Effect of interactionist dynamic assessment on English vocabulary learning: Cultural perspectives in focus

Behzad Ghonsooly and Tahereh Hassanzadeh
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran

The present study sought to investigate if an interactionist dynamic assessment differently affects the English vocabulary learning of Iranian EFL male and female learners with different cultural dimensions. Initially, 120 adult EFL intermediate learners were selected using convenience sampling from among 15 such classes. A cultural dimension questionnaire was given to the participants to identify their cultural orientations. After identifying the cultural orientations of the learners, The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) proposed by Wesche and Paribakht (1993) was translated into Persian and learners were asked to rate the vocabulary items in a 100 vocabulary list based on the scale. The rationale behind this procedure was to select the vocabulary items that learners were not familiar with. Based on VKS, the learners selected 40 vocabulary items. Ten sessions were determined for teaching these 40 selected words to all the learners using the interactionist dynamic assessment. After the end of the treatment, a 40-item vocabulary test devised by the researchers was administered to the groups to test their vocabulary learning performance. The results of statistical analyses indicated that male learners with individualism/collectivism cultural orientation significantly outperformed all the other male learners in other culturally oriented groups. Likewise, female learners with individualism/collectivism cultural orientation significantly outperformed all the other female learners in other culturally oriented groups. Based on the findings of the present study, teachers are encouraged to take learners' cultural orientations into account when providing dynamic assessment.
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Authors: Dr Behzad Ghonsooly is a professor in the Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, and by courtesy in the Psychology Department of Florida State University. His main research interests are language testing, English for special purposes, and translation studies. Email: ghonsooly@yahoo.com Web: http://ghonsooly.profcms.um.ac.ir Tahereh Hassanzadeh (corresponding author) is an EFL teacher and a PhD candidate in TEFL at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. She is keenly interested in conducting action research in the fields of psycholingusitics and language teaching and learning. Email: hassanzadeh78@gmail.com Please cite as: Ghonsooly, B. & Hassanzadeh, T. (2019). Effect of interactionist dynamic assessment on English vocabulary learning: Cultural perspectives in focus. Issues in Educational Research, 29(1), 70-88. http://www.iier.org.au/iier29/ghonsooly.pdf