An exploration into EFL learners’ perspectives on online computerized listening comprehension dynamic assessment (original) (raw)
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Alzahra University, 2022
Framed in Vygotskian sociocultural theory, this study intends to examine whether computerized group dynamic assessment (GDA) through software has affected Iranian male and female learners’ listening comprehension ability. Data were collected through administration of listening comprehension pre- and post-tests among 140 participants divided into male and female learners in the experimental and control groups. There were 35 male and 35 female learners in each group of the study. Participants in the experimental groups were exposed to GDA in order to interactively work on the selected tasks of listening comprehension, and the teacher provided the necessary support as well. Quantitative analysis of the pre- and post-tests of listening comprehension among male and female groups was conducted through two-way analysis of variance and covariance. Results revealed that both male and female learners in the experimental groups significantly outperformed the learners in the control groups. However, there were not any significant differences between the gender groups’ listening comprehension ability in the experimental groups. Findings contributed to the effective employment of GDA through software in order to improve the learners’ listening comprehension ability, denoting that teachers are recommended to be aware of technological devices in paving an interactive way for learners to develop their language skills and sub-skills.
The Impact of Electronic-Based Dynamic Assessment on the Listening Skill of
2016
This study investigated the impact of electronic-based dynamic assessment on the listening skill of Iranian EFL learners to achieve this goal, a group of 40 female EFL upper-intermediate students(aged between 26 to 38 years old) from to language institutes were selected as the participants of the study after administering a Quick Placement Test(QPT)to a larger population of EFL learners (N=65).All of the selected to female EFL upper intermediate student were administered a Listening Test (IELTS Format) as the pretest and posttest to assess the participants' listening comprehension. Participants were divided in two control (N=20) and experimental (n=20) groups. The learners in experimental group were taught the listening skill via Dynamic Assessment through virtual electronic-based classroom and the learners in control group were taught listening skill via traditional dynamic assessment in a physical language classroom. A quasi-experimental pretest and post-test design was employ...
Dynamic vs. Standard Assessment to Evaluate EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension
Iranian Journal of Applied Language Studies, 2014
The present study chiefly aimed to compare two forms of dynamic assessment and standard assessment of EFL learners’ listening comprehension. 59 Iranian EFL learners were randomly assigned to three test administration groups and assessed on listening for main and supporting information in listening tasks. The first model of dynamic assessment was a form of scaffolding in which for any incorrect answer graded prompts were progressively presented to learners until they answered correctly. The second model of dynamic assessment was direct instruction of listening tasks. Learners in standard assessment group, however, completed the task independently without mediation. The results revealed statistically significant listening improvement in favor of dynamic-supported and dynamic-instructed assessment groups rather than standard assessment one. The findings of the study indicate that dynamic assessment can gain better insights into learners’ level of comprehension and their potential for f...
Developing and evaluating a dynamic assessment of listening comprehension in an EFL context
This study addressed a need to examine and improve current assessments of listening comprehension (LC) of university EFL learners. These assessments adopted a traditional approach where test-takers listened to an audio recording of a spoken interaction and then independently responded to a set of questions. This static approach to assessment is at odds with the way teaching listening was carried out in the classroom, where LC tasks often involved some scaffolding. To address this limitation, a dynamic assessment (DA) of a listening test was proposed and investigated. DA involves mediation and meaning negotiation when responding to LC tasks and items. This paper described: (a) the local assessment context, (b) the relevance of DA in this context, and (c) the findings of an empirical study that examined the new and current LC assessments. Sixty Tunisian EFL students responded to a LC test with two parts, static and dynamic. The tests were scored by 11 raters. Both the test-takers and raters were interviewed about their views of the two assessments. Score analyses, using the Multi-Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) (FACETS program, version, 3.61.0), indicated that test-taker ability, rater behavior and item difficulty estimates varied across test types. Qualitative data analysis indicated that although the new assessment provided better insights into learners' cognitive and meta-cognitive processes than did the traditional assessment, raters were doubtful about the value of and processes involved in DA mainly because they were unfamiliar with it. The paper discussed the findings and their implications for listening assessment practices in this context and for theory and research on listening assessment.
Education and Information Technologies, 2021
The current study addressed the impact of computerized dynamic assessment (C-DA) on the TOEFL iBT listening comprehension test administered to Iranian EFL learners (n = 185) who took part in preparation courses on the TOEFL exam in some language centres in Iran. To mediate the test-takers with hints to process the listening questions, a computer software program was developed, and it was meant to produce the following: Actual, mediated, and learning potential scores. Findings of the study indicated that the actual and mediated scores led to significant different mean scores in various listening ability levels in almost all question types. Generally , results highlighted the significant positive impact of C-DA on improving EFL test-takers' performances in the monologue and dialogue tasks. Teachers were recommended to implement C-DA since the information gained from this sociocultural assessment mode empowers them to provide learners with more individualized and accordingly more effective teaching and assessment strategies. Keywords Computerized dynamic assessment · Listening · Covid-19 · Learning potential · Mediated · Actual scores · Monologue and dialogue tasks · Sociocultural theory of mind This study was conducted on the Iranian context. It is a good case that supports the contribution of computerized dynamic assessment to language learning and assessment. We hope the reader will find this contribution interesting since it continues hailing the positive aspects of dynamic assessment that advocates of language assessment have been defending.
2016
The present paper concentrates on a web-based inquiry in the synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) via Web 2.0 technologies of Talk and Write and Skype. It investigates EFL learners ’ socio-cognitive progress through dynamic assessment (DA), which follows Vygotsky’s inclination for supportive interchange in the zone of proximal development. Sixty adult EFL learners at upper-intermediate level were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups. The participants in the experimental group were involved in dynamic assessment in synchronous computer-mediated communication for seven weeks. The results reveal that, through interactions in the ZPD, DA in synchronous computer-mediated communication lets us explore not only the actual level of learners ’ listening ability but also to diagnose and assess the potential level of their listening
English Language Teaching, 2015
The present paper concentrates on a web-based inquiry in the synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) via Web 2.0 technologies of Talk and Write and Skype. It investigates EFL learners' socio-cognitive progress through dynamic assessment (DA), which follows Vygotsky's inclination for supportive interchange in the zone of proximal development. Sixty adult EFL learners at upper-intermediate level were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups. The participants in the experimental group were involved in dynamic assessment in synchronous computer-mediated communication for seven weeks. The results reveal that, through interactions in the ZPD, DA in synchronous computer-mediated communication lets us explore not only the actual level of learners' listening ability but also to diagnose and assess the potential level of their listening development.
Dynamic assessment in EFL classrooms: Assessing listening comprehension in three proficiency levels
International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 2015
The use of dynamic assessment (DA), grounded in Vygotskian Sociocultural theory, in classrooms is believed to have the potential to provide a situation for creating a group of learners' Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Poehener, 2009). The present study explored the implementation of DA in English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms on groups of learners at different proficiency levels in the context of listening comprehension. 146 Iranian EFL learners at three proficiency levels were selected for this study (experimental groups=71 and control groups=75). A multi-assessment procedure in the format of dynamic and non-dynamic pretest-enrichment phase-dynamic and non-dynamic posttest was conducted. During the nine-week group dynamic assessment procedures, mediational strategies were only given to the experimental groups. The quantitative data analysis revealed that through mediated interactions within the group's ZPD, group dynamic assessment is able to determine the learners' developed abilities in listening comprehension while at the same time support the development of individual learners in this skill. Moreover, it was found that the level of proficiency of the learners did not have a significant effect on learners' gains from group dynamic assessment procedures. These findings can have implications for all classroom teachers that the use of DA in classroom setting cannot only be beneficial to them but also be considered as a strategic learning and assessment method that can meet both the learners' and teacher's needs.
Journal of Language and Translation, 2013
The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of implementing three forms of assessment namely , summative, formative and dynamic assessment on Iranian freshmen's listening ability and listening strategy use to fulfill the purposes of the study , 140 freshmen from Garmsar university and jame-elmikarbordi university who were majoring in English translation were selected . They formed randomly three experimental groups. Each group experienced a certain type of assessment. To study the effects of the assessment types, the learners took five teacher-made listening tests. Moreover, to observe any development in the learners' level of listening strategy use a questionnaire based on O'Malley Chamot and Kupper (1989), Young (1997) and Goh (2000, 2002) was used. The results indicated that the learners in dynamic group not only could outperform the other groups in terms of listening ability, but they also used more listening strategies.