Webster University in Toshkent Incorporating formative assessment in Iranian efl writing

Lessons that can be learned from the case.
The qualitative data from the interviews shed light on the findings from the essay writing task and the student survey. The students expressed their positive feelings about the rate of progress they had made by the end of the study, as well as their opinions about the impact of formative feedback, peer-assessment, and collaborative learning activities. They also acknowledged the role of class discussions, especially during the pre-writing stage and the whole-class feedback session, in adding quality to their writing and functioning as a means of building their confidence in other areas of language learning. Additionally, compiling a portfolio was another rewarding activity, assisting students in assuming greater responsibility for their learning.
Portfolio writing is an effective learning strategy for Iranian students, as it allows them to practice writing and develop their vocabulary and world knowledge. It is different from the notebooks they kept as school children, as it includes different items such as assignments, essays, reading texts, notes, and new words. However, some students prefer to read and write about their favorite topics, while others wish they could have selected their writing topics.
The most important details in this text are that some students found the online texts to be beyond their reading ability, and that some resisted the frequent regrouping or pairing with others. Additionally, some students believed that the effectiveness of collaborative tasks depends on factors other than the context. Finally, the analysis of the data from different sources suggests that despite the challenges students faced, they fostered a better understanding of formative assessment strategies and used them to improve their writing. This improved performance enhanced their satisfaction with their writing ability and boosted their motivation to work harder.

Findings of the case study.
A paired-samples t-test was performed to compare the mean scores for various parts of students' writing between the pre- and post-study writing assignments to determine the degree to which adopting formative evaluation techniques had the potential to enhance students' writing. As shown in Table 1, there are statistically significant variations between the students' writing performance in various areas at the start and conclusion of the research, suggesting that using formative evaluation methods helped them become better essay writers. The findings, however, showed that the mean difference and t-value for students' advancement in two areas of grammatical range and precision (M = 1.48, SD =.78), t (33) = 11.07, p 0.05, and of lexical resource (M = 1.17, SD =.83), t (33) = 8.22, p 0.05 ( Bakhtiyar Naghdi pour Incorporating formative assessment in Iranian EFL writing . p. 13.) were significantly different from zero.
A Wilcoxon signed-ranks test was used to compare the mean scores of students' responses to various questionnaire items between two administrations in order to examine how formative assessment may impact students' attitudes and beliefs toward writing as well as their acquisition and use of formative assessment strategies. The findings in Table 2 show that over the course of the semester, students improved their views toward writing and formative evaluation techniques. While substantial variations in mean scores were seen for a large number of items, only about half of these changes were statistically significant (9 out of 20), with a z value of 2 to 3 or more.