Role of Systematic Formative Assessment on Students' Views of Their Learning

This article presents a partial report of a small qualitative research study that explored the students' views of their learning during and after the implementation of formative procedures such as self-assessment, feedback, and conferences. The article also includes their perceptions about this implementation. The research was carried out with a group of students of English enrolled in an extension program of a Colombian public university. The results showed that formative assessment helped these learners to be aware of their communicative competence and to perceive the situations in which they developed this awareness; it also enabled them to experience success in their learning. Also, learners identified the purposes of this kind of assessment and perceived formative assessment as a transparent procedure.