Study of the Effect of Dynamic Assessment and Graphic Organizers on EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Reading skill is one of the four skills which is very important to gain knowledge and very essential for academic life. The main focus of instructing this skill is on comprehension (Schunder, 1992). Among different factors important in comprehending expository text; the text structure, known as organizational pattern and related pictures plays a key role (Armbruster, Anderson, & Ostertag, 1987). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of two reading comprehension strategies, i.e., Dynamic Assessment (DA) and Graphic Organizers (GO) on EFL learners' reading comprehension ability. Forty five elementary students were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (A, B) and one control group (C). Students in group A received Dynamic Assessment (DA) and those in group B received Graphic Organizing instruction (GO). Students in control group C were instructed traditionally. After 10 sessions, they were post-tested. The statistical tool of the Kruskal-Wallis Test was run to determine if there was significant difference. The results of the study showed that both experimental groups acted better than the control group on the reading comprehension. It should also be noted that because of relative superiority of DA group over TI, it is more logical to prioritize DA as a better choice. Nonetheless, GO group was placed somewhere in the middle among these three groups.