Impact of Dynamic Assessment on the Writing Performance of English as Foreign Language Learners in Asynchronous Web 2.0 and Face-to-face Environments (original) (raw)
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Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2016
This study aims at investigating the effect of dynamic assessment (DA) on L2 writing achievement if applied via blogging as a Web 2.0 tool, as well as examining which pattern of interaction is more conducive to learning in such an environment. The results of the study indicate that using weblogs to provide mediation contributes to the enhancement of the overall writing performance, vocabulary and syntactic complexity, and quantity of overall information presented in a single paragraph. That is to say, DA procedures are applicable via Web 2.0 tools and are advantageous to L2 learners' writing suggesting that L2 practitioners and instructors should actively consider the integration of Web 2.0 technology into L2 education system using DA. Moreover, the collaborative pattern of interaction as compared to expert/novice, dominant/passive, and dominant/dominant patterns is found to be more conducive to fostering writing achievement in the asynchronous computermediated communication environment.
Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2024
This paper reports the results of a study aiming to investigate the effects of interactionist and interventionist dynamic assessment (DA) on learners' writing performance. To do so, 63 upperintermediate EFL learners were selected as the study participants. A writing pretest was administered to ensure the homogeneity of the participants and determine their level of proficiency prior to treatment. In the online interactionist DA group, the researchers implemented the treatment based on the 'Dynamic Mediation Process' proposed by Elliott (2002) and Xiaoxiao and Yan (2010). The framework comprised topic-choice, idea-generation, structuring and macro-revising stages. In doing so, the pre-task phase was conducted, followed by providing the mediation and performing post-task. In the interventionist DA group, Lantolf and Poehner's (2011) framework was followed. Based on this framework, the learners' erroneous language chunks were treated through the teacher's underlining the error, putting a question mark, circling it, or posing a written question concerning the problematic part. Alternatively, the teacher would point out the incorrect part and offer two options for the learners to choose from. At the end, a writing posttest was given to all groups to evaluate their writing performance after treatment. As the study findings helped reveal, both interactionist and interventionist DA types improved learners' writing performance. In addition, the comparison of the posttest scores indicated that the interactionist DA group participants even outperformed the interventionist ones on the writing posttest. The implications of the findings are discussed throughout the paper.
Alzahra University, 2024
This study endeavored to scrutinize the differential impacts of asynchronous and synchronous computer-assisted dynamic assessment (CADA) on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners’ higher-order and lower-order writing skills. In a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design, 60 Iranian EFL university students of both genders were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups. They experienced dynamic assessment (DA) procedures and received mediation on their writing either asynchronously or synchronously for 12 weeks where the higher-order and lower-order writing skills were rated by the researchers based on the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) (2011) writing rubric. The results of MANOVA revealed that both groups performed significantly better on the writing posttest in all the higher-order and lower-order writing skills. Nevertheless, no significant inter-group differences were found in the practiced writing skills on the posttest results. Further, 10 participants were randomly selected from each experimental group to explore their perceptions of and attitudes toward the CADA procedures. Analyzing their responses, it was observed that members of the asynchronous CADA group had more positive perceptions of writing, less level of stress, and more sense of rapport with the instructor. The findings highlight the potential of CADA to enhance EFL learners’ higher-order and lower-order writing skills both in synchronous and asynchronous contexts.
Effects of Web-Based Collaborative Writing on Individual L2 Writing Development
This study investigated the effect of repeated in-class web-based collaborative writing tasks on second language writers' (L2) individual writing scores. A pre-test post-test research model was used in addition to participant surveys, class observations, and teacher interviews. Participants included 59 L2 writers in a writing class at a large U.S. university. The 32 participants in the experimental group engaged in four in-class web-based collaborative writing tasks, while the 27 participants in the control group engaged in the same four in-class web-based writing tasks but individually. A paired samples t-test revealed that both groups experienced statistically significant gains from their pre-to post-test scores. An independent sample t-test of pre-to post-test gains revealed that the participants in the collaborative web-based writing group experienced statistically significant writing gains in their individual writing over the participants in the individual web-based writing group. Participant survey results showed that the L2 writers valued the collaborative in-class writing tasks overall and that many participants in the individual group wished they had done in-class collaborative web-based writing. Three types of collaborative groups emerged. Pedagogical implications for technology-enhanced collaborative writing are discussed, and a Teaching Cycle for Web-Based Collaborative Writing is introduced.
2017
The present mixed-method study attempted to investigate the efficacy of using an interactionist dynamic assessment procedure to assist university EFL learners in writing argumentative essays. It also sought to discover the differential effect of dynamic assessment in face-to-face versus web-based modes of delivering mediation. The quantitative component of the study revealed the outperformance of the experimental group on the posttest. However, the two modes of delivering mediation had no differential impact on the degree of improvement of the two experimental groups in the essay writing ability. Furthermore, with regard to the transfer tasks, the experimental groups could successfully transfer their learning to the near and far transfer tasks. The qualitative analysis of the negotiations also demonstrated an improvement in the essay writing ability of the participants over the sessions. Merging the quantitative and qualitative analyses, the study found that interactionist dynamic a...
The present case study examined factors that mediated interaction among 3 Asian learners of English while they collaboratively wrote a summary using Google Docs and text-chat (Task 1) and Google Docs and voice-chat (Task 2) in the context of a debate club. Data were collected from multiple sources including a survey questionnaire, debate summaries, screen recordings, and stimulated recalls. The survey questionnaire elicited the learners' background information and individual goals for the writing tasks. Debate summaries, transcripts of screen recordings, and stimulated recall interviews were analyzed to investigate interaction patterns of the group and mediating factors in their collaborations. Firstly, the group's interaction patterns were identified by adapting Storch's (2002) dyadic interaction model, revealing a facilitator/participants pattern in Task 1 and a collaborative pattern in Task 2. Informed by activity theory, participants' goals and the goal-directed actions that influenced their collaborative writing activities were identified. Drawing upon an expanded activity model, the findings suggested that modes of communication, task representations, matches/mismatches between participants' self-perceived and other-perceived roles, and perceptions of peer feedback were the primary mediating factors on the qualities of collaboration. The findings may help explain why collaborative performance varies and may provide insights into how web-based collaborative writing activities can be designed and facilitated in L2 classes.
2017
The present study was an attempt to investigate the significance of environmental changes on the development of writing in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context with respect to the individual. This study also compared the impacts of collaboration and asynchronous computer mediation (ACM) on the writing complexity of EFL learners. To this end, three intact writing classes were designated as Collaborative faceto-face group (N = 21), Asynchronous Computer Mediation group (N = 20) and Control group (N =16). The two experimental groups received scaffolding instructions on narrative essays. The collaborative faceto-face group (CFFG) went through the working in pairs, and working asynchronously through a researcherdesigned website (ACMG). The data were analyzed employing ANOVA. The results showed that the CFFG group improved in terms of their writing complexity and the former outperformed the ACMG group. The findings brought to light the benefits of pair work and showed that learners...
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2022
This study takes a dynamic approach to investigating engagement, examining fluctuations in cognitive-affective variables at regular time intervals during online collaborative second language (L2) writing tasks. Using online conference software and online editing software, 16 university students who use English as an L2, completed two collaborative problem-solution L2 writing tasks in two communication modes: video-chat and text-chat. After each task, learners viewed videos of their performances in 12 three-minute segments and were asked to rate their engagement on two scales (interest, focus). They were then interviewed about their attributions for fluctuations in their ratings. Group-level analysis revealed that learners experienced significantly higher focus and interest during tasks performed in video-chat mode than text-chat mode. This was contrasted with an analysis from a dynamic perspective, which produced a more nuanced picture of individual engagement trajectories during the tasks. Dynamic patterns of engagement fell into either moderately steady, increasing, decreasing, or rollercoaster pattern categories. A content analysis of 32 interviews revealed four factors that accounted for changes in engagement during tasks: task design (e.g., task familiarity), task process (e.g., instances of collaboration), task condition (e.g., communication mode), and learner factors (e.g., perceptions of proficiency).
Mediational Processes in Support of Learner L2 Writing Development
Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2018
The present article reports on a study that extends Dynamic Assessment (DA) to the domain of second language (L2) writing instruction. As in general education, the L2 field has increasingly moved toward a process approach to writing that emphasizes the importance of multiple drafts, opportunities for feedback, and attempts at revision. The present study, undertaken collaboratively with an experienced classroom teacher of L2 Japanese, reformulated this process as three interrelated stages of mediated activity: an initial DA session in which the teacher prompted learners to identify and correct errors in order to identify knowledge and abilities that were in the process of emerging; a peer mediation session to collaboratively review, discuss, and correct exemplar sentences containing representative problematic constructions; and a whole-class discussion of the language constructions. Analysis of recorded and transcribed sessions indicates the value to learners of collaboratively discussing and correcting similar error types in their peers’ writing.
International Journal of Linguistics and Literature
The influx of Information Communications Technology (ICT) has revolutionized instructional delivery in language courses. This quasi-experiment is an attempt to investigate the impact of ICT via Web-mediated instruction and Conventional instruction on students' reading and writing performance. Two groups of respondents representing two learning conditionsthe experimental group exposed to Web-mediated Instruction and the control group taught using the Conventional Method participated in this study for one term consisting of 13 weeks. Top findings reveal that significant improvements were found in the writing performance of both experimental and control groups but no improvements were noted in their reading performance. Furthermore, both groups posted significant improvements in their writing performance particularly on content and organization. However, there is no significant difference in the reading and writing performance of both groups. Experimental groups perceived that web-mediated instruction, the use of web blog in particular, contributed to the development of their writing skills. Thus, educators can utilize any methods of instruction in teaching ESL writing provided that fundamental concepts in academic writing are thoroughly discussed and adequate opportunities are provided to ensure optimum development of students' academic writing skills.