The Impact of Dynamic Assessment Through Mediational Strategies on Iranian Elementary EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

Drawing on the theoretical and pedagogical implications at the intersection of second language acquisition, language pedagogy, and socio-cultural theory (SCT), proposed by Vygotsky (1978), the present study accentuates the important role of dynamic assessment (DA) which has a long history in applied linguistics but has been the hot topic of EFL studies recently. DA has received considerable attention from researchers over the last three decades culminating in prolific studies which have investigated the effect of DA on language skills; however, a few studies have focused on the effect of dynamic assessment on listening comprehension, so the paucity of research in this area and unclear results have prompted the researchers to embark on the impact of dynamic assessment on the listening comprehension. Therefore, the present study aimed to expand traditional understanding of listening assessment in the foreign language context and pertain dynamic assessment to the development of learners’ listening ability. More specifically, the study sought to find out the effects of dynamic assessment on the listening comprehension of elementary students learning English as a foreign language. Accordingly, of the 70 students who took Oxford Quick Placement Test, thirty six EFL students ranging in age from 12 to 17 were considered as Elementary English language learners, who were then divided into three groups of 12 students, namely dynamic group, non-dynamic group, and a control group. Having received the treatment, the analysis of one-way ANOVA and Tukey test demonstrated that the dynamic group outperformed both non-dynamic and control groups, but the non-dynamic group did not have a better performance than the control group. Finally, according to the findings, language teachers are recommended to use the meditational strategies and also care about the learner’s potential. Furthermore, teachers are suggested to apply more DA approaches in their classes in a more systematic way rather than the traditional kind of testing which concentrates only on the learning product.

Keywords:

Dynamic Assessment , Socio-cultural Theory , Mediation , Mediational Strategies , Listening Comprehension