The Feasibility of Dynamic Assessment in EFL Classrooms: Evidence from an Iranian Context

The present study aimed at investigating whether two types of assessment strategies, namely Dynamic Assessment and Non-Dynamic Assessment had any significant impact on elementary and pre-intermediate Iranian EFL learners' performance on their final achievement test including reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and language functions. The participants of the study were 81 learners studying at the elementary and pre-intermediate levels in four classes in a language school in Tehran, Iran. Having tested them through the KET and PET respectively, one class at each level was randomly assignedas the experimental group. During 13 sessions, eight quizzes were administered in all the four classes. Following the principles of DA, participants of the two experimental groups received assistance when taking the quizzes while, in the two control groups, no assistance was provided. After the treatment, ANOVA was run on the results of the post-tests at the two levels, the results of which indicated that DA was only effective on the pre-intermediate learners and not on the elementary ones. The findings of this article will help English teachers with more effective teaching as they can set up an atmosphere where leraners can actively participate in the process of assessment while at the same time learners can experience a different and dynamic learning environment which is enjoyable, constructive, creative and free from test anxiety.