Differential Impacts of State and Islamic Azad University ELT Professors’ E-Diagnostic Assessment on EFL Undergraduates’ Collaborative Writing: Teaching Experience and Affiliation as Moderators (Research Paper)

Advancements in educational technology promote the use of e-diagnostic assessment, which provides timely, personalized feedback that enhances language learning outcomes, especially in collaborative settings. This study critically compared the impacts of State and Islamic Azad University (IAU) ELT professors’ e-diagnostic assessment on EFL undergraduates' collaborative writing moderated by their teaching experience and affiliations. To do so, a cohort of novice (N = ۴) and experienced (N = ۴) ELT professors from State and Islamic Azad Universities were purposefully selected to cross-examine their relative professional assessment practice. They provided a session-wise e-diagnostic assessment of ۱۶۰ EFL undergraduates’ collaborative writing performance for eight weeks on the Google Meet platform. Data analysis suggested that regular e-diagnostic assessments improved EFL undergraduate collaborative writing, moderated by ELT professors’ teaching experience and affiliation. Accordingly, State University ELT professors with less teaching experience could outperform their experienced counterparts in e-diagnostic assessment practice, and so did the experienced IAU ELT professors to their novice colleagues. Also, strong associations were found among ELT professors’ teaching experience, university affiliation, and e-diagnostic assessment, with EFL undergraduates’ collaborative writing improvement serving as their proxy. The findings highlighted the importance of supplementing in-service language assessment training to the curricula of university teacher education programs and the benefits of integrating technology into assessment to enhance language learning.

کلیدواژه ها:

affiliation ، Collaborative Writing ، E-Diagnostic Assessment ، ELT Professors ، Teaching Experience