The Effect of Dynamic Assessment on Grammatical Accuracy of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

A foreign language (EFL) learner in Iran is faced with some major problems in learning English language; one of them can be considered as the accuracy of grammar. Two models of Dynamic Assessment (DA) including Sandwich Model and Cake Model are applied for learning grammar. This experimental study, quantitative research with pre-test and post-test endeavored to find any significant difference between Sandwich model and Cake model of DA in improving Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ grammatical accuracy. In the pursuit of the purpose of this study, out of a population of ۲۴۰ learners, ۹۰ participants were randomly selected from one High School in East Azarbaijan, Iran. The Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was applied to homogenize the participants. A pretest with merely grammar items elicited from OPT was also conducted to homogenize the participants’ grammar abilities. As a result, ۶۰ EFL learners were selected out of ۹۰ as participants of two groups, namely, ۳۰ learners as experimental group (۱) with sandwich model of DA and ۳۰ learners as experimental group (۲) with Cake model of DA. The Oxford Placement Test (OPT), a pretest and a posttest were administrated for both groups. Three quizzes were taken only by experimental group ۲ during the treatment. After twelve sessions, they received a post-test (it was the same as the pre-test) contained ۲۴ multiple choices grammar items selected from OPT. After analyzing the data, it was found that there was a significant effect on the grammatical accuracy of Iranian intermediate EFL learners in using the Sandwich model and the Cake model of DA. It was also revealed that Cake model of DA had more effect in improving Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ grammatical accuracy than Sandwich model. The findings of this study can be useful to teacher trainers, language teachers and language learners.