Throughout its whole history, most research conducted in language assessment refers to testing. It is only since 2000 that language formative assessment started being recorded in research publications. This book tells the story of language formative assessment in two ways, the one complementing the other: in the forms of a systematic review and a descriptive and evaluative annotated bibliography, from the very first published work on the subject in 2000 to 2020. While the systematic review gives the story of language formative assessment in a chronological order and gives an overview of different aspects, the annotated bibliography gives more details for research work published. Τhe main purposes of the book are to (1) give a substantial background in the area, (2) describe how this topic has been approached, (3) contribute to the development of critical thinking, (4) help in establishing the relevance and quality of the annotated material, and (5) facilitate language formative researchers as well as practitioners to form an overview of the research in the area during the specific period under study. The book may be of interest to language practitioners, researchers, teacher trainers, and policy makers. The authors hope that the present publication will be viewed as a valuable contribution to the history of language formative assessment.

This book tells the story of Formative Assessment (FA) in LL in two ways: the first, in Part II, is in the form of a Systematic Review (SR) and the second, in Part III, in the form of a descriptive and evaluative Annotated Bibliography (AB), the one complementing the other.

According to the literature, most research publications in the long history of L2 assessment mainly focus on Summative Assessment (SA), e.g. on testing, high stakes examinations, and the various aspects related to them, such as validity, reliability, washback, and impact. Attention has only been shed on Formative Assessment (FA) in the last 20 years. More research in this area would prove beneficial, not only to researchers, but to undergraduate and postgraduate students, language practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders. By the same token, an overview of what has been researched in FA in the last 20 years and extensive knowledge of this domain would be equally useful.

A Systematic Review (SR) is “the art and science of identifying, selecting, and [synthesising] primary research studies to provide a comprehensive and trustworthy picture of the topic being studied” (Oakley, 2012, cited in Crompton, Burke, & Gregory, 2017, p. 5). According to Crompton, Burke, and Lin (2019), an SR “can uncover new trends and additional findings” (p. 5). In the case of Formative Assessment (FA) research, scholars aggregate findings to gain a better understanding of how FA is supporting Language Learning (LL) (Bachelor & Bachelor, 2016; Graham, Harris, & Hebert, 2011; Jian & Luo, 2014; Saoud, 2016; Widiastuti & Saukah, 2017; Wolf, Shore, & Blood, 2014).

Τhis part presents the main characteristics of Formative Assessment (FA) with an emphasis on Language Learning (LL). It also exhibits the features of a Systematic Review (SR) and an Annotated Bibliography (AB) selected for the needs of this book. The aim is to set the background for the SR and AB on FA in LL, which is the focus of this book.