A Sociocultural Perspective for Tracing the Development of Formative Assessment Teacher Cognition: Making a Case for Transformative L2 Teacher Education

Abstract

Grounded in sociocultural theory, this study examines how the formative assessment teacher cognition (FATC) of a pre-service English as a foreign language teacher developed within a teacher education context. Adopting a longitudinal single-case design, the study traces the trajectory of one focal participant, Ela, across a 10-month teaching practicum. Multiple qualitative data sources were triangulated, including interviews, reflective journals, lesson plans, classroom observations, and pre- and post-observation conferences. Data were analyzed through a hybrid approach combining reflexive thematic analysis and sociocultural discourse analysis to capture both the content and interactional dynamics of cognition-in-action. Findings indicate that Ela’s FATC evolved through two key shifts: (a) reconceptualizing corrective feedback from an evaluative and affectively risky practice to a formative tool that scaffolds learner understanding and (b) developing more explicit instructional practices that clarify learning intentions and guide student performance. These shifts reflect an emerging understanding of feedback and instruction as meaning-making processes central to formative assessment (FA). The analysis further highlights the mediating role of prior language learning experiences and teacher education coursework in shaping how Ela interpreted and enacted FA principles. Her development was characterized by cognitive-emotional dissonances, responsive mediation, and the transformation of everyday concepts into more systematic, academically grounded understandings. Overall, the study demonstrates how reflective and dialogic spaces support the integration of affective experiences with theoretical knowledge, facilitating the internalization of FA within pedagogical reasoning. It contributes to language teacher cognition research by illuminating the micro-processes of teacher learning as socially mediated and emotionally inflected and offers implications for designing socioculturally informed teacher education that fosters responsive, evidence-based assessment practices.