EFFECTIVENESS AND VALIDITY OF FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT IN TESOL

Assessment is a central feature of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and questions are still being asked about the relative value and validity of formative and summative methods. Although available studies report on their separate contributions, little attention has been paid to the interrelated operation of accounts in TESOL. To examine the effects both types of assessment have on language learning, this paper engages a comparative synthesis of recent empirical and classroom studies. The significance here suggests the importance of TESOL professionals adopting hybrid testing systems that incorporate developmental as well as high stakes purposes.