The Effect of Interventionist Dynamic Assessment on Language Learners’ Reading Comprehension

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

Hossein Shokri ¹ (PhD candidate, Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Mohammad Reza Khodareza ² (Assistant Professor, Department of English, Tonekabon Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran)

Received: 2021-09-02 Accepted : 2021-09-02 Published : 2021-09-01

Keywords: reading comprehension, Dynamic Assessment, Peer-assisted mediation, Tutor-intervention,

Abstract :

Collaborative Reading Strategies could help language learners to develop a more teamwork environment for students. and in this research study, researchers investigate the effect of peer-assisted mediation vs. tutor-intervention within interventionist dynamic assessment on the reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate learners. For this purpose, 60 language learners were recruited as the main participants of the study. They were divided into three groups: Experimental group A as peer-mediation, experimental group B as tutor-intervention, group C as control. After this, a pre-test of reading comprehension was given to all the groups. Each group of participants received their own treatment. The treatment took 12 sessions. One session was allocated to proficiency test and pretest and one session for posttest. At the end of the treatment the post test was administered. Findings suggested that involving learners in literature peer mediation and tutor intervention in an interventionist dynamic atmosphere can have significantly positive effects on their reading comprehension. The results of the findings could help language learners to make decision about their own learning experience. They, could also become autonomous who will have enough courage to participate in group discussion. Finding out the effect of interventionist dynamic assessment either with the help of classmates (more knowledgeable peers) or teachers on language skills such as reading comprehension can be of high importance in an EFL context. Iranian EFL teachers and materials developers can benefit from the findings of this study by providing students with suitable tasks based on their assessment needs.

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