The Dynamic Assessment of Reading Comprehension: An Exploration of EFL Teacher’s Perception and Practice

Abstract

This study investigates EFL teachers’ perceptions regarding Dynamic Assessment (hereafter DA) prior and subsequent to taking part in workshops and panel discussions. Twenty-five EFL teachers participated in a semi-structured interview, 10 of whom were selected through purposive sampling to take part in a five-session workshop, which was held to familiarize them with the principles of DA. Following workshop training sessions, a panel discussion was run for 2 sessions and teachers shared their ideas and discussed their problems in applying DA in their classes regarding reading skill. Their classes were video-taped for further analysis and they were also asked to keep reflective journals regarding their practice. After these treatment sessions, a second semi- structured interview regarding EFL teachers’ perceptions about DA was run. According to the results of the discussion sessions and interviews, using them as the base of work, an observation checklist was created to assess the EFL teachers' classroom practices and see whether they correspond to their attitudes or not. The results of this study showed that EFL teachers found workshop training sessions both informative and practical. They mentioned panel discussion groups as a good platform to discuss their practice- related problems with their colleagues and writing reflective journals as an awareness raising act which help them improve their DA practices. Implications for teachers and teacher training courses are discussed.