The Impact of Group Dynamic Assessment (GDA) vs. Computerised Dynamic Assessment (C-DA) on Iranian EFL Learners’ Pragmatic Comprehension

Most foreign language (L۲) learners suffer from dire deficiencies in their pragmatic comprehension partly due to the less explicit instruction they receive and the complexities and multi-layeredness inherent in L۲ pragmatic comprehension. Accordingly, this study sought to scrutinize the effect of two dynamic assessment (DA) models on L۲ pragmatic comprehension accuracy and speed. A convenience sample of ۵۲ upper-intermediate female EFL learners that were randomly assigned into a dynamic assessment experimental group (GDA), a computerised dynamic assessment (C-DA), and a Non-DA control group took part in the study. A ۲۶-item researcher-made pragmatic listening comprehension test including requests, apologies, greetings, and refusals was used as pre- and posttests, and the treatments using the aforementioned DA and non-DA conventional models were completed in ۱۴ sessions. Data analysis using ANCOVA showed that C-DA and G-DA could significantly increase pragmatic comprehension accuracy than the conventional non-DA instruction with C-DA being significantly better than G-DA.  However, only C-DA could significantly decrease learners’ pragmatic comprehension speed than G-DA and Non-DA instruction. The findings of this study suggest that implementing C-DA by teachers can promote pragmatic comprehension accuracy and speed among L۲ learners.

کلیدواژه ها:

Dynamic Assessment ، Pragmatic Accuracy ، Pragmatic Comprehension ، Pragmatic Speed ، Speech Act