The Impact of Electronic-Based Dynamic Assessment on the Listening Skill of (original) (raw)
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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...
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.
Language Testing in Asia
As a part of a more extensive computerized dynamic assessment (CDA) project delivered through a dedicated website, www.lingeli.com, this study explores EFL learners’ perspectives on an online listening comprehension dynamic assessment software focusing on inferential listening skills while trying to minimize the guessing effect. The study participants were 94 Iranian EFL learners selected through convenience sampling to participate in a 1-month dynamic assessment targeting EFL learners listening comprehension using the developed software. The researchers involved half of the study participants in semi-structured interviews held in their native language (Persian) to shed light on the pros and cons of the software. Six major themes emerged from the interviews’ content analysis, encapsulating participant’’ generally positive perceptions and some negative perspectives about the software. They perceived the CDA software as novel and interesting, stress-relieving, supportive, convenient, ...
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.
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.
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.
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
DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT IN DEVELOPING THE EFL LISTENING SKILL IN ADULTS
Proceedings of ICERI2018 Conference 12th-14th November 2018, Seville, Spain, 2018
Listening skill in English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching and learning is one of the major obstacles that prevent learners of EFL from successful communication. This research is based on a series of previous studies. The first one was about the analysis of Cambridge Assessment: English exams taken by adults (test takers over 30 y.o.). It was evident from test results that one of the major problems was listening. This led to the second, neuropsychological study, which was devoted to finding out a specific problem in listening among the test-takers. The major finding was that test takers struggle mainly with phonology and insufficient capacity of the short-term memory. This research is focused on addressing listening problems with the help of dynamic assessment following Vygotsky's theory of the zone of actual development (ZAD) and the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The number of participants of this study was 28, aged 30 and older. The experiment ran for 2 months, two 1,5 hour listening sessions a week addressing the development of the short-term memory and phonology in EFL. Three past-papers of First Certificate in English listening were used to measure the results of the experiment: Test A was used at the beginning, Test B was used both at the beginning and at the end of the experiment and Test C was used to test the transfer of the targeted skill. The results of the experiment complied with the Vygotsy's theory about the instability of the Zone of Proximal Development. Test B demonstrated the highest increase in the listening score: from 26% at the beginning of the experiment to 35.5% at the end for the experimental group and from 25% to 27,5% in the control group; whereas the results of testing in case of tests of A and C was more modest and did not differ greatly from one another. However, dynamic assessment employed in this study allowed us to find out specific problems in learning EFL: adults struggled with cultural differences between their native culture and that of the speakers in listening tasks, which prevented them from comprehending the input correctly; linguistic features of the learned language (L2), like different ways of expressing negation, also were an obstacle in speech comprehension. These findings lead to conclusion that L2 teaching should be age-sensitive and mother tongue/culture specific. This area of research needs further development and study, as dynamic assessment seems to be a promising way of developing listening skill in foreign language teaching by adults.
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.
Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 2020
Listening comprehension is a challenging skill in EFL contexts and it is necessary to research various aspects of this skill. Therefore, this study tried to investigate EFL learners’ progress on two types of listening comprehension items, receptive-response and productive-response, through diagnostic assessment (DIA) and dynamic assessment (DA). To do this, a Nelson proficiency test was administered among 120 EFL students in six classes, out of which, 90 students whose scores were in the acceptable range were selected. The classes were then randomly divided into three groups of control, DIA, and DA. As the pretest, a KET listening test in two sections of receptive-response and productive-response items was used to check the learners’ initial performance. Next, as for the treatment, in the DIA group, the learners took four listening tests with receptive-response and productive-response items in the form of test-feedback; in the DA group, the learners took the same four tests in the f...