Dynamic Assessment , Computerized Dynamic Assessment , Static Assessment and Reading Comprehension: Effects and Percepts

The current study aimed at comparing the effects of computerized dynamic assessment(CDA), dynamic assessment (DA) and static assessment (SA) on reading comprehension performance. Additionally, the learners' attitudes towards the SA, DA and CDA were also investigated. The participants of the present study included 60 Iranian EFL learners. The learners’ reading performance was tested to assure that the three groups were not significantly different in terms of reading comprehension prior to treatment. After checking their readability were followed by some reading comprehension questions. Following that, one of the groups received DA for reading comprehension questions via receiving the least implicit to most explicit hints provided by the teacher until the learners came up with the correct responses. As for the CDA group the software provided hints in a step-wise manner from the most implicit to the most explicit for the learners until they came up with the right response. The treatments lasted for four sessions and immediately afterwards the learners in the three groups sat for the reading comprehension posttest. Moreover, 10 participants in each group were interviewed to explore their attitudes towards SA, DA and CDA. The results of statistical analysis indicated that both DA and CDA had significant effects on improving the participants’ reading comprehension performance. Moreover, it was revealed that CDA was significantly more effective on reading comprehension performance compared with DA. The analysis of interview contents indicated that overall the participants held more positive attitudes towards the CDA compared to the conventional DA and SA assessment types.