in the meaning it wasn´t the same because the other part
of the phrase has a different concept that the word that I know. I understand the message
of the story because it wasn´t too hard it was about a boy that plays a piano. The most
difficult part was of the cartoon was to make all in little space because we tell the story
just in one paper……jajaja I was it was hard and I didn´t use the strategies that you give
us and no more.
2. S1: Sobre el libro o respondo las …. Ehhh en el libro que yo tuve que leer A
Christmas Carol, se encontraban palabras que estaban subrayadas por el mismo autor no
se por el mismo que hizo el libro y daban el significado de las palabras entonces yo creo
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que eso eran como los sinónimos entonces yo creo que eso era lo más importante. Ehh
aprendí mucho vocabulario porque digamos que por página eran cinco o seis las palabras
que subrayaban. Ehh el libro a
mi no se me hizo tan interesante pero sin embargo, si entendí el mensaje de la historia
que era de .. que era pues un libro que trataba de resaltar los valores que debe tener una
persona en específicas situaciones…..Ehh soy muy mala para hacer historietas y se hizo
difícil hacerlas por el tema de los diálogos que debe tener pero…..Si me sirvieron las
estrategias apliqué algunas pero básicamente la que yo aplico es como mientras leo
imaginarme la historia es como meterme a la historia.
3. S3: Opino que si aprendí muchas palabras. Ehh…. Pues porque igual las que no
entendíamos pues las buscábamos en el diccionario porque si no entendíamos la palabra
pues no podíamos entender como el mensaje y el contenido del texto que tiene el libro.
Ehh pues si entendí el mensaje de la historia mmmmm ……. La verdad me concentré en
el libro y pues también me ayudé con la película jaja….. Ehh…me pareció fácil y
también difícil el hacer el cartoon pues porque no teníamos tanto espacio para hacerlo
entonces pues ehh teníamos que como organizar bien nuestras ideas pues para poder …
para que no extendernos tanto en las conversaciones y en los diálogos que tenían los
personajes y…. pues si use varias o algunas de las estrategias ehhh … que tu nos diste
pues porque ayudaban a que hiciera mucho mejor las … y entendiéramos mucho mejor
cada cosa que hacíamos.
4. S7. Ehhh…… aprendí nuevo vocabulario pues básicamente si no entendía alguna
palabra pues iba buscando en el diccionario o si mi compañera pues ya las sabía le
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preguntaba. Ehh…. El mensaje de la historia pues la verdad no me quedó muy claro, se
me hizo un poco difícil hacer el cartoon porque no sabía como resumirlo muy bien y la
verdad usé como una estrategia no más que era como organizar algo así la historia pero
no realmente no usé mucho las estrategias.
5. S13: Bueno en el libro aprendí nuevo vocabulario y como ya lo dijeron
anteriormente expresiones que me permiten comunicarme de una mejor manera. Entendí
el mensaje de la historia que bueno más que un mensaje como toda la trama y durante la
misma historia no sólo nos da un solo mensaje sino nos da a entender distintas
situaciones en la vida que nos hacen actuar de distintas maneras. Para mi fue fácil hacer
el cartoon porque pues me pude organizar de un manera práctica y de acuerdo a lo que
sucedía más que expresar todos los hechos los más importantes y los que resaltan más la
historia y la marcan. Y utilicé algunas estrategias no todas pero si.
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Appendix F
Semi Structured Interview Transcription Sample
SEMI STRUCTURED INTERVIEW 1 SEPT 27 - 2012
Research Questions:
Semi.- structured Interview 1 Questions

1. Cómo te sentiste frente a la valoración de tus compañeras que recibiste en este
primer ciclo?
2. ¿Qué opinas acerca de la retroalimentación que tu profesora te hizo?
3. ¿Qué pensaste en el momento de hacer tus autoevaluaciones?
4. ¿En qué momento del proceso tuviste la oportunidad de reflexionar acerca de
tu proceso de aprendizaje? Peer assessment – self assessment – peer feedback
– teacher´s feedback .¿Por qué?
5. ¿Reflexionaste acerca de tu desempeño al desarrollar last areas?
Si No ¿Por qué?
6. ¿Qué estrategias piensas implementar para desarrollar tus habilidades
comunicativas? Listening – Speaking – Reading – Writing.
Question 1
S1 Para mi creo que fueron como 5 evaluaciones que nos hicieron otras personas, creo
que de esas 5 3 fueron mis amigas, digamos que las personas que más me conocen y eh…
y las otras pues dos personas que creo que lo hicieron porque tu las asignaste o que tocaba
por grupos evaluarlas. Para mí fue más complicado digamos la crítica de las personas que
más me conocían pues porque saben cuales son mis falencias al momento pues de hablar o
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escribir o de lo que sea, entonces pues digamos que la crítica es más dura cuando te la dice
una persona que te conoce eh….. mmm… sólo en 1 oportnidad sentí que … no todo sino
un pedazo de lo que me dijeron pues no estaba acertado eh… umm pero pues sin embargo,
digamos que todos como los consejos pues que me dan eh… siento que es una buena
manera como de que las demás se comuniquen contigo y de paso pues de muy buena
manera te digan lo que creen, en lo que ellas creen que tu fallas y pues es una buena
manera , sin embargo, a veces cuando no le dicen a uno lo que pues hace mal, pues a uno
le da como …. Que no le gusta si y entonces digamos que uno aprende, como que le
enseña a uno como a bajarse, como a decir bueno no todo lo hago tan bien y pues tengo
errores y ya.
S2 Las oportunidades que mis amigas o personas que me conocían, fue difícil porque ellas
veían mi esfuerzo pero entonces como que me daban muy duro y me decían como que yo
podía dar más, pero yo me esfuerzo lo suficiente, osea se que puedo dar más pero pues por
el momento hago lo que puedo y cuando otras personas me calificaron o me evaluaron
pues fue lo opuesto, porque no me dejaron ver lo que tenía mal sino solo cosas buenas, y
yo se que no todo era bueno; entonces de parte de mis compañeras, amigas conocidas era
bueno porque yo sabía que no todo era bueno, , pero de las otras niñas, sé que faltaba más
que miraran más alla de que yo no lo estaba haciendo bien;
S3 Creo que son de una gran ayuda y sirve mucho porque me hacen ver en que estoy
fallando eh… mucho más en las personas que conozco porque ellas no tienen el miedo de
decirme lo que tengo que mejorar porque saben que eso me puede ayudar, en cambio pues
como decía Lina, en las personas que no me conocen yo creo que como por temor pues me
dicen todo lo que está bien y pues no es así osea eh…. uno tiene que ver las cosas malas
para poderlas hacer bien y….. ya
S4 Eh pues a mi pues las evaluaciones me parecieron muy buenas ya que me ayudaban a
darme cuenta de los errores y digamos unas compañeras me dijeron pues que estaba
mejorando, me dijeron pues que iba mejorando, que al principio del año pues no me iba
tan bien; y que pues también tenía errores y que tenía que mejorarlos y pues me parecen
muy buenas esas evaluaciones ya que me ayudan a saber en que me estoy equivocando y
para poder tener un método para mejorar.
S5 Pues en las evaluaciones que me realizaron mis compañeras, pienso que lo hicieron de
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una manera muy superficial, porque no se dieron cuenta más alla de lo que, osea no
tomaron en cuenta los pequeños errores, sino pensaban más era como en el contexto en sí,
entonces no se daban cuenta digamos si pronunciaba mal o si y ya……
S6 Ehhh.. principalmente siempre ponían algo muy básico, no decían muy puntualmente,
entonces pues la retroalimentación no era pues…… pues si era buena ya que pues era el
otro punto de vista de tu compañera… pero además como por no decirle a uno que error
tiene que exactamente, entonces decían como no pues ella lo hizo bien y me gustó y le
entendí todo y ya, pero nunca ponían puntualmente nada, como una retroalimentación.
S7 Yo me sentí bien, creo que fue muy de acuerdo a lo que yo pensaba como me había
ido, si faltaron algunos puntos clave para mejorar la próxima expresión verbal o en
general, pero pues me sentí muy bien respecto a la retroalimentación que me daban.
S8 Pues yo casi no me sentí muy bien porque las retroalimentaciones que hacían mis
compañeras eran como muy superficiales, entonces siempre decían como lo mismo y pues
nunca me decían como realmente los errores que tuve, como que sería bueno hacer para
mejorar, ni… ósea eran como si lo hizo bien y no más.
S9 Retomando lo que mis compañeras ya habían dicho, pues si hay cosas que no son tan
específicas, pero pues yo pienso que cada una de nosotras tampoco dio como un punto de
vista específico, pues no nos dábamos como muy, como que no teníamos muy en cuenta
eso porque no evaluábamos tan detalladamente, entonces no decíamos como no respiro o
si…. Digamos las cosas que uno hace cuando ….. oralmente… no en serio hay que tener
buenas cosas ahí, entonces como que uno lo mira por la parte no tan objetiva, si decir ella
debe mejorar en su …. No se eh… como se dice eso en su eh… no cuando uno la palabra
no la menciona bien, eso la pronunciación o cosas así, entonces pues yo pienso que es eso
no? Porque como que uno no lo evalúa tan detalladamente. Pero en realidad pues yo si me
sentí bien porque habían cosas de las que yo dudaba mucho porque, uno a veces piensa
que lo está haciendo mal pero en realidad no es así.
S10 Pues yo pienso que yo no sabía bien cuales eran mis errores, y además yo pienso que
me ayuda mucho porque igual tu no puedes tener siempre tu punto de vista pues porque
nunca vas a ver los errores que tienes, entonces creo que las únicas personas que los
pueden ver realmente son las personas que están a tu alrededor… ya.
S11 Pues yo me sentí bien porque me parece que una compañera te evalúe es una forma
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muy constructiva para mejorar eh… pues lo que se esté evaluando y aunque a veces uno
siente que lo que la compañera le escribió a uno como que no concuerda mucho con lo que
uno hizo, pero pues yo pienso que son cosas que pasan, y son cosas que le sirven a uno
para mejorar y pues hablar mejor el idioma.
S12 Pues a mí me parece que faltó como más seriedad a la hora de evaluar a las personas
porque yo esperaba que me mostraran en que me equivoqué y que me decían que todo
estaba bien entonces yo sentía que no no fue muy buena.
S13 Bueno yo me sentí bien pero de alguna manera la evaluación de mi compañera es
incompleta, ya que es una persona de tu mismo nivel que ve errores mínimos y si no no los
ve cosas que tu si de pronto tu si sientes, pero los otros no entonces no te ayudan a
mejorarlos, pero es bueno porque a veces ves desde otro punto de vista como estas
aprendiendo la segunda lengua.
S14 Pues a mí en realidad nunca me hicieron una evaluación, mis evaluaciones siempre
eran como muy bien hablaste como muy rápido y era lo único que tal vez me dijeron que
tenía bastante mal, la verdad no quedé muy contenta con ellas, porque en ningún momento
sentí por parte de alguna de mis compañeras una evaluación realmente acerca de mi
desempeño ni de lo que quería decir.
S16 Pues a mi me parece que había niñas que se lo tomaban con seriedad y otras no porque
en unas oportunidades me tocaron unas compañeras y si me calificaban como era, pero
habían otras que sólo me ponían que todo estaba bien, pues es un nuevo método pero
también es parte de las niñas que pongan seriedad al calificar que no es lo que esta bien
sino lo que está mal también para que uno pueda corregirse.
S15 Pues a mi me pareció bien ese método porque te dicen algo y con los errores que
tendrás que mejorar, pero a la vez no te dicen todo lo que fallaste y la gracia es que te
digan para tu poder mejorar esos aspectos.
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SEMI STRUCTURED INTERVIEW 2 (FINAL) NOV 14 - 2012
Research Questions:
Semi.- structured Interview 2 (FINAL) Questions

1. ¿Relacionas los temas nuevos con los que ya habías aprendido?
2. ¿Cómo es tu atención dirigida o selectiva? (Ver notas)
3. ¿Cuál de las cuatro habilidades: Listening, speaking, Reading and writing te
preocupas más por desarrollar?
4. ¿Monitoreas tu proceso de aprendizaje del Inglés?
5. ¿Cuál es la meta más grande que tienes en cuanto al aprendizaje del Inglés?
Question 1
S8: “……. Como una cadenita conectada, ósea si tu no sabes digamos presente pasado y
futuro entonces digamos no vas a poder hacer los conditionals bien, entonces pues pienso
que todo va como muy relacionado y pues todos lo necesitamos en algún momento, ósea
todo lo tenemos que dar como una escalera paso por paso para pues cada vez poder hacerlo
mejor y poder como poder hablar, leer, escribir, escuchar y todo pues de una mejor
forma.”
S8 “Yo estoy de acuerdo con Mary en todo, pues es que todo tiene unas bases y las bases
debemos aprenderlas y afianzarlas muy bien para poder conocer los demás temas nuevos
porque si no como ella decía pues no podemos continuar y mejorar ehhh y pues si de eso
se trata de que todo por decirlo se alimenta de todo y debes nunca olvidarte de lo que
aprendiste porque si lo olvidas quiere decir que no lo aprendiste, entonces pues eso es…”
S3 “ Bueno pues yo creo y estoy de acuerdo con mis dos compañeras que si tiene mucho
que ver porque yo creo que es como un resultado de lo anterior, ósea las primeras cosas
que vimos ahora también las estamos usando y las estamos viendo pues porque como mis
dos compañeras dicen es una cadena que si no está ahí entonces no va a estar bien la forma
en la que hablamos o hacemos las actividades pues que desarrollamos”
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S1 “Yo creo que para poder aprender a hablar inglés todo se tiene que relacionar con todo
todo lo que tu aprendes siempre va a estar de la mano con lo que vas viendo todos los días
porque digamos que el Inglés es una estructura y para montar una estructura tu necesitas
herramientas y digamos que todo lo que aprendes día a día son las herramientas pues que
tu necesitas para aprender a hablar, entonces creo que siempre andas relacionando lo que
llevas viendo desde primaria hasta que terminas no se… siempre”.
S10 “Pues yo creo que todo se relaciona ÷porque todo empieza con unas bases que
tenemos desde pequeñas y pues eso va dando campo a que podamos aprender el resto de
temas que aprendemos a lo largo del colegio”
S6 “Pues yo si lo relaciono pues porque para hacer todo … las pruebas escritas y también
para hablar pues hay que…… como si una cadena hay que juntarlo todo para poder tener
una buena gramática”
S11 “Pues yo pienso que todo se junta con todo porque para avanzar se necesitan como por
decirlo así pues otras cosas, y son otras cosas que ya debimos haber aprendido, ósea es
como cuando todo se junta y todo da paso a que tu puedas seguir adelante”
S4 “ son necesarias y pues cada cosa por chiquita que sea pues siempre
va a ser importante para un avance”.
S13 “ Para mi el aprender es un proceso, es decir, tu aprendes primero a pararte, luego

caminas y luego corres y para poder correr tienes que siempre tener en cuenta esas bases
de como se camina, y si lo olvidas… tu puedes aprender a correr de memoria pero si lo
olvidas o no lo entendiste alguna vez se te olvida con el tiempo y ya no te sirve de nada lo
que aprendiste”.
S2: “Yo pienso que pues uno cuando está aprendiendo tiene que tener en cuenta lo que
hizo atrás, pero si digamos uno no tiene buenas bases pues va a ser difícil entender lo que
ahorita tiene entonces es bueno volver a retomar cosas que a uno no lo explicaron bien y
seguir adelante buscando como mejorar.”.
S5 “Al momento de aprender, los temas que aprendes son los que darán resultado a los
siguientes, entonces yo creo que más en un idioma es cuando todo se relaciona con todo
porque es una cadena y es necesario tener las primeras bases como para empezar a manejar
mejor los temas a futuro”.
S14 “You can´t learn without remembering the things that you because if you speak about
something and you don´t remember what you made yesterday or a month ago …. You
practice this and you speak with your friends about it , if you forget what you made or you
have done, you can not improve in what you are doing because without that part of
yourself there will not a possibility to improve anything. You are always learning even if
you are talking with your friends, even if you are watching tv, even if you are
speaking…you always learn and it is not only sitting here and watching to the explanation
…. No the thing is to live and when you live you can improve, if you only stay in the
topics of the class or something you never learn, because learning is all about the world, is
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about every single thing around you “
S15 “Si las relaciono porque es como una cadena, ya que todo se tiene que usar en algún
momento para que podamos avanzar cada vez más, debemos practicarlo y usarlo todo
junto, debemos relacionarlo todo porque todo nos sirve como una base”
Question 2
S8 “Yo creo que de las dos dependiendo del caso ….digamos a veces cuando estoy
leyendo y por ejemplo en el workbook que digamos a veces tenemos una actividad de que
lea el texto y respondan no se que y preguntan …entonces yo como que leo el texto pero
como por leerlo, por saber de que trata y luego miro preguntita por preguntita y busco la
respuesta en el texto y pues cuando digamos están hablando si trato como de concentrarme
en todo y de entender todo, pues obviamente poniéndole más importancia a lo que necesito
entender, pero igualmente trato de ponerle atención en general a todo”.
S9 “Si realmente me pasa lo mismo que a mi compañera, pero pienso que la mayoría de
veces trato de ponerle atención a todo como como para demostrarme que realmente estoy
aprendiendo y si… ósea que si puedo entender pero pues si a veces en los ejercicios que
son de ….hay que responder preguntas pues si hay que ponerle más atención a las
preguntas, entonces pues si yo pienso que …. Por ejemplo en lo de global warming…. No
se ese no fue el listening de mi vida porque me sentí mejor …mejor que a un listening
normal que hacíamos de , ósea que traía la letra en la hoja porque realmente me di cuenta
de que si estaba aprendiendo y que lo que me sirve es retomar y retomar para poder
entender ósea una frase o algo así claramente y pues pienso que sólo es eso”
S3 “Ehhhhh yo pienso igual que mis dos compañeras anteriores, yo pienso que …creo que
es de las dos dependiendo del momento, ósea dependiendo de la actividad uno como que
evalúa y pues ósea si digamos hace una actividad donde hay que escuchar algo es mejor
como poner atención en todo porque pues de pronto hay cosas que concuerdan con otras y
eso ayuda a responder bien la pregunta … pues no se es eso”
S1 “Mi atención es generalizada pues depende de la actividad, ósea hay actividades de

listening que implican canciones donde yo leo, imagino, predigo lo que puede ser y ya
después parte por parte sólo voy buscando lo que me piden, ehh igual en el resto de las
actividades depende de lo que me pongan a hacer, ósea si hay tiempo y es una actividad
que en serio me interesa mucho pues estoy impulsada a entenderlo todo para hacerlo bien,
pero pues por otra parte las actividades que cuento con muy poco tiempo o no son de mi
interés ….yo me limito a hacer lo que me ponen a hacer y ya”.
S10: “Yo creo que depende de la actitud que uno tenga frente a las actividades que le
propongan y también si a uno le gusta la clase en sí porque pues igualmente si uno se
interesa en la actividad entonces uno a uno le gusta pues uno trata de hacer todo bien para
un o aprender realmente, pero cuando a uno no le gusta y uno tiene pereza o le aburre
hacer eso, pues uno lo que busca es sacar lo más puntual y terminar la actividad rápido
para hacer otra cosa o algo así”.
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S6 “ Bueno pues yo pienso si que uno si le interés pues si uno se motiva para leer el texto,
pero si es de leer el texto y responder después unas preguntas …….me intereso por todo si
me interesa el texto, pero si es una lectura y después preguntas ni siquiera leo el texto, leo
las preguntas y busco la respuesta en el texto”
S11 “ Pues personalmente a veces yo lo miro como una cuestión de tiempo, pues no va a
ser lo mismo cuando yo leo todo un texto y tengo toda una hora para leerlo a cuando tengo
media hora para leer un texto y solucionar unas preguntas ……Yo pienso que asi sea
escuchar o leer es bueno entender todo el texto, entender todo porque asi no sea lo que se
nos pida eso nos ayuda de alguna manera, pero cuando hay muy poquito tiempo yo pienso
que …..lo que hago es seleccionar lo que yo necesito para que me vaya bien y pues porque
no me gusta dejar de lado el resto de contenido de un texto”
S4 “Pues prácticamente siempre hago como selectiva porque cuando te colocan un texto y
te dan las preguntas pues uno trata de entender pero se pone a más bien pensar en cada
pregunta y responderla y digamos cuando las niñas están hablando, uno trata de entender
todo pero yo me quedo trabada en la mitad de lo que están diciendo .”
S13 “Bueno yo creo que ambas una más incosciente que la otra, yo siempre trato de
abarcar el contenido en general, pero termino siempre concentrándome en algo…lo que
me llamó más la atención o que se que es lo que exactamente me preguntan y más es
inconsciente como el hecho de saber que tengo que responder frente a una pregunta que
me están pidiendo esto y tengo que dar esto, entonces muchas veces lo hago más que por
aprender en general sino por centrarme en lo que me piden y me quedo ahí.”
S2 “Yo creo que son las dos, porque a veces inconscientemente como dijo me
compañera… uno es hay bueno si y también depende del momento que se de , si a uno le
gusta la hora, el texto… bueno yo que se…y pues ahí veces quiero entender todo pero no
puedo, entonces me aburro y sólo lo selecciono y ya.”
S5 “Mi atención principalmente depende de la actividad, entonces digamos en los listening

y en speaking intento siempre concentrarme y digamos que mi atención es totalmente
dirigida por así decirlo, pero en los Reading, la mayoría de veces cuando es de selección
multiple siempre leo el texto superficialmente y después miro lo que me preguntan, pero a
veces cuando es de respuesta abierta ahí si me concentro demasiado porque se que , ósea la
idea principal no va a estar solo en un párrafo, entonces me toda leer y leer hasta encontrar
la idea que necesito y al momento de escribir depende de la pregunta y de mi estado de
ánimo, si tengo mucha pereza intento hacerlo que quede bien pero no de la manera
suficientemente perfecta por así decirlo.”
S14 “En mi caso es ambas pero ninguna…..porque ni siquiera …..porque llega a un punto
que ni siquiera es dirigida ni selectiva, ósea es un punto medio, puede que esté prestando
atención y puede que todo el tema pero no es completamente ninguna de las dos, por
ejemplo, en un listening escucho toda la canción pero no le estoy prestando la suficiente
atención para decir dirigida y tampoco me estoy centrando en un par de cosas para decir
que es selectiva, porque veo todo de una manera muy fácil, por ejemplo mis textos son
muy simples sin decir tampoco que sean tontos, pero es un punto medio, sin la necesidad
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de mucho del uno o poco del otro pero con ambos logro hacer un trabajo con el que yo me
siento conforme y con el que creo que mejoro mis aptitudes.”
S15 “Mi atención es a veces selectiva ya que depende de la actividad que toca hacer mi
atención varia, en algunos ejercicios no pongo mucha atención sino que lo hago sin
pensarlo”.
Question 3
S8 “Pues haber todas me interesan …..porque pues la idea es como tener un Inglés
perfecto, y pues para un Inglés perfecto pues obviamente se necesitan las 4 habilidades no?
Aunque pienso que….ósea me gustaría muchísimo profundizar las habilidades de la
escucha y del habla jajjaa…como fue que dijiste? Jajaaj del speaking, entonces ehhhh
porque pues no se ósea, uno en español es distinto….es que es como una tendencia muy
marcada aquí en Colombia y es enseñar primero a escribir en Inglés y después no enseñan
a hablar y a escuchar , entonces pues pienso, ósea para mi ……bueno a mi me enseñaron
asi jejeeje…..entonces a mi parecer es muchísimo mejor aprender como uno aprendió
español, ósea uno aprendió español escuchando para poder hablar y después escribir,
entonces ehhhhh yo me siento muy floja en la parte de entender, ósea yo me demoro
muchísimo en entender, digamos yo estoy escuchando una canción y me toca mejor dicho
cerrarme los ojos y recontra mega concentrarme para poder entender que quiere decir, o
digamos cuando estoy hablando no es que fluya mucho sino soy como trabada digámoslo
al momento de hablar; en cambio en cuanto al momento de escribir pues es como un poco
más fácil y pues la lectura también.”
S9 “ehhhh pues realmente para mí es más importante que las 4 estén bien, porque para uno
decir que sabe un idioma, uno debe tener claro las 4 habilidades, porque si entonces no lo
sabe, entonces pues es lo que pasa creo que en Estados Unidos, las personas saben hablar,
pero realmente en gramática están muy mal, entonces pues la gracia es como tener todo
muy bien pero en la parte escucha siempre es como algo muy regular y en la parte de
hablar también, entonces me gustaría mejorar eso porque a mi hablar Ínglés me emociona,
pero al hablar como que me pongo nerviosa, entonces jajaja que… no te burles …pues yo
pienso que esas son las que debo mejorar , pues porque para mí escribir ya es mucho más
fácil porque se …no se me siento más libre al hacerlo”.
S3 “Pues como mi amiga decía yo creo que todas son importantes, pero principalmente
creo que, me gustaría mejorar mi speaking porque creo que es algo que, ósea pues como
todas es el más necesario, ósea cuando uno está en un país como pues Inglaterra o Canada
o culquiera ehhh jeeejjeeje uno no va a tomar como en cuenta ósea uno no va a escribir,
no va a leer, va a hablar, va a comunicarse con alguien entonces pues creo que es como lo
primordial pues para comunicarnos y poder ehhhh expresarnos en una sociedad”.
S1 “Ehhhh en cualquier idioma en el que yo pueda o trato de aprender ehhh el escribir para
mí siempre va a ser vital porque me parece que es digamos mi fuerte en el sentido en el
que tengo la capacidad para escribir o lo que siento, lo que veo, lo que pasa muy rápido,
me gusta demasiado hacerlo y siento que es de las pocas maneras que me llena como
persona en el momento que lo hago, entonces creo que asi esté aprendiendo mandarín lo
116
más importante siempre va a ser escribir, porque para mi pues el resto se me hace
secundario, sin embargo, yo siento que puedo mejorar demasiado en el speaking porque
tengo una capacidad para hablar en español muy buena, tengo muy buen análisis pero en
Inglés lamentablemente me limito demasiado, por eso porque no tengo la capacidad de
comunicarme rápido y bien en Inglés, entonces creo que es lo único que me gustaría
mejorar.”
S10 “ehhhhhh creo que las 4 cosas son pues muy fundamentales para uno poder tener un
Inglés muy bueno pero pues a mi me gustaría en lo personal mejorar el speaking porque
creo que es algo que me da muy duro ehhhhh pues igual a mi no me va muy bien en Inglés
y pues ósea no es de lo mejor pero creo que en lo que más me va mal, entonces pues yo
soy de las personas que de pronto se traba mucho se queda pensando o cosas así, entonces
pues eso me gustaría mejorar más que todo.”
S6 “Pues a mi de las habilidades que más me gusta es escribir ya que pues no se puedo
tener un diccionario al lado y se me hace más sencillo y la entiendo mejor, pero pues todas
son buenas y no se …. Pues me gustaría escribir pero así que me encante una ….no no hay
.”
S11 “Pues a mi la que más me gusta es el leer porque nose… yo creo que al leer además de
aprender tengo recursos que me facilitan entender , entonces yo creo que para mí lo que se
me hace más fácil es leer, pero yo creo que lo que se me dificulta es el escuchar porque a
veces por el mismo acento que utitlizan las personas yo no alcanzo como a diferenciar las
palabras que usan y el contexto del texto.”
S4 “ pues a mi me parece que el speaking pues es como el más importante y que de pronto
sería desarrollar más pues porque mediante el habla uno es como se comunica con las
personas y pues es como la base para tener …..bueno para hablar si? Y pues también sería
como escribir que es también algo vital para poder desarrollarse en el mundo”.
S13 “Pues yo pienso que las 4 son muy importantes y las 4 las quiero aprender muy bien,
pero para mí es como primordial el listening y el speaking porque por medio de estos me
puedo comunicar y a la vez puedo aprender a medida que escucho, que entiendo a los
demás cuando me hablan o cuando se comunican conmigo de una manera más rápida para
mí”.
S2 “Para mí las cuatro son importantes, pero creo que el más importante es el hablarlo y
entenderlo, siento que he mejorado muchísimo pero no se tengo que esforzarme mucho
más para lograr lo que quiero”.
S5 “Ehhhh de las 4 habilidades la que más me preocupa es el listening, principalmente

porque a la medida que tu escuchas vas a aprender más vocabulario y más formas para
escribir y más formas al momento de la pronunciación, entonces para mí es algo vital
primero aprender a escuchar para asi tener más estrategias para poder escribir y hablar y
otra sería el Reading como la comprensión porque al momento en que puedo entender un
texto, es mas fácil entender un listening.”.
117
S14 “para mi las 4 son muy importantes, no puedo decir que ninguna es más que la otra
porque para mi todas son dependientes, si puedo hablar y escuchar de una manera perfecta
sin escribir , si me piden una carta de recomendación pues voy a a quedar mal porque
…por eso es que cada una necesita un poco de atención, no simplemente llegar y … o
hacer un listening simplemente para aprender a escuchar, sino también con ese listening tu
tratar de entender la palabra y saber como escribirla porque con cada una de ellas puedes
mejorar el otro, por ejemplo, con un listening puedes mejorar tu speaking y si tu logras
mejorar en uno pues ya mejoraste todos porque gracias a él el otro va a aser mucho más
fácil y va a ser mucho más completo al momento de ya usarlo de una manera menos
simple”.
S152 “Pienso que todo es importante y necesario para lograr tener un Inglés completo y
perfecto y es necesario mejorar todos estos aspectos , las 4 son muy importantes para
lograr entender el Inglés”.
Question 4
S8 “En cuanto a lo del monitoreo, yo soy de las que digo no aprendí nada este período,
pero no se con el Inglés precisamente me pasa algo diferente porque, pues empezando
porque es algo que me gusta mucho, me gusta mucho pues los idiomas y, bueno aparte que
me gusta mucho la forma en que la profesora enseña y le entiendo mucho, ósea me parece
muy clara la forma y lo hace ver más claro de lo que es, entonces digo como bueno ya
aunque el tema no me haya quedado perfectamente claro aprendí algo de acá y tengo más
o menos la idea de como debe ir, entonces ya teniendo la base de como utilizar tal cosa,
entonces ya uno puede partir de ahí para empezar a desarrollar pues cada vez más esa
formulita, ósea es algo así como coger una fórmula de física y convertirla, entonces pues
pienso que siempre en mi caso personal siempre me queda como un aprendizaje para
hablar de lo que vemos en la clase”.
S9 “Pues yo pienso que ehhh para las actividades que la profesora hace en las que uno
analiza su, ósea como estuvo su desarrollo de la actividad, es decir, su…. Desempeño eso
entonces pienso que esas evaluaciones sobre esas actividades o lo journals más que todo
me he dado cuenta que si he aprendido porque no se…… ahora se me hace más fácil
escribir, porque antes para mí escribir era un temor; y comparto lo que dice mi compañera
la frase que dice “la única persona que hace ver las cosas difíciles o fáciles es el maestro”
y pues un buen educador es el que te enseña de una forma más fácil y pues yo pienso que
la profesora es una persona que no hace lo que hacen en todos los colegios, que lo evalúan
por puntos y que si está completo son 10 puntos y eso no? Si no eh….. es eso uno querer
ser mejor, pero lo hace por sus conocimientos no por una nota”.
S3 “Yo pues monitoreo mi desempeño ehh viendo como he avanzado con mis trabajos,
ósea viendo si…. Pues antes, por ejemplo a principio de año yo no escribía tanto como
escribo ahora ..con bastante fluidez, o por ejemplo no hablaba por temor a equivocarme y
que las personas se rieran de mí, entonces es como mirar ehhhh como ha sido mi
desempeño desde principios del año hasta ahorita y ver pues si de verdad estoy
aprendiendo pues todo lo que nos han enseñado".
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S1 “Yo creo que uno es consciente de que lleva un monitoreo a la mitad y al final de cada
período, por lo menos yo soy consciente de eso porque a la mitad ehhh digo bueno empecé
bien, voy a continuar bien, o empecé mal voy a continuar mal ……..o voy a mejorar, y al
final es cuando uno en realidad se da cuenta de los resultados que uno tiene, entonces yo
creo que ahí siente su monitoreo, pero en realidad tu estás monitoreando incoscientemente
todo el tiempo, porque como terminas un período de tal manera, y ya al comienzo de
nuevo te estás dando cuenta como vienes, entonces yo creo que es un monitoreo continuo
que por lo menos yo me hago; con respecto a una herramienta que facilite mucho el
monitoreo pues es el journal pues tu te das cuenta si aprendiste o no aprendiste y…ya”.
S10 “Pues yo realmente me hago como un monitoreo a mitad del período y ya finalizando
porque yo también veo como empecé bien o como voy o que me falta por entregar, que he
aprendido y que no, entonces pues creo que hago , por decir tomo una hoja y digo estos
temas fueron los que vimos, entonces hago como una síntesis de cada uno a ver que
aprendí, entonces yo digo bueno en este si o que pasó, que faltó o algo así”.
S6 “Bueno pues…… no sé que decir, si yo creo que si me monitoreo pero al final del
período porque durante el período no….ósea al final al repasar para la evaluación uno
piensa si le fue bien ……si lo hizo bien o no lo hizo bien …. Como una autoevaluación
que yo misma me hago “.
S11 “Pues yo pienso que es..ósea es son cosas de las que uno se da cuenta cuando digamos
tiene que hacer una tarea o una evaluación; a veces cuando yo iba a hacer las evaluaciones
de Inglés yo sentía que aprendía porque entendía los temas y no era necesario repaso y
repaso porque como que yo era ya fluida, no era como tanto meterme estudie, estudie y
estudie, sino que ya por decirlo, lo hacía automáticamente , yo aprendía así sin necesidad
de estar estudiando tanto; y también es porque uno quiere … porque cuando tu no quieres
tu no vas a aprender , pero si uno le pone las ganas uno no necesita estudiar porque las
mismas ganas hacen que todo te lo metas en la cabeza y te lo grabes”.
S4 “Yo creo que si me monitoreo…pues es como algo que uno siempre trata de hacer,
porque pues uno piensa en que he mejorado en que ….como que evolución he tenido desde
el principio de año y pues eso es una autoevaluación yo creo y ya, sería como
mirar….monitorear sería como mirar los aspectos que antes tenía , las cosas que debía
mejorar y ahora las cosas que he mejorado y las cosas que aún tengo que mejorar”.
S13 “Yo no vivo pendiente de cuanto aprendo o que he mejorado, sencillamente con el
paso del tiempo y cuando uno en práctica es cuando se da cuenta de lo que aprendí o si
entendí el tema….más bien a la hora que lo necesito me doy cuenta si lo aprendí o no”.
S2 “Yo he tenido desde el principio cuando empecé pues el proyecto contigo, siempre me
puse un objetivo para el final del año, entonces miré cada vez que iba terminando el
período si lo estaba logrando o no, y noté que tuve muchos cambios por ejemplo, al
hablar me sigue dando pena pero no tanto, ahora tengo más seguridad de lo que se, es que
escribo pues mejor que antes….antes duraba una eternidad escribiendo un renglón,
entonces siento que he tenido un gran avance”.
119
S5 “La mayoría de mis monitoreos son….ósea como que no los hago a conciencia sino que
son la mayoría de veces inconscientemente , entonces al terminar una actividad como que
digo ay si he avanzado, pero no me pongo a pensar punto por punto si avancé, ósea
digamos no pienso si al terminar una actividad ……ósea mi fluidez no la evalúo en eso
sino en lo que digo, entonces pero al final del período como que o al final del año es
cuando realmente hago el monitoreo preciso de lo que he aprendido respecto a los avances
que he tenido hasta ahora este año comparados con los del año pasado”.
S14 “Yo tampoco en realidad hago ningún monitoreo yo pues….si aprendí bien, si no
también; y pues en realidad yo uso lo que he aprendido en realidad no me pongo este año
voy a aprender tal, tal y tal, si logro aprender algo, si logro conseguir algo de manera
inconsciente lo hago, si no con lo que tengo tratar de mejorar porque en realidad no me
enfoco tampoco en cada cosa …por ejemplo, aquí me saco tanto, aquí me salió tanto ….
Yo miro cuanto sé, puedo saberlo porque para mi el aprendizaje es mucho más allá de lo
que puedo realizar en el colegio y muchas veces no todo el aprendizaje que tengo lo voy a
desarrollar acá; entonces para mí más que hacer monitoreo es estar consciente de lo que
sabes y lo estás analizando, es como un monitoreo porque cuando tu lo haces a tu manera
de ver cuanto has aprendido y cuanto te falta”.
S15 “En Inglés he aprendido mucho, de hecho más que en otras asignaturas, mi profesora
de Inglés es muy buena explicando así he podido avanzar más en mi Inglés con cosas que
son fundamentales”.
Question 5
S8 “Mi meta más grande en cuanto al aprendizaje del Inglés hablarlo prácticamente..ósea
tenerlo y afianzarlo y usarlo como lo hago con el español, tener la capacidad de entablar
una conversación completa perfectamente como si yo estuviera hablando en español o
estuviera simplemente comunicándome en español es totalmente fundamental, ósea es
como mi gran sueño”.
S9 “Realmente si ..para mí lo más … como la meta más grande sería como poder hablar
bien en Inglés porque pienso que es lo que más a uno se le dificulta cuando uno está
aprendiendo un segundo idioma, y poder hacerlo sería un gran logro ya que podría , ósea
estaría demostrándome a mí misma que realmente pude y si alcancé a unir todo ese
conjunto de conocimientos y aplicarlos en mi vida cotidiana”.
S3 “Yo creo que mi mayor meta es aprender, aprender…ósea saber todo el idioma ehhhh y
más que todo pues poder entablar una conversación con alguien y saber que lo que estás
diciendo tiene lógica así como uno habla cuando está hablando en español , así como
hablamos normalmente todos los días pero pues en Inglés”.
S1 “Yo creo que la meta más grande para mí poder aprender y tener las mismas
capacidades que tengo en español en Inglés”.
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S10 “Pues yo creo que mi meta más grande es poder encontrarse una persona que sea
extranjera de otro lugar y poder entablar una conversación con ella y pues como lo hace
uno normalmente, supongamos en el colegio, en la casa o con los amigos y no solamente
pues hablar formalmente sino tratar de hacerlo informal, entonces por ejemplo, ehhh
digamos como recochar de alguna forma si? Ósea que uno pueda también como divertirse
si?”.
S6 “Mi meta es que uno viaje y que uno llegue a una tienda y no me pase lo de la bolsa y
si que yo me pueda comunicar con personas extranjeras “.
S11 “Pues yo creo que es como algo tan fundamental que te permite como aprender más
como digamos….a mi me gustaría como hablar perfectamente el Inglés porque el Inglés es
como la base de muchísimos idiomas, entonces a mi siempre me ha gustado eso de los
idiomas, aunque siempre me va mal, y yo pienso que el Inglés ósea además de brindarnos
como otra forma de vida porque si tu te vas a un lugar en donde hablan Inglés entonces,
además te da la posibilidad de conocer nuevas culturas y poder también aprender cosas
nuevas, otros idiomas y con eso seguir aprendiendo y seguir retroalimentándose”.
S4 “Yo creo que mi meta más grande sería hablar sin tener la necesidad de traducirlo en
español ehhhhh y puedes entender pues al que me está hablando y saber que me está
diciendo”.
S13 “Para mí la idea es estudiar en Inglaterra y vivir en Australia, y para eso quiero volver
el Inglés más que mi segundo idioma dejarlo como de primeras ósea que sea lo más
elemental, que sea como igual de fluido como el español, que no se me dificulte que non
tenga ningún problema sino que sea ya parte de mi diario vivir y que no tenga ningún
problema”.
S2 “Mi objetivo en el Inglés es poderlo hablar y pues entenderlo, pero más que eso creo
que saber bien todo lo que estoy haciendo y diciendo, desde que empecé con esto tengo
muchas cosas pensadas aparte de entender el Inglés, entonces pues no se espero que se
pueda lograr todo”.
S5 “La meta que tengo propuesta respecto al Inglés es tener las capacidades suficientes
para entablar una conversación con una persona extranjera sin tener ningún inconveniente
para así no tener el Inglés como un momento de aprendizaje, sino ya más tomarlo como un
estilo de vida”.
S14 “El Inglés para mí siempre ha sido primordial, desde que soy muy pequeña siempre
intenté aprenderlo de una manera mucho más estricta que mis compañeras; desde muy
pequeña tuve la fortuna de poder entablar conversaciones con personas que eran de otros
países, no necesariamente aquí, y eso me llevó a querer ser así, porque si desde pequeña
tienes un sueño ….sonará bobo…llega tanto a su cabeza que se convierte como en ti; y yo
el inglés es algo que más que un idioma, un segundo idioma, es algo con lo que quiero
vivir porque yo quiero vivir en Inglaterra y todo….es muy necesario y más que verlo como
que tengo que aprenderlo es entenderlo no simplemente para vivirlo, para sentirlo, para
todo porque el Inglés más que un idioma es una manera de vivir, porque ya que con él tu
121
desarrollas unos conocimientos que no logras muchas veces con el español, ya que hay una
gran diferencia, el Inglés es primordial porque uno de los países que es potencia mundial
es USA y tu necesitas el Inglés para vivir allí…..Todos de alguna manera tenemos algo
que ver con él, y si no tenemos conocimiento de ello como podemos vivir en una sociedad
sin algo que es necesario”
S15 “Mi meta es hablar Inglés perfecto ya que en la actualidad el Inglés es muy importante
y poder aprender mucho”.
122
Appendix G
Timetable
Data CollectionPlan
Research Question Data Source # 1 Data Source # 2 Data Source # 3

#1
What are the
students’
perceptions toward
formative
Journal Informal Interview Semi Structured
assessment? Interview
What do the
students’
perceptions inform
us about the role of
Journal Informal Interview Semi Structured
formative Interview
assessment in their
learning process?
Time Table
Instruments Piloting Data Collection

Journals From October to November From March to November
2011. The journals were 2012.They were written by
written after different tasks the students each week after
with seventh graders, receiving the feedback of
observing and analyzing the the activities done. In the
possible improvement to the journals they wrote their
prompts to obtain better opinions about formative
information. assessment and plan
strategies for future
learning. They wrote 13
journals.
Informal Interviews From October to November From March to November
123
2011. The first informal 2012. They were done after

interview was piloted until doing the assessment and
the answers of the students giving the feedback based
help me gather useful on listening and reading
information comprehension activities.
The students answer the
questions giving their
opinion about feedback,
tasks fulfillment, and plan
strategies for future
learning.
Semi Structured Interview From October to November Sept. 27th. 2012 and Nov.
2011. The semi structured 16th. 2012.
interview was piloted until The first semi structured
gather rich information interview was done after
about student’s opinion finishing the first ten
about assessment at school. sessions of the
implementation. During the
interview the students
answered questions the way
formative assessment had
influenced in their learning
and how it helped them
become aware of their
process.
The second was done as the
final step in the data
collection process, from that
instrument the information
gathered was related to the
planning of strategies to
better future learning.
124
APPENDIX H
Timetable for Instructional Design and Data Collection Format
SCHEDULE FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION

FORMAT – CYCLE 1
Research Questions:
2. What do the students’ perceptions inform us about the role of formative assessment
Site: Colegio de la Presentación Sans Facon Class: 8 A
Session Pedagogical Formative Kind of Data Data Collection

and Activities Assessment Collected Instruments
Date
1 “An amazing In order to Self and Peer Artifacts:
April Story” organize the Assessment: Documents and
16th. Learning information During these formats
Objectives: about formative processes collected in
- To write and talk assessment students will formative
about past events process, the provide assessment
through the use of students were information process:
the verbs in past asked to file the about: a.Peer
and appropriate activities in a a. Learning assessment
expressions. folder (Portfolio). process: Based formats.
- To learn about on the feedback b. Self –
other’s favorite Assessment: The they receive assessment
stories. listening guide from teachers formats.
Warm Up: To will be in the and mates after
introduce the topic folder and it will doing the Journals: These
the students are be one of the activities, they artifacts are
going to answer the elements to do self will reflect on collected and
following question: – assessment. their strengths checked at the
What is your and weaknesses beginning of
favorite story? Tell during the each week, the
about it. process. content of them
Activity: Listen to b. How they feel answers among
short stories. during formative others the
assessment following
2 1. Objective: Assessment 1: process. prompts:
April 19 To build a story The students are c. The way they a.How do you
based on different going to listen to assume the feel with the
125
images. their mate’ stories information assessment your

Activity: and they will received as mate did on your
Telling short assess one mate of feedback. performance?
stories: The the class by using d. The way they b.How do you
students are going the format plan to improve feel with your
to tell (orally) a designed with this in further teachers’
story based on objective. Once activities. feedback.
groups of pictures each one of the c. How do you
given by the students will plan to use your
teacher. This receive their own mates’
activity will be feedback from assessment?
developed by their mates, this d. How do you
groups of three. format will be plan to use your
3 2. Objective: filed in the folder. teacher’s
April 23 To differentiate Assessment 2: assessment?
between past In relation to (Strategies)
simple and present guided activities, e. How did you
perfect on the the students will feel with your
development of receive the self –
guided exercises. feedback from the assessment?
Activity: teacher that may Informal
Learning by using provide the Interviews:
my schoolbook: the information to the This instrument
students will do the students in oral or will be applied
activities from unit written way. aiming at getting
2 of the book information
project 4. about listening
4 1. Objective: Assessment: and reading
April 27 To write a story After finishing the activitives;
using the topics story, the students during these
worked in class. will make groups interviews the
Activity: Writing of four and they students will
an amazing story: will do a review to have the
The students are two or three opportunity to
going to create an stories, then they reflect on the
illustrated story to will choose on following
present to the class. story to do peer issues:
They should have assessment; thus, Performance in
take into account they will fill the reading and
the instructions corresponding listening
given by the format while activities,
teacher at the reading their strategies used
beginning of the mates’ stories. by them to
class. develop the
5 Assessment: reading and
Learning Healthy The students are listening
Habits going to read activities,
126
April 30 Learning carefully and vocabulary

Objective: analyze the management,
To promote healthy feedback received use of the
habits at school and from their mates strategies given
at home. and teacher; after by the teacher,
1. Objective: that, they will the way they
To learn and check have the assume the
vocabulary related opportunity to feedback
to healthy habits reflect on their received after
through the progress in the these kind of
participation of English class. The activities, and
ludic activities. self – assessment planning for
Activity: format will permit future learning.
Warm Up: Game them to think of te
to check general their own
vocabulary about performance and
body and people’s the learning
habits. process as well.
Assessment: Semi
6 1. Objective: As the students Structured
To learn new will develop Interview:
vocabulary and reading This instrument
May 4 expressions through comprehension will be applied
the organization of activities the at the end of the
ideas in a text. assessment will be first research
Activity: Listening done in class cycle. They are
to organize texts: following the going to answer
The students will teacher’s questions related
listen to short guidelines. They to:
articles whose are going to make 1. Peer’s
content is not in groups of three to feedback.
order, they should review their 2. Teacher’s
do this while listen answers; this feedback.
to the content. activity implies 3. Self –
2. Objective: the participation assessment.
To identify and of both teacher 4. Reflection on
differentiate and students in learning process
expressions related order to analyze during the
to healthy habits in the feedback. mentioned steps.
different texts. Finally, they will 5. Reflection on
Activity: Learning do the necessary task fulfillment.
about healthy corrections of the 6. Plans to
habits: The group exercise. improve further
will develop tasks.
reading
comprehension
activities based on Assessment:
127
short articles from The students are

different going to assess
magazines. their mate’s game
1. Objective: in terms of:
To identify and creativity, time
some relative assigned, use of
clauses by develop vocabulary,
guided exercises. instructions, and
Activity: Learning materials
by using my (According to the
schoolbook: The guidelines teacher
students will gives previously
develop exercises to do the activity).
of the unit 3 from Each student will
the schoolbook fill the
project 4. corresponding
7 2. Objective: format.
To review
vocabulary learned
May 7 in class.
Activity: Time for
playing: The group
will make groups of
four; each group is Assessment:
going to design a The activity is
game based on the going to be
vocabulary they assessed taking
have worked during into account the
the classes. following steps:
Objective: 1. Each group is
To reflect on going to prepare
healthy and the presentation.
unhealthy habits 2. At the moment
using relative of the presentation
clauses and the whole course
vocabulary in will be organized
context. in a circle, bearing
Activity: in mind they have
Interviewing to be close their
healthy and groups.
unhealthy people: 3. Each group is
The students are going to receive
going to prepare three assessment
and present a role formats with the
play by groups of name of the mate
three. they are going to
asses.
128
8 Objective: 4. The students

To write an article will give the
giving different format to the
May 11 advice and corresponding
directions to have a mate.
healthy life. It is important to
Activity: Giving remark that during
advice about this activity each
healthy habits: The student should
students are going listen to their
to write an article mates carefully
about healthy habits and reflect on the
following the way they are
directions given by doing the
the teacher presentation, this
is if they are clear,
9 Every Day English if they use the
Learning appropriate
Objective: vocabulary, if they
May 14 To learn and evidence team
practice some work, if they are
common creative, and if
expressions. they prepare the
Objective: activity according
To learn everyday to the instructions
expressions in given by the
context by doing teacher.
gap filling. Assessment:
Activity: Warm After writing the
Up: Watch videos article, the
about informal students will
conversations. group by couples
10 1. Objective: to share their
May 18 To learn everyday articles and fill the
expressions by peer assessment
completing short format. At the end
texts. of the activity the
Activity: Doing teacher will
cloze tests: The collect the formats
students will do gap and articles to do
filling activities. the corresponding
2. Objective: assessment; after
To use everyday that, the students
expressions in an will receive the
appropriated feedback from
context. their mates and
Activity: teacher.
129
Talking shortly Assessment:

using every day To do the self –
English: The assessment the
students will have students are going
one minute to talk to check their
about a free topic, folders where they
they have to use have schoolbook
expressions worked exercises, the
in class. article, listening
activities guides,
peer assessment
formats, teacher
assessment on
guided exercises,
and the journals
with the
comments will
write each week.
At the moment
writing down the
format, each
student will reflect
on different
aspects:
performance, how
their mates see
their work, the
way the teacher
perceives their
work and learning
process, and the
how they feel with
the feedback
received so far.
Assessment 1:
The teacher will
review this guide,
she is going to do
the necessary
revisions and give
the feedback
based on the
guidelines given
to develop the
activity.
Assessment 2
Each student is
130
going to listen to
the presentations
and assess the girl
who is next in the
list by using the
peer assessment
format based on
the clarity, the use
of vocabulary, and
the attitude during
the presentation.
Note: It is very important to clarify that the dates in which the activities were carried
out does not fix to this time table due to the great quantity of extra school activities
during the first semester.
The first cycle ended with the semi structured interview 1: 27 August 2012.
SCHEDULE FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION

FORMAT – CYCLE 2
131
Research Questions:
2. What do the students’ perceptions inform us about the role of formative assessment
Site: Colegio de la Presentación Sans Facon Class: 8 A
Session Pedagogical Formative Kind of Data Data Collection

and Activities Assessment Collected Instruments
Date
Week 1 Interviewing In order to Self and Peer Artifacts:
Sept. 4 Famous People organize the Assessment: Documents and
to 7 Objective information During these formats collected
To ask and answer about formative processes in formative
wh questions assessment students will assessment
appropriately process, the provide process:
according to the students were information a.Peer assessment
context. asked to file the about: formats.
Activity 1: The activities in a a. Learning b. Self –
students are going folder process: Based assessment
to plan and present (Portfolio). on the feedback formats.
an interview they receive
assuming the sole Assessment 1: from teachers Journals: These
of famous people. The teacher will and mates after artifacts are
This activity will review and do the doing the collected and
be done by groups corresponding activities, they checked at the
of four students. correction of the will reflect on beginning of each
The activity is script, at the same their strengths week, the content
going to be time she will do and weaknesses of them answers
divided into two the feedback of during the among others the
parts: The the text. process. following
planning where b. How they feel prompts:
they will write the Assessment 2: during formative a.How do you
script which will The students are assessment feel with the
be corrected by the going to answer process. assessment your
teacher and the the questions in c. The way they mate did on your
presentation in guide which will assume the performance?
which they will be reviewed by information b.How do you
present the the teacher, then received as feel with your
interview to mates they will receive feedback. teachers’
and teacher and the test with the d. The way they feedback.
will be assessed by corrections and plan to improve c. How do you
their mates. the corresponding in further plan to use your
feedback. activities. mates’
Listening about Assessment 3: assessment?
Famous People The assessment d. How do you
132
Objective for this activity plan to use your

To learn will be in the teacher’s
vocabulary related same class, the assessment?
to expressions teacher is going to (Strategies)
used in news and promote the e. How did you
newspaper articles. discussion around feel with your
Activity Conan’s life and self –
The students are his work, in this assessment?
going to answer way they will
ask and answer check their Informal
questions in activity taking Interviews: This
relation to an into account the instrument will be
article they will comments of the used in order to
listen during the teacher and mates. get information
class. about the insights
Reading Arthur of the students
Conan Doyle after doing
Biography reading and
The group is going listening
to read the activities:
biography of Sir Metacognitive
Arthur Conan strategies
Doyle on line in developed by the
class; after that, students, learning
they will answer process,
questions about his communicative
life in a short skills
Week 2 questionnaire. Assessment1 development,
Sept. 10 Interviewing The peer performance
to 14 Famous People assessment will be during the
Presentation done by groups, activities, task
Objective: thus, each group fulfillment, self –
To ask and answer is going to receive assessment, and
WH questions the corresponding use of the
appropriately formats, they will feedback for
according to the reflect on their further activities.
context. mates’ Semi Structured
Activity: performance and Interview:
The students are write the This instrument
going to present feedback. will be applied at
the interviews for Assessment2 the end of the
the class; to do this The students will first research
presentation they do self – cycle. They are
have to take into assessment based going to answer
account the on are going to questions related
following aspects: the reflection they to:
Attitude during the will do about their 1. Peer’s
133
presentation, use comprehension feedback.

of wh questions and performance 2. Teacher’s
appropriately, of the activity. feedback.
coherence in the 3. Self –
dialogues, and assessment.
creativity during 4. Reflection on
the presentation. learning process
Listening to a during the
Song mentioned steps.
Objective 5. Reflection on
To know common task fulfillment.
expressions used 6. Plans to
in songs. improve further
Activity: tasks.
The students will
develop a listening
exercise that is
divided into three
stages:
a.Pre – listening:
Teacher will give
vocabulary taken
from the song to
the students in
order they to guess
their meanings.
b. While listening:
The group is going
to listen to a song
and do a gap
filling exercise.
c.Post – reading:
Correction of the
activity.
Reading Sherlock
Holmes Stories
Objective
To learn
vocabulary by
reading on of the
Sherlock Holmes
story.
Activity:
The students are
going to start with
the reading on the
Norwood Mistery Assessment 1
134
Week 3 The students are

Sep 17 Starting to Write going to receive
to 21 a Short Text of feedback from the
Opinion teacher about
Objective: what they did
To know during the
guidelines to write listening
a short opinion activities.
text in class.
Activity:
Write a short text
in which the
students are going
to express about
the topic they
choose following
the guidelines
given by the
teacher.
Listening to a
Text About
Environment
Care
Objective
To identify
vocabulary about
the care of the
environment
Activity:
The students will
develop a cloze
exercise based on
three articles about
Week 4 ecology.
Sep 24 Writing my First Assessment 1:
to 28 Short Essay The teacher is
Objective: going to collect
To write a short the texts, she is
essay following going to review
the corresponding the texts carefully
guidelines. and write the
Activity: corresponding
Write a short essay feedback to each
about a free topic student.
following the Assessment 2:
guidelines given The teacher is
by the teacher. going to collect
135
Doing a Sherlock the cartoons and

Holmes Cartoon will review them
Objective: taking into
To promote account the
healthy habits at content, the
school and at presentation and
home. the vocabulary
Activity: use to do the
Elaboration of a cartoon.
cartoon where tell Assessment 3:
the story of At the end of
Sherlock Holmes: these 4 weeks the
The Norwood students are going
Mistery. to do self –
assessment based
on the feedback
received from
their mates and
teachers, and the
reflections they
did on their own
process.
Note: It is very important to clarify that the dates in which the activities were carried
out does not fix to this time table due to the great quantity of extra school activities
during the first semester to finish the year.
The second cycle ended with the semi structured interview 1: 16 Nov 2012.
136
Appendix H
Matrix for Journals Sample
JOURNALS – CATEGORY 1
RESEARCH QUESTION 1: What are the student’s perceptions toward formative assessment?
Category: Feelings toward peer assessment
Subcategory 1:
Positive Feelings Journal # 3 Journal # 4 Journal # 6
April 30 2012 May 9 2012 July 18 2012
S1 “Me gusta saber que “me sentí más cómoda, “Fue muy acertada, pienso
puedo hablar y una de sabe cuáles son mis que me evaluó teniendo en
mis compañeras me errores, fue acertada, me cuenta lo que debo mejorar
puedan evaluar; me gustó mucho” y lo que tengo mal”.
sentí bien,, aunque
siento que no acertó en
algunas cosas”.
S2 “Me sentí bien, hubiese “I felt good, I learning the “I good calification with
querido que me hubiera mistakes, in the feedback my friend because she is
dicho como mejorar o is good” looked my mistakes and
algo así” . she help me to improve the
different aspects in
English”.
S3 “I feel very good, I was “Bueno creo que me sentí “Me sentí bien pero creo
very happy ‘cause that bien”. que puedo hacerlo mucho
means that I do much mejor”.
better every day”
S4 No data. “Pues me sentí bien, ya que

No data fue bien y no tuve tantos
errores y se entendía el
texto”.
S5 “Me sentí bien porque “Me sentí bien ya que No data
supe mis errores” pude saber mis errores
para poder mejorar”
S6 “I feel good….. this No data “I´m very well with the
information is a good evaluation that my
feedback” colleague, because she was
very sincere”.
S7 “Bien acepto que tengo “Me sentí bien, creo que
varias cosas que No data me evaluó bien”.
mejorar. Me sentí bien”
S8 “I felt very good, she “me gustó mucho la idea No data
writes me things that I que me dio mi
reflected and I alsothink compañera”
she writes interesting
things”.
137
S9 “I felt very good, she “I feel very well because I “It´s very funny know that
gave me encourage to see my process and I any person different of me
follow the road” improve very faster” read things that I write, is a
strange sensation but I feel
good”.
S10 “ Me sentí bien recibir “Me sentí mejor” “Bien, pues con eso puedo
la opinión de una ver que tengo bien o que
compañera es muy tengo mal, a manera de
importante, pues nos otras personas que también
dirá que tenemos bien y ayuda a mejorar”.
en que estamos
fallando”
S11 “ Me parecio muy “Me siento bien porque el
bueno, es una forma No data punto de vista que ella tiene
creativa de hacerme una es diferente y me puede
evaluación” ayudar”
S12 “ Me sentí muy bien ya “me sentí muy bien al “Me gustó ya que me
que esto me permitió recibir retroalimentación permitió ver las cosas que
conocer mejor como de mi compañera ya que debo hacer para mejorar
voy” me pude dar cuenta de mi redacción escrita”
mis errores y de las cosas
que mejoré”
S13 “I felt great because the “I felt very good, because,
comments received my evaluation was
were very positive”. excellent and my partner
said good things about me
and my English”.
S14 “Yo me sentí bien, “Debo mejorar mi No data
porque me di cuenta de comunicación con el
mis fortalezas en público al hablar”
Inglés”
S15 No data “Pude reforzar mi “Me siento bien ya que
vocabulario e improvisar ahora se que debo mejorar
frente al público”. y mi compañera me dio
buenas suegerencias”.
138
Appendix J
Matrix for Interviews Sample
SEMI – STRUCTURED INTERVIEW CYCLE 1
RESEARCH QUESTION: What are the student’s perceptions toward formative assessment?
Category: Feelings toward peer assessment
Subcategory 1:
Positive Feelings
EXCERPTS
S1 “siento que es una buena manera como de que las demás se

comuniquen contigo y de paso pues de muy buena manera te digan
lo que creen, en lo que ellas creen que tu fallas y pues es una buena
manera, sin embargo, a veces cuando no le dicen a uno lo que pues
hace mal, pues a uno le da como …. Que no le gusta si y entonces
digamos que uno aprende, como que le enseña a uno como a bajarse,
como a decir bueno no todo lo hago tan bien y pues tengo errores y
ya”.
S3 “Creo que son de una gran ayuda y sirve mucho porque me hacen
ver en que estoy fallando eh… mucho más en las personas que
conozco porque ellas no tienen el miedo de decirme lo que tengo que
mejorar porque saben que eso me puede ayudar”
S4 “Eh pues a mi pues las evaluaciones me parecieron muy buenas ya
que me ayudaban a darme cuenta de los errores y digamos unas
compañeras me dijeron pues que estaba mejorando, me dijeron pues
que iba mejorando, que al principio del año pues no me iba tan bien;
y que pues también tenía errores y que tenía que mejorarlos y pues
me parecen muy buenas esas evaluaciones ya que me ayudan a saber
en que me estoy equivocando y para poder tener un método para
mejorar”.
S7 “Yo me sentí bien, creo que fue muy de acuerdo a lo que yo pensaba
como me había ido, si faltaron algunos puntos clave para mejorar la
próxima expresión verbal o en general, pero pues me sentí muy bien
139
respecto a la retroalimentación que me daban”.
S9 “Pero en realidad pues yo si me sentí bien porque habían cosas de las

que yo dudaba mucho porque, uno a veces piensa que lo está
haciendo mal pero en realidad no es así”.
S10 “Pues yo pienso que yo no sabía bien cuales eran mis errores, y
además yo pienso que me ayuda mucho porque igual tu no puedes
tener siempre tu punto de vista pues porque nunca vas a ver los
errores que tienes, entonces creo que las únicas personas que los
pueden ver realmente son las personas que están a tu alrededor…
ya.”
S11 “Pues yo me sentí bien porque me parece que una compañera te
evalúe es una forma muy constructiva para mejorar eh… pues lo que
se esté evaluando y aunque a veces uno siente que lo que la
compañera le escribió a uno como que no concuerda mucho con lo
que uno hizo, pero pues yo pienso que son cosas que pasan, y son
cosas que le sirven a uno para mejorar y pues hablar mejor el
idioma”.
S15 “Pues a mi me pareció bien ese método porque te dicen algo y con
los errores que tendrás que mejorar, pero a la vez no te dicen todo lo
que fallaste y la gracia es que te digan para tu poder mejorar esos
aspectos”.
Subcategory 2:
Negative Feelings
EXCERPTS
S3 “en cambio pues como decía Lina, en las personas que no me

conocen yo creo que como por temor pues me dicen todo lo que está
bien y pues no es así osea eh…. uno tiene que ver las cosas malas
para poderlas hacer bien y….. ya”
S5 “Pues en las evaluaciones que me realizaron mis compañeras, pienso

que lo hicieron de una manera muy superficial, porque no se dieron
cuenta más alla de lo que, osea no tomaron en cuenta los pequeños
errores, sino pensaban más era como en el contexto en sí, entonces
no se daban cuenta digamos si pronunciaba mal o si y ya……”
140
S6 “Ehhh.. principalmente siempre ponían algo muy básico, no decían

muy puntualmente, entonces pues la retroalimentación no era
pues…… pues si era buena ya que pues era el otro punto de vista de
tu compañera… pero además como por no decirle a uno que error
tiene que exactamente, entonces decían como no pues ella lo hizo
bien y me gustó y le entendí todo y ya, pero nunca ponían
puntualmente nada, como una retroalimentación.”
S8 “Pues yo casi no me sentí muy bien porque las retroalimentaciones

que hacían mis compañeras eran como muy superficiales, entonces
siempre decían como lo mismo y pues nunca me decían como
realmente los errores que tuve, como que sería bueno hacer para
mejorar, ni… ósea eran como si lo hizo bien y no más”.
S14 “Pues a mí en realidad nunca me hicieron una evaluación, mis

evaluaciones siempre eran como muy bien hablaste como muy
rápido y era lo único que tal vez me dijeron que tenía bastante mal,
la verdad no quedé muy contenta con ellas, porque en ningún
momento sentí por parte de alguna de mis compañeras una
evaluación realmente acerca de mi desempeño ni de lo que quería
decir”.
141
Appendix J
Formative Assessment Formats
peer assessment
name of the activity: Healthy Habits Interview

date: __________________________
student:
_________________________________________________________________
classmate:
_______________________________________________________________
group: ______________
Please, describe your classmate´s oral practice filling the following

table:
1. Did you understand what she is

talking about? Support your
answer.
2, Is she spontaneous? or did she

get blocked? Explain your answer
3. Does she speak slow or fast?

Does she repeat some words? Is
there any self correction when she
speaks?
4. How was her attitude in front
142
of the group? Does she keep eye

contact? Does she smile to the
group?
Suggest something to your friend for her next oral practice:

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
Teacher´s Feedback on learning strategies

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________
143
peer assessment
name of the activity:

____________________________________________________
date: __________________________
student:
_________________________________________________________________
classmate:
_______________________________________________________________
group: ______________
Please, describe your classmate´s illustrated story filling the

following table:
1. Did you understand the topic of

the story? Support your answer.
2. Are the ideas in the story well

organized?
3. Did she use vocabulary

according to the context?
4. Write your opinion about the

story? Is funny, sad, and scary?
Is the story long enough?
144
Make suggestions to your mate for her next written text:

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________
Teacher´s Feedback:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
____________________
145
Self assessment
Topic: ________________________________________
Date: _________________________________________
Name: ________________________________________
Group: _______________________________________
Choose the appropriate item for you. Think about your learning process during
the first part of this term, and using your notebook, journals, portfolio, and
books. Mark only one X
1. Grammar: Use of relative clauses (Which – Who – That)
I do not have problems with this topic and I never make mistakes.
I only make mistakes occasionally
I sometimes have problems using it.
I don´t understand it very well and I make a lot of mistakes.
I don´t understand it at all.
2. Vocabulary:
I have learnt a lot of words.
I have learnt a few words.
I have learnt some new words.
I have learnt few new words.
I haven´t learnt any new words.
3. Speaking Activities
I can speak very well, without hesitating and making mistakes.
I can speak well, but sometimes hesitate and make mistakes.
I can speak, but I do it slowly and make a few mistakes.
146
I cannot speak very well: I get blocked and I can´t think of what to
say.
I cannot speak at all.
I can keep eye contact with my mates when I speak.
I cannot keep eye contact with my mates when I speak.
4. Writing Activities: Mark tick or X according to your process:

The content of the text is interesting.
The ideas in the text are well organized.
The use of the punctuation is correct.
The use of grammar is appropriate.
The vocabulary is related to the content of the text.
5. Listening Activities
I did the activities with no problems at all.
I had a few problems.
I answered half of the questions correctly.
I only answered a few of the questions.
I could not do the activities.
6. Effort and Attitude:

I participated in class.
I used English in class.
I did all my homework and activities.
I worked in group.
I planned my own working.
7. Use of the learning strategies:

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
147
148
149

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Implementing formative assessment in an EFL class

Implementing Formative Assessment in an Eighth - Grade EFL Class at a Private School in

Eliana María Rubio C.

Universidad Pedagógica Nacional

Judith Castellanos Jaimes

Acuerdo 031 del 04 de diciembre de 2007 del Consejo Superior de la

Universidad Pedagógica Nacional

Director: Judith Castellanos Jaimes M.A.

Juror: Luz Dary Arias

Juror: Melba Libia Cárdenas

Artículo 42, Parágrafo 2:

dado los respectivos créditos. »

To my husband, for his unconditional love,

To my daughter, her love, her kindness, and

To my family, for believing in me, in my

development of my study. Second, I want to acknowledge my professors of the Foreign

Language Teaching Master’s program at Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, especially Dr.

there is a necessity of changing the paradigms in relation to it. It is important to understand

information obtained after the implementation of formative assessment revealed that it

Key words: Formative assessment, learning awareness, metacognitive strategies.

APPENDIX A. Insttitutional Consent Form

APPENDIX B: Parental Consent Form

APPENDIX C: Student Informed Consent form

APPENDIX D: Students’ journal Sample

APPENDIX E: Informal Interview Transcriptions Sample

APPENDIX F: Semi Structured Interview Transcription Sample

APPENDIX H: Pedagogical Intervention Timetable

APPENDIX I: Matrix for Journals

APPENDIX J: Matrix for Interviews

APPENDIX K: Formative Assessment Formats

Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………………..12

Chapter 2: Literature Review… …………………………………………………………...15

Self – Assessment …………………………………………………………24

Learner Autonomy ………………………………………………………………. 25

Metacognitive Strategies ………………………………………………… 31

Chapter 3: Research Design ………………………………………………………………33

Type of Study ……………………………………………………………………. 33

Research Paradigm ……………………………………………………………….33

Research Approach ……………………………………………………………….35

Researcher’s Role ……………………………………………………………… 39

Data Collection Instruments …………………………………….…………….. 40

Unstructured / Informal Interviews........................................................... 41

Semi Structured Interviews....................................................................... 43

Data Collection Procedures................................................................................... 44

Chapter 4: Instructional Design………………………………………………………… 46

General Pedagogical Objectives............................................................... 54

Formative Assessment Formats................................................................ 55

Chapter 5: Data Analysis And Findings……………………………………………...… 56

Category 1: Feeling toward formative assessment…………….. 61

Formative assessment provokes feelings ………………. 63

Students value the role of the feedback in formative

Category 2: Formative assessment fosters metacognitive

Self – reflection on their learning process ……………… 71

Self – reflection about task fulfillment. …………………. 72

Category 3: Formative assessment encourages strategies for future

Strategies to develop communicative skills……………….. 74

Chapter 6: Conclusions and Implications……………………………………………… 77

Further Research ………………………………………………………………… 82

The process of evaluation in foreign language learning and teaching in

Nacional de Bilinguismo and The Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages have generated new expectations in terms of planning, methodology and

only on these important documents but also on Lineamientos Curriculares para

Lenguas Extranjeras, (2009) and Estándares Básicos de Competencias en Lenguas