Examining Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perceptions regarding the Importance and Application of Dynamic Assessment

Document Type : research article

Authors

1 English department- faculty of foreign language and literature- Kharazmi University- Tehran

2 English department. English and literature faculty. Kharazmi University. Tehran

Abstract

Assessment plays an important role in educational system because most of the decisions about the learners’ status in academic environment are made based on the results of those assessments. The most common way of assessment is static assessment. In recent decades with the evolution in teaching methods, other kinds of assessment become vogue like self-assessment, peer-assessment, and Dynamic Assessment. The focus of the current investigation is mainly on DA. This study investigated Iranian TEFL teachers’ perceptions regarding the importance and application of DA in Iran. Findings showed that Iranian teachers have positive views about the application of DA in their classes but because of educational system limitations, time and expense matters and lack of literacy, they cannot put it into practice. Further discussions and detailed analysis of the results are followed through the paper. The findings of this study may render implications for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, learners, material developers, educational authorities

Keywords


Abbott, S. P., Reed, E., Abbott, R. D., & Berninger, V. W. (1997). Year-long balanced reading/writing tutorial: A design experiment used for dynamic assessment. Learning Disability Quarterly, 20(3), 249-263.
Ableeva, R., & Lantolf, J. (2011). Mediated dialogue and the microgenesis of second language listening comprehension. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18(2), 133-149.
Ajideh, P., & Nourdad, N. (2012). The immediate and delayed effect of dynamic assessment on EFL reading ability. English Language Teaching, 5(12), 141.
Alavi, S. M., & Taghizadeh, M. (2014). Dynamic assessment of writing: The impact of implicit/explicit mediations on L2 learners' internalization of writing skills and strategies. Educational Assessment, 19(1), 1-16.
Aljaafreh, A. L., & Lantolf, J. P. (1994). Negative feedback as regulation and second language learning in the zone of proximal development. The Modern Language Journal, 78(4), 465-483.      
Allal, L., & Ducrey, G. P. (2000). Assessment of—or in—the zone of proximal development. Learning and instruction, 10(2), 137-152.      
Antón, M. (2009). Dynamic assessment of advanced second language learners. Foreign Language Annals, 42(3), 576-598.
Antón, M. (2013). Dynamic assessment. In the Routledge handbook of language testing (pp. 120-133). Routledge.
Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., Sorensen, C., & Walker, D. (2013). Introduction to research in education: Cengage Learning.
Atjonen, P. (2014). Teachers’ views of their assessment practice. Curriculum Journal, 25(2), 238-259.
Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford University Press.
Baek, S. G., & Kim, K. J. (2003). The effect of dynamic assessment based instruction on children’s learning. Asia Pacific Education Review, 4(2), 189-198.
Bailey, A. L., & Heritage, M. (2014). The role of language learning progressions in improved instruction and assessment of English language learners. TESOL Quarterly, 48(3), 480-506.
Basturkmen, H. (2012). Review of research into the correspondence between language teachers' stated beliefs and practices. System, 40(2), 282-295.
Bethge, H. J., Carlson, J. S., & Wiedl, K. H. (1982). The effects of dynamic assessment procedures on Raven matrices performance, visual search behavior, test anxiety and test orientation. Intelligence, 6(1), 89-97.
Birjandi, P., Estaji, M., & Deyhim, T. (2013). The impact of dynamic assessment on reading comprehension and metacognitive awareness of reading strategy use in Iranian high school learners. Iranian Journal of Language Testing, 3(2), 60-77.
Breen, M. P., Hird, B., Milton, M., Oliver, R., & Thwaite, A. (2001). Making sense of language teaching: Teachers' principles and classroom practices. Applied linguistics, 22(4), 470-501.
Brown, G. (2009). Teachers' self-reported assessment practices and conceptions: Using structural equation modelling to examine measurement and structural models. Structural equation modelling in educational research: Concepts and applications.
Brown, H. D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2004). Language assessment. Principles and Classroom Practices. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Brown, J. D., & Hudson, T. (1998). The alternatives in language assessment. TESOL quarterly, 32(4), 653-675.
Burns, S. (1985). Comparison of" Graduated Prompt" and" Mediational" Dynamic Assessment and Static Assessment with Young Children. Alternative Assessments of Handicapped: A Series of Technical Reports and Working Papers. Technical Report No. 2.
Caffrey, E., Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2008). The Predictive Validity of Dynamic Assessment A Review. The Journal of Special Education, 41(4), 254-270.
Camilleri, B., & Botting, N. (2013). Beyond static assessment of children's receptive vocabulary: the dynamic assessment of word learning (DAWL). International journal of language & communication disorders, 48(5), 565-581.
Coyne, M. D., & Harn, B. A. (2006). Promoting beginning reading success through meaningful assessment of early literacy skills. Psychology in the Schools, 43(1), 33-43.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Five qualitative approaches to inquiry. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches, 2, 53-80.
Davin, K. J., & Donato, R. (2013). Student collaboration and teacher‐directed classroom dynamic assessment: A complementary pairing. Foreign Language Annals, 46(1), 5-22.
Deakin Crick, R. (2007). Learning how to learn: The dynamic assessment of learning power. The Curriculum Journal, 18(2), 135-153.
Dockrell, J. E., & Marshall, C. R. (2015). Measurement issues: assessing language skills in young children. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20(2), 116-125.
Dörfler, T., Golke, S., & Artelt, C. (2009). Dynamic assessment and its potential for the assessment of reading competence. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 35(2-3), 77-82.
Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics.
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (Eds.). (2009). Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (Vol. 36). Multilingual Matters.
Elliott, J. (2003). Dynamic assessment in educational settings: Realising potential. Educational Review, 55(1), 15-32.
Ellis, A. K., & Evans, L. (2013). Teaching, learning, and assessment together: Reflective assessments for middle and high school English and social studies. Routledge.
Ellis, R. (2012). Language teaching research and language pedagogy. John Wiley & Sons.
Evans, D. J., Zeun, P., & Stanier, R. A. (2014). Motivating student learning using a formative assessment journey. Journal of anatomy, 224(3), 296-303.
Farhady, H., & Hedayati, H. (2009). Language assessment policy in Iran. Annual review of applied linguistics, 29, 132-141.
Feuerstein, R. (1979). The dynamic assessment of retarded performers. Baltimore: University Park .
Feuerstein, R., Rand, Y. A., & Hoffman, M. B. (1979). The dynamic assessment of retarded performers: The learning potential assessment device, theory, instruments, and techniques. Scott Foresman & Co.
Fuchs, D., Compton, D. L., Fuchs, L. S., Bouton, B., & Caffrey, E. (2011). The construct and predictive validity of a dynamic assessment of young children learning to read: Implications for RTI frameworks. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(4), 339-347.
Grigorenko, E. L. (2009). Dynamic assessment and response to intervention: Two sides of one coin. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(2), 111-132.
Guterman, E. (2002). Toward dynamic assessment of reading: applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading assessment tasks. Journal of Research in reading, 25(3), 283-298.
Guthke, J., Beckmann, J. F., & Dobat, H. (1997). Dynamic testing—problems, uses, trends and evidence of validity. Educational and Child Psychology.
Gutierrez-Clellen, V. F., & Pena, E. (2001). Dynamic assessment of diverse children: A tutorial. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 32(4), 212.
Hasson, N., & Joffe, V. (2007). The case for dynamic assessment in speech and language therapy. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 23(1), 9-25.
Hawe, E., & Parr, J. (2014). Assessment for learning in the writing classroom: An incomplete realisation. Curriculum journal, 25(2), 210-237.
Haywood, H. C., & Lidz, C. S. (2007). Dynamic assessment in practice: Clinical and educational applications. Cambridge University Press.
Haywood, H. C., & Tzuriel, D. (2002). Applications and challenges in dynamic assessment. Peabody Journal of Education, 77(2), 40-63.
Hidri, S. (2014). Developing and evaluating a dynamic assessment of listening comprehension in an EFL context. Language Testing in Asia, 4(1), 4.
Hill, K., & Sabet, M. (2009). Dynamic assessment speaking. TESOL Quarterly, 43, 537-545.
Jafary, M. R., Nordin, N., & Mohajeri, R. (2012). The effect of dynamic versus static assessment on syntactic development of Iranian college preparatory EFL learners. English Language Teaching, 5(7), 149.
Järvelä, S., Salonen, P., & Lepola, J. (2001). Dynamic assessment as a key to understanding student motivation in a classroom context. Advances in research on motivation: New directions in measures and methods, 12, 217-240.
Jonsson, A., Lundahl, C., & Holmgren, A. (2015). Evaluating a large-scale implementation of Assessment for Learning in Sweden. Assessment in education: Principles, policy & practice, 22(1), 104-121.
Kalyuga, S., & Sweller, J. (2005). Rapid dynamic assessment of expertise to improve the efficiency of adaptive e-learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(3), 83-93.
Karimi, M. N., & Shafiee, Z. (2014). Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of dynamic assessment: Exploring the role of education and length of service. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(8), 9.
Kozulin, A., & Grab, E. (2002). Dynamic assessment of EFL text comprehension of at-risk students. Paper presented at the 9th conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction. Switzerland.
Kozulin, A., & Presseisen, B. Z. (1995). Mediated learning experience and psychological tools: Vygotsky's and Feuerstein's perspectives in a study of student learning. Educational psychologist, 30(2), 67-75.
Kuzborska, I. (2011). Links between teachers' beliefs and practices and research on reading. Reading in a foreign language, 23(1), 102.
Lantolf, J. P., & Poehner, M. E. (2004). Dynamic assessment of L2 development: Bringing the past into the future. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1).
Lantolf, J. P., & Poehner, M. E. (2008). Dynamic assessment. In Encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 2406-2417). Springer US.
Leung, C. (2007). Dynamic Assessment: Assessment for and as Teaching? Language Assessment Quarterly, 4(3), 257-278.
Lidz, C. S. (1991). Practitioner's guide to dynamic assessment. Guilford Press.   
Lidz, C. S. (1995). Dynamic assessment and the legacy of LS Vygotsky. School Psychology International, 16(2), 143-153.
Lidz, C. S. (1997). Dynamic assessment approaches. Contemporary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests and issues, 281-296.
Lidz, C. S., & Macrine, S. L. (2001). An alternative approach to the identification of gifted culturally and linguistically diverse learners: The contribution of dynamic assessment. School Psychology International, 22(1), 74-96.
Malone, M. E. (2017). Training in language assessment. Language testing and assessment, 225-239.
McNamara, T. F. (1997). ‘Interaction’in second language performance assessment: Whose performance? 1. Applied Linguistics, 18(4), 446-466
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. sage.
Missiuna, C., & Samuels, M. T. (1989). Dynamic assessment of preschool children with special needs: Comparison of mediation and instruction. Remedial and Special Education, 10(2), 53-60.
Naeini, J., & Duvall, E. (2012). Dynamic assessment and the impact on English language learners' reading comprehension performance. Language Testing in Asia, 2(2), 22.
Nasiri, M., & Khorshidi, S. (2015). Dynamic assessment of formulaic sequences in Iranian EFL learners’ writing. International Journal of Language and Applied Linguistics, 1, 26-32.
Nassaji, H., & Swain, M. (2000). A Vygotskian perspective on corrective feedback in L2: The effect of random versus negotiated help on the learning of English articles. Language Awareness, 9(1), 34-51.
Nazari, B. (2012). Teach-to-Test Instruction of Dynamic Assessment: a critical overview. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature, 5(4), 56-68.
Nisbet, S., & Warren, E. (2000). Primary school teachers’ beliefs relating to mathematics, teaching and assessing mathematics and factors that influence these beliefs. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 2(34-47).
Ohta, A. S. (2005). Interlanguage pragmatics in the zone of proximal development. System, 33(3), 503-517.
Panahi, P., Birjandi, P., & Azabdaftari, B. (2013). Toward a sociocultural approach to feedback provision in L2 writing classrooms: the alignment of dynamic assessment and teacher error feedback. Language Testing in Asia, 3(1), 13.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Two decades of developments in qualitative inquiry: A personal, experiential perspective. Qualitative social work, 1(3), 261-283.
Peña, E., Iglesias, A., & Lidz, C. S. (2001). Reducing test bias through dynamic assessment of children's word learning ability. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10(2), 138-154.
Perry Jr, F. L. (2011). Research in applied linguistics: Becoming a discerning consumer. Taylor & Francis.
Poehner, M. E. (2005). Dynamic assessment of oral proficiency among advanced L2 learners of French.
Poehner, M. E. (2007). Beyond the test: L2 dynamic assessment and the transcendence of mediated learning. The Modern Language Journal, 91(3), 323-340.
Poehner, M. E. (2008). Dynamic assessment: A Vygotskian approach to understanding and promoting L2 development (Vol. 9). Springer Science & Business Media.
Poehner, M. E. (2009). Dynamic Assessment as a Dialectical Framework for Classroom Activity: Evidence from Second Language (L2) Learners. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 8(3), 252-268.
Poehner, M. E. (2009). Group dynamic assessment: Mediation for the L2 classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 43(3), 471-491.
Poehner, M. E. (2011). Dynamic assessment: Fairness through the prism of mediation. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18(2), 99-112.
Poehner, M. E. (2011). Validity and interaction in the ZPD: Interpreting learner development through L2 Dynamic Assessment. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 21(2), 244-263.
Poehner, M. E., & Lantolf, J. P. (2005). Dynamic assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 9(3), 233-265.
Poehner, M. E., & Rea-Dickins, P. (Eds.). (2014). Addressing issues of access and fairness in education through dynamic assessment. Routledge.
Poehner, M. E., Zhang, J., & Lu, X. (2015). Computerized dynamic assessment (C-DA): Diagnosing L2 development according to learner responsiveness to mediation. Language testing, 32(3), 337-357.
Pressley, M., & McCormick, C. (1995). Cognition, teaching, and assessment. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers.
Pyo, K. H. (2010). Dynamic Assessment of Speaking Abilities at the University Setting. 외국어교육, 17(3), 1-24.
Rudner, L. M., & Schafer, W. D. (2002). What teachers need to know about assessment. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
Sadeghi, K., & Khanahmadi, F. (2011). Dynamic Assessment Of L2 Grammar Of Iranian Efl Learners: The Role Of Mediated Learning Experience. International Journal of Academic Research, 3(2).
Shepard, L. A. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational researcher, 29(7), 4-14.
Shohamy, E., Inbar-Lourie, O., & Poehner, M. (2008). Investigating assessment perceptions and practices in the advanced foreign language classroom (No. 1108). Report.
Shrestha, P., & Coffin, C. (2012). Dynamic assessment, tutor mediation and academic writing development. Assessing writing, 17(1), 55-70.
Sternberg, R. J., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2002). Dynamic testing: The nature and measurement of learning potential. Cambridge university press.
Swanson, H. L. (1995). Using the Cognitive Processing Test to assess ability: Development of a dynamic assessment measure. School Psychology Review.
Swanson, H. L., & Howard, C. B. (2005). Children with reading disabilities: Does dynamic assessment help in the classification? Learning Disability Quarterly, 28(1), 17-34.
Tajeddin, Z., & Tayebipour, F. (2012). The effect of dynamic assessment on EFL learners' acquisition of request and apology. Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 31(2), 87-118.
Tiekstra, M., Minnaert, A., & Hessels, M. G. (2016). A review scrutinising the consequential validity of dynamic assessment. Educational Psychology, 36(1), 112-137.
Treasure, J., & Bauer, B. (2003). Assessment and motivation. Handbook of Eating Disorders, Second Edition, 219-231.
Tzuriel, D. (2001). Dynamic assessment of young children. In Dynamic assessment of young children (pp. 63-75). Springer US.
Tzuriel, D., & Kaufman, R. (1999). Mediated learning and cognitive modifiability: Dynamic assessment of young Ethiopian immigrant children to Israel. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 30(3), 359-380.
Tzuriel, D., & Samuels, M. T. (2000). Dynamic assessment of learning potential: inter-rater reliability of deficient cognitive functions, types of mediation, and non-intellective factors. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 1(1), 40-64.
Van de Pol, J., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J. (2010). Scaffolding in teacher–student interaction: A decade of research. Educational psychology review, 22(3), 271-296.
Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language classroom: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. Harlow: Longman. Google Scholar.
Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language classroom: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. Harlow: Longman. Google Scholar.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Readings on the development of children, 23(3), 34-41.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language (rev. ed.). Cambridge publications.
Wiliam*, D., Lee, C., Harrison, C., & Black, P. (2004). Teachers developing assessment for learning: Impact on student achievement. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 11(1), 49-65.
Xiaoxiao, L., & Yan, L. (2010). A case study of dynamic assessment in EFL process writing. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics (Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press), 33(1).
Yan-hong, Z. (2010). Constructing dynamic assessment mode in college English writing class. Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages, 1, 011.
Zoghi, M., & Malmeer, E. (2013). The Effect of Dynamic Assessment on EFL Learners' Intrinsic Motivation. Journal of Language Teaching & Research, 4(3).