Enhancing Language Learning Through Formative Assessments

Formative assessments play a pivotal role in supporting students' progress toward language proficiency. Unlike summative assessments, which evaluate learning at the end of a unit or course, formative assessments are ongoing and provide actionable feedback for both teachers and students during the learning process. They enable educators to adapt their instruction in real time and foster a growth-oriented mindset among learners.

Why Formative Assessments Matter

Formative assessments are not just tools for evaluation but opportunities to celebrate growth. By integrating them into regular classroom activities, educators can:

• Celebrate student strengths and progress during a unit.

• Identify and address learning gaps in lesson planning.

• Encourage student reflection and ownership of learning.

• Foster a supportive, growth-oriented classroom environment with timely feedback and guidance.

• Build student confidence and reduce their affective filter.

Key Strategies for Effective Formative Assessments

Here are some practical strategies designed to enhance the effectiveness of formative assessments:

1. Focus your content and purpose.

Before creating a comprehension check or formative assessment, first consider the purpose of it and how to use it for student learning. Determine:

• Goal: Why is it important that students know this? What learning goal is this tied to? ​

• Summative assessment: How does it prepare them for their summative assessment? ​

• Outcome: What specifically am I looking for in this formative task? What do I want to see if my students can do and what does success on it look like?​

• Feedback: Is the feedback I give on the assessment for my students or me? Is it going to inform instruction or is it going to provide individual students actionable feedback? ​If the feedback is for them, how will they get feedback?  ​

2. Use comprehension checks during instruction for the purpose of informing the teacher.

If your purpose for the formative assessment task is just to check on student understanding and if they are ready to progress in the lesson, you can use quick comprehension checks during instruction like:

• Nonverbal checks to get the pulse of the class. Thumbs up/thumbs down or showing confidence with their fingers on a scale of fist (zero) to five work well for this.

• Turn and talks are also a great quick way to get students checking in together while teachers walk around the room to observe for understanding and progress.

• White boards are also great for quick checks and giving immediate feedback for students and teachers.

3. Various exit tickets can help give teachers quick snapshots of student learning and easily integrate feedback for students on their progress.

Exit tickets at the end of a lesson can be a great option for formative assessments, and you can make them low-prep. Some options include:

• Sentence Starters: Students complete a sentence in the target language, such as, "Today I learned that _____."

• Cultural Connections: Ask students to write one cultural takeaway from the lesson.

• Graphic organizers: Venn diagrams, KWL charts, and story maps are all great options to help students organize their thinking. They can also differentiate for proficiency levels and are a great tool to get a snapshot of student takeaways in a manner that allows them to respond in words, phrases, or sentences—whatever their level allows.

Get even more ideas with our free guide, which takes you step-by-step through the process of checking for understanding in your classroom!

→ Get Your Guide Now ←

4. Digital Tools are great for feedback in real-time.

Digital tools simplify formative assessments and make them interactive. Here are a few recommendations:

• Kahoot Gimkit, Blooket, and Quizizz: Ideal for low-stakes comprehension checks in a fun, gamified way.

• Flip (formerly Flipgrid): Enables students to record and share video responses, which teachers can review to assess speaking skills.

• Google Slides or Padlet: Perfect for collaborative writing activities in real-time.

Giving Students Feedback

Effective feedback in a proficiency-focused classroom is specific, supportive, and actionable. Since formative assessments occur DURING the learning process with the goal of improving outcomes throughout the unit, feedback is an essential component of this process.

If students aren’t aware of their progress or how to improve, formative assessments won't be effective or a good use of your instructional time! Here are some key strategies for providing feedback:

• Oral feedback is often used in the moment, in real time.  However, if students submit work online, some teachers also choose to give audio or video feedback.  Some examples of oral feedback you can give students in the moment include corrective feedback and targeted questions to prompt students on what to add, change, or do next.​

• ​Unlike oral feedback, written feedback is usually given after students submit an assignment.  Some examples of written feedback options include annotated rubrics or written comments.​

• ​Interactive feedback happens in real-time.  Some examples of interactive feedback include peer reviews and automated assessments. ​

No matter what method you use, make sure it is sustainable for you. Remember: you do not have to grade every assignment students complete. You can review it as a class, collect work and sift through it for common errors or gaps.

You can also utilize rubrics or checklists to speed up the feedback process, or have a bank of comments to pull from when giving holistic feedback to students. Make sure to choose a method that works for you, and don’t be afraid to lean on real-time feedback for activities that lend themselves to it!​

A Final Word

Formative assessments are a bridge between instruction and student success, particularly in the context of world language learning. By incorporating these strategies, educators can support students' growth, encourage reflection, and make the learning process more dynamic and rewarding.

Whether you’re just beginning to explore formative assessments or looking to refine your practice, these approaches can help you create a more responsive and effective classroom environment.

If you want to learn more, watch our webinar recording or stay tuned for our brand new Expand eLearning Course about formative assessments!