Exploring Variation in Summative Assessment: Language Teachers’ Knowledge of Students Formative Assessment and Its Effect on their Summative Assessment

The present study investigates the variation in summative assessment based on language teachers’ knowledge of formative assessment (i.e. classroom performance) and its effect on students’ grades. The two groups of teachers, on the basis of familiarity/unfamiliarity with formative assessment of students, were investigated through paired sample t-tests. These two groups were asked to mark students’ papers. The results revealed a significant difference in the grades marked by the group of teachers who were aware of students’ classroom performances as compared to the group of teachers who were unaware of students’ performance of the class. The study suggests a synergy between summative and formative assessment.