Collaborative Assessment in Reading Class: Skill Development and Students’ Reliance Reduction

Competitive and individualistic approaches are the more predominant manners of classroom practice. The alternative approach for competition and individualism is the cooperative or collaborative teaching approach that has drawn significant attention in the TEFL field in recent years. This study intends to evaluate the impact of collaborative assessment on Iranian EFL learners’ reading skill development and reliance reduction on teachers. Forty intermediate EFL learners from a language center were recruited through administering Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The required data were obtained through multiple instruments, including Oxford Placement Test (OPT), Reading Comprehension Test (RCT), and Students’ Reliance on the Teacher Questionnaire (SRTQ). The experimental group was subjected to collaborative assessment practice during the instructional phase; meanwhile, the control group was exposed to conventional teacher-based assessment practice. The educational phase consisted of eight sessions, each lasting thirty minutes and occurring twice per week for one month. The data analyzed based on the Shapiro-Wilk Test and the Independent Sample T-Test revealed that collaborative assessment had a statistically significant effect on enhancing reading skill ability and reducing students’ reliance. The results suggest that collaborative assessment has the potential to be a useful tool for improving learning outcomes and fostering learner autonomy. In addition, this study has some suggestions for researchers seeking further studies.