Book excerpt: 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.