Formative and summative assessments: English-majored students’ perceptions and expectations

Abstract

Assessment is a compulsory and regular activity at all educational levels in Vietnam to measure students’ learning outcomes through their courses. On the one hand, it helps instructors identify the students’ strengths and shortcomings. From that, they can apply appropriate teaching methods and approaches in order to achieve teaching and learning goals. On the other hand, it creates motivation for students’ learning process. At the same time, students can make their own study plans or strategies to gain better results in their academic achievements. There are two popular forms of assessing students’ performances, namely formative and summative assessments which are shared by many authors and educators. The purpose of the study was to figure out English-majored students’ perceptions and their expectation of the formative and summative assessments in their courses. The participants were 87 English majors at Tra Vinh University. The instruments included the questionnaire and the interview. The questionnaire focused on students’ perceptions when accessing these two modes of assessment. The interview related to their expectations towards the future implementation of the formative and summative assessment. The results were beneficial for relevant stakeholders including students, lecturers, course designers, and the institution. The recommendations were also meaningful to neighbouring universities to assist students in overcoming their issues and getting better results in their further tests or exams.