Dynamic Assessment of Writing Skill in Advanced EFL Iranian Learners

Dynamic Assessment (hereinafter DA) fundamentally is based on Vygotsky's theory of mediation and ZPD. In contrast to Traditional Assessment (hereinafter TA) which focuses on the product to show the current capability of learners, DA focuses on the process to predict their future achievement. This study intends to investigate the effectiveness of incorporating DA in improving teaching writing at advanced level among Iranian EFL learners. To fulfill this end twenty randomly chosen participants underwent a course of study in advanced writing for the period of two months and in eight sessions. All these participants received the same treatment, however, half of them, in the experimental group, were assessed dynamically and the other half, in the control group, were assessed traditionally. The participants' essays in both groups were assessed by two distinct raters and their results were statistically analyzed. In order for the study results to be triangulated a questionnaire consisting of three questions was distributed among participants to support the quantitative results in a qualitative and subjective manner. The result of statistical analysis of the T-test which was used to distinguish between the experimental and the control group in addition to the questionnaires showed a significant change in the essays of the participants in the experimental group. The paper concludes with some practical implications for teachers, material developers and syllabus designers. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.