Exploring Variation in Summative Assessment - Language Teachers’ Knowledge of Students' Formative Assessment and Its Effect on their Summative Assessment

Oct 15, 2026

The study examines variation in language teachers’ summative assessment outcomes as shaped by their knowledge of students’ formative assessment and classroom performance. Two teacher groups—familiar versus unfamiliar with formative assessment—were compared using paired-sample t-tests and asked to mark students’ papers. Results show a significant grading difference between the groups, favoring teachers aware of classroom performance. Findings indicate a synergy between formative and summative assessment practices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Exploring Variation in Summative Assessment: Language Teachers’ Knowledge of Students' Formative Assessment and Its Effect on their Summative Assessment Fasih Ahmed *, Shamim Ali** and Rashid Ali Shah*** Abstract The present study investigates the variation in summative assessment based on language teachers’knowledge of formative assessment (i.e. classroom performance) and its effect on students’ grades. The two groups of teachers, on the basis of familiarity/unfamiliarity with formative assessment of students, were investigated through paired sample t-tests. These two groups were asked to mark students’ papers. The results revealed a significant difference in the grades marked by the group of teachers who were aware of students’ classroom performances as compared to the group of teachers who were unaware of students’ performance of the class. The study suggests a synergy between summative and formative assessment. Keywords: Formative assessment, Summative assessment, teachers’ skills, variation, paired sample t-test * Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, COMSATS University Islamabad ** Associate Professor, Department of English and Applied Linguistics, AIOU *** Assistant Professor, Department of English King Khalid University, Abha KSA Introduction The present study investigates the variation in summative assessment in relation to language teachers’ knowledge of formative assessment (i.e. classroom performance) and its effect on grades. The two groups of teachers, based on familiarity/unfamiliarity with the formative assessment of students, were investigated through paired sample t-tests and qualitative interviews. These two different groups were asked to mark students’ papers. The results revealed a significant difference in the grades marked by these two groups of teachers. The study suggests a synergy between summative and formative assessment. The process of assessment involves decisions about what is the relevant evidence for a particular purpose, how to collect the evidence, how to interpret it to intended users (Harlen, 2005) . Assessment includes contexts (i.e., historical, social and political), principles (i.e., concepts) and practices (i.e., knowledge skills and abilities) (Fulcher, 2012) . Assessment in language is central to a successful language program in terms of its effectiveness whether it be summative or formative. Formative and summative assessments are closely linked to each other and help in assessing the qualities of the students. The present study aims to investigate the difference in summative assessment based on teachers’ experience of being cognizant or incognizant of the formative assessment of the class. Assessment for learning or formative assessment has increasingly been emphasized but its relation to summative assessment has been little explored (Taras, 2005) . Moreover, the study hypothesizes that the teachers who are involved in formative assessment can make a better summative assessment of students as compared to those teachers who make only summative assessment and are not aware of the overall performance of the students. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, summative assessment in liaison with formative assessment has not been explored especially in the context of language assessment. The present study investigates the effect of formative assessment on summative assessment by involving two different groups of teachers. This study is aimed to fill the gap that exists between summative and formative assessment. Literature Review The review of the literature has focused on formative and summative assessment and then the relation between the two types of assessments. Summative Assessment Summative assessment aims at recording or reporting the students’ achievement (Harlen (2005) . In other words, summative assessment is the reflection of what they have learned in the past. Taras (2005) defines summative assessment as a sort of ‘judgment which encapsulates

FAQs

What does the study investigate regarding summative assessment?

It investigates how variation in language teachers’ summative assessment is influenced by their knowledge of students’ formative assessment and classroom performance.

How were the two teacher groups compared?

Teachers were grouped by familiarity versus unfamiliarity with formative assessment, then compared using paired-sample t-tests while marking students’ papers.

What was the main finding of the results?

Teachers who were aware of students’ classroom performance assigned significantly different grades compared with teachers who were unaware.

Oct 15, 2026

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