The Effect of Interventionist Dynamic Assessment Versus Interactionist Dynamic Assessment on the EFL Learners’ Grammar Achievement Mediated by Their Brain Dominance[پايان نامه لاتين]

Fahimeh Samiei

Regarding the Iranian EFL learners’ problems about grammar learning, and the dominant non-dynamic assessment in the educational settings, and considering the dynamic assessment lack enough empirical research on uses of dynamic assessment in the language classroom, the present study attempts to investigate the effect of interventionist versus interactionist dynamic assessment among intermediate EFL learners’ grammar achievement mediated by their brain dominance. To this ends, 47 Iranian female students participated and they were randomly assigned into two experimental groups namely interventionist and interactionist. They were given the Brain dominance Questionnaire developed by Mc Crone (1999) to determine their type of brain dominance. The results of data analysis (Paired Samples t-test) showed that the participants in both experimental groups performed better in their posttest in terms of grammar. However, the results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that the learners, who were exposed to interactionist approach of DA, outperformed the interventionist group in posttest. With regard the brain dominance the results of ANCOVA have shown that the right hemisphere students benefited more from the interventionist DA, whereas the left hemisphere students benefited much more from the interactionist DA and in both experimental groups, balanced brain students benefited less from interventionist and interactionist DA. In the qualitative phase of the study, the researcher asked 10 participants from each group to sit in an interview. Findings of the qualitative phase of the study showed that both the interactionist and interventionist dynamic assessment influenced the participants’ grammar knowledge. The results suggested that providing mediations through negotiation, by decreasing the level of anxiety in the classroom would let the students understand their problem and solve it independently. The results of this study can shed light on the effectiveness of dynamic assessment, specifically the interactionist approach to dynamic assessment in the foreign language teaching and testing context and help the teachers to understand their learners’ learning potential.