The Effect of Dynamic Assessment on Elementary EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension through Mediational Strategies (original) (raw)
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The current paper reports the theoretical aspects underpinning the concept of Dynamic Assessment (DA) in education along with the results of a qualitative study focused on the integration of DA procedures within first grade English elementary classroom. DA provides a conceptual framework for both teaching and assessment which means that becoming aware of the learners " abilities and also determining their development are two integrated activities. Given the fact that current literature lacks too much empirical research on the application of DA in the L2 classroom (Poehner, 2009), the study will explore the application of DA in an EFL classroom and will look at DA as a strategy that could be successfully implemented within the foreign language curriculum for young learners. The theoretical basis for DA is grounded in the writings of Vygotsky (1978) and mostly in his conceptualization of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Poehner, 2009). Vygotsky (1978) defines the ZPD as " the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers ". Accordingly, Vygotsky (1978) considered that assessment of a child " s present knowledge does not equal the possible assessment of that child " s potential. He believed that it is more important to assess what a child can do with assistance than what he/she can do individually since it would offer more insight into the child " s potential. In order for instruction to be productive, it should be adjusted to the child " s ZPD, which brings about an assessment based on mediation to encourage learners perform beyond their actual abilities. According to Lantolf & Poehner (2004), DA is a procedure that " integrates assessment and instruction into a seamless, unified activity aimed at promoting learner development through appropriate forms of mediation that are sensitive to the individual " s (or in some case a group " s) current abilities. In essence, DA is a procedure for simultaneously assessing and promoting development that takes into account the individual " s (or group " s) zone of proximal development. " This is the most complex definition in the literature concerning DA because it reflects the interactive aspect of DA, the learner " s ZPD and also the learner " s response to mediation, which is meant to promote development. DA is thus a framework for conceptualizing teaching and assessment as an integrated activity of comprehending students " abilities by constantly encouraging their growth (Poehner, 2008).
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.
Dynamic versus formative assessment
Elixir
Dynamism pumps the blood to the body of society; therefore, the dynamic and communicative nature of language can not only be considered integral in teaching, but also in assessing a language. Recently, all over the world traditional ways of assessment are trading place with more communicative ones. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether dynamic and formative assessment had significantly different impact on improving the listening skills of Iranian EFL Learners. To do so, 90 intermediate male and female learners from a language school in Tehran were elected. A piloted PET was administered as homogeneity test and 60 learners were selected as the participants and randomly assigned into two groups of thirty. To make sure that there is no statistically significant difference between the performances of the two groups in the beginning of the research a listening pretest of PET was administered in both experimental groups. In one group dynamic assessment, through teaching metacognitive strategies, was administered on learners' listening skills, while the other group's listening skill was assessed formatively. After fourteen sessions a posttest of PET was administered for both groups. The evaluation of the findings showed that the dynamically assessed group outperformed the formative one. © 2014 Elixir All rights reserved
Dynamic assessment which is originated in sociocultural theory of Vygotsky (1934) suggests the integration of assessment and instruction. Vygotsky proposed that cognitive ability can better develop in social and cultural context. This study aimed at investigating the effect of dynamic assessment on the reading comprehension and strategy awareness in EFL Iranian learners. Fifty intermediate female students from three English language institutes in Tehran were selected randomly, and divided into two groups: control and experimental. The design of study is experimental: pretest, treatment and posttest. At first, both groups were given a sample of TOEFL reading test and Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire (Mokhtari and Sheorey, 2002), and experimental group went on eighteen sessions of DA treatment in which students had one sample of reading test and interaction approaches were employed helping them to conduct the test, and then both groups were given posttests: reading comprehension and SORS questionnaire. The scores from tests calculated and compared, then t-test and paired t-test were run which showed that DA has significant effect on both reading comprehension and reading strategy awareness. INTRODUCTION Language teaching was always under influences of two schools of thought, namely linguistics and psychology. As new schools of thought emerged, the teaching methods and approaches to language changed. The era of language teaching and learning experienced these changes from behaviorist to socioculturalistic view, therefore the role of learners changed from passive to active one and also language achievements were interpreted in different terms from the product to process oriented. As a result, nowadays language achievement is not concerned with production rather process. One of the approaches that emerged from sociocltural view is Vygotsky's theory of mind named dynamic assessment which concerns with process. The purpose of DA is not mere assessment, but its purpose is helping the learners to reach to the higher level of development thus, it also has instructional and learning purpose. Hence teaching and testing which traditionally considered separated from each other; they are now viewed integrated in dynamic assessment. As Lidz (cited in Ajideh and Nourdad, 2012) noted, " DA offers a monistic view of assessment and instruction that focuses on developing abilities through the interactions ". So, DA has a significant implication: test to teach, contrary to the static assessment which is concerned with teach to test. DA can be better defined in contrast with traditionally non-dynamic assessment or static measurement. NON-DA assesses what has already learned and it is product oriented rather DA assesses the learners' potential ability; what he or she can learn with help of a mediator who intervenes in the process of learning; therefore, DA is formative and its purpose is learning. In fact, it integrates teaching and testing; however, NON-DA is summative and its purpose is measurement of what has been learned at end of program or learning process. DA is employed in classroom for giving feedback in order to assist the students' development and instructional process and raises students' awareness of instructional and learning objectives, " It has the potential to show important information about individual current strategies and process of learning " (Ajideh and Nourdad, 2012). On the other hand, reading has gained a more
English Language Teaching (ELT), 2014
This study employed a mixed method to investigate the effects of dynamic assessment (DA) on listening comprehension of EFL students in a foreign language learning context. The participants of the study (N=57) were randomly divided into one control group, i.e., non-dynamic, and one experimental group, i.e., dynamic. They were asked to listen to some listening comprehension teaching materials and transcribe what they hear. The participants in the control group just listened to the audio files and took the tests while in the experimental group, the participants received mediation. The qualitative analysis of the exchanges between the mediator and the participants in the experimental group indicated that the application of mediational strategies was successful enough to help the participants promote their comprehension of the listening input. In addition, participants" listening problems diagnosed in the mediation sessions and the related support helped them overcome their listening comprehension problems. The performances of the participants in the two groups on an achievement test developed based on the instructional materials showed that the dynamic group outperformed the non-dynamic group.
Grammar learning EFL Dynamic assessment (DA) is believed to have potentiality to affect EFL learners' language development; however, its different forms might be of varying types and size of washback effects on foreign language development. So far, it seems few studies have compared the effects of interactionist and interventionist models of DA on the grammar learning of EFL learners; moreover, whether DA procedures have different impacts on the learners in the contexts of official high schools and private language institutes has received scant attention. Against this backdrop, 96 intermediate EFL learners from a high school and a language institute were put into experimental groups of A and B and a single control group (C). During 12 treatment sessions, group A participants were taught and assessed through interactionist DA procedures, group B received interventionist DA practice and group C was assessed through conventional multiple choice assessment procedure. The results showed that both interactionist and interventionist DA practices had significant effects on grammar learning of EFL learners. However, interactionist DA was more effective in language institutes with limited number of learners while interventionist approach was of higher impacts in high schools with larger groups of learners. The findings imply that the validity of different DA forms is sensitive to the practicality of the procedure in the assessment context. ABSTRACT Dynamic assessment (DA) is an alternative new approach in language testing and assessment and is basically built upon Vygotskian socio-cultural theory and Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) as a salient concept of this theory. DA concentrates on learner's errors and the application of different forms of mediations to develop the learner's knowledge or skill. Grigorenko (2002, cited in Poehner and2) define dynamic assessment as a procedure in which the assessor "takes into account the result of intervention and teaches the examinee how to perform better on individual items or on the test as a whole." Williams and Burden (1997, p,42) believe that dynamic assessment is a process in which "assessment and learning are seen as inextricably linked and not separate processes" and the criterion concepts of test validity and reliability that are of vital importance for the so-called static tests need to be redefined to fit the scope of DA.
The effect of dynamic assessment on L2 learners’ listening comprehension
Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature, 2018
Group dynamic assessment (G-DA), which is grounded in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (SCT), explores the role of social interaction and collaboration in the development of participants' listening performance. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of G-DA approach on listening comprehension of English as a foreign language(EFL) learners in two time intervals. To this end, twenty learners were selected from among Iranian EFL learners at an English language institute. The quantitative data analysis revealed that mediational strategies which were offered to learners within the group's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) could enhance their listening comprehension. These findings have important implications for all classroom teachers who can benefit from different designs of integrating instruction and assessment through offering mediational strategies to assist L2 learners in the development of their listening skill.
Integrating Assessment and Instruction: Dynamic Assessment and Its Criticisms Examined
Advanced Education
Dynamic Assessment has recently been voiced of constructivism, the socio-cultural theory of learning. This article, challenging the psychometric and product-based test, makes an attempt to delve into the epistemological and ontological theories of Dynamic Assessment (DA) and their criticisms. DA is the offspring of Vygotsky's theory of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and Feuerstein's mediated learning experience (MLE). It emphasises constructing a future through mediations. Interestingly, this development-oriented process of collaboration relies on the unification of instruction and assessment which is a strong threat to the reliability of the psychometric tests. This study also deals with the battle of views on DA. It discusses the appealing face of DA embracing ethical values, fairness and social equity, and the process based assessment. It also argues the negative face of DA comprising modifiability, interventionism, and stability. It finally concludes that each system should be criticised by certain criteria. Faced with the scarcity of research both theoretically and empirically, the critical analysis of this new generation of test in an L2 setting might be helpful for further discussions, suggestions and implications in the second language learning arena.
Dynamic assessment (hereafter DA) is an interactive approach to conducting assessment focusing on the ability of the learner to respond to his own learning. It is teaching to test paradigm in language testing which does not separate instruction from assessment, but instead, is in favor of a teacher-student unity that works jointly towards student's future improvement through their zone of proximal development (ZPD). This paradigm shift toward a new philosophy of assessment is a tool for helping individual learners develops from current level through intervention (Sternberg and Gregorenko, 2002). DA rooted in sociolinguistic theory of Vygotsky's ZPD and Feuerstein, to Vygotsky for the need to assess both the zones of actual and proximal development and to Feuerstein for creating procedures attempting to do just that DA explores how each mind works and how each individual can learn to assemble and to use knowledge better. This paper is an attempt to review, evaluate, and critique the validity of DA and discuss the genesis and promises of DA in general and L2 DA in particular. The procedures will be to: (a) review the theoretical and empirical developments in applying the principles of DA in assessing L2 learner's language ability and empirical evidence reported on in favor or against DA (b) briefly compare dynamic vs. non-dynamic assessment (NDA)and finally (c) discuss the practical implication teaching to test instruction (DA) in EFL/ESL context.