Investigating the Role of Formative Mobile-based Assessment in Vocabulary Learning of Pre-intermediate EFL Learners

The present study aims to open up an opportunity for applying formative assessment in English as Foreign Languageclassrooms. Since formative assessment is not as adequately dominant as required in EFL classes, applying technologyand especially mobile phones as a simpler method of administering this type of assessment are proposed to be utilizedin order to influence the process of formative assessment. Therefore, two groups of pre-intermediate EFL learners withthe same level of English proficiency and vocabulary knowledge participated in this study. After applying quasiexperimentalresearch design including the pretest, treatment and posttest to answer the questions of the study andrunning an independent sample t-test between two groups of participants, the results showed that those preintermediateEFL learners attending in the group whose vocabulary gain was assessed formatively using mobileapplication named Socrative performed significantly better in posttest than the group assessed formatively based onpaper and pen(Sig=0.03<0.05). The attitude questionnaire distributed among the learners participated in the groupwhere assessment was based on mobile declared that they possessed a positive attitude towards dealing with theirmobiles to take their tests. Some pedagogical implications were also presented in the study for universities, high schoolsand institutions to apply formative mobile based assessment in their EFL classrooms in order to enhance vocabularygain of their pre-intermediate EFL learners.

Keywords:

Formative assessment , mobile based assessment , paper based assessment , attitude , vocabulary , preintermediateEFL learners