Navigating Mindset Trajectories - Exploring EFL Teachers' Evolution in Embracing Dynamic and Summative Assessment in the Language Classroom

Oct 15, 2026

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Qualitative research investigates how Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives evolve regarding integrating Dynamic Assessment (DA) and Summative Assessment (SA) in language classrooms. Fifty teachers completed an online open-ended questionnaire, and a volunteer subgroup provided narratives of classroom experiences. Content and thematic analysis show broad familiarity with DA, especially Group Dynamic Assessment (GDA). DA is mainly perceived as feedback, while SA remains viewed as a more formal assessment method. Teachers are encouraged to leverage both approaches to support equitable student decisions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Dynamic assessment and formative guidance

Summative assessment and psychometric reliability

Study purpose and gap

Teacher perspectives on practical implementation

Method overview

Participants and instruments

Results overview

Familiarity with DA and perceptions of practicality

Discussion and implications

Tabaran Institute of Higher Education International Journal of Language Testing Vol. 14, No. 2; 2024, October ISSN 2476-5880 [https://www.ijlt.ir](https://www.ijlt.ir) Navigating Mindset Trajectories: Exploring EFL Teachers' Evolution in Embracing Dynamic and Summative Assessment in the Language Classroom Mona Najjarpour 1, Esmaeel Ali Salimi* 2 | ARTICLE INFO | | ABSTRACT | | --- | --- | --- | | Article History:
Received: March 2024
Accepted: April 2024 | | While the potential of Dynamic Assessment (DA) and its variants (Computerized Dynamic Assessment (CDA) and Group Dynamic Assessment (GDA)) for EFL classrooms has been recognized, there is a lack of research on its practical implementation compared to the wellestablished field of Summative Assessment (SA) . Thus, the objective of this qualitative study was to investigate the evolving perspectives of EFL teachers concerning the integration of DA and SA within their classrooms. To achieve this, 50 EFL teachers in Iran were recruited through convenience sampling to complete an online open-ended questionnaire. The primary purpose was to explore their familiarity with, perceptions of practicality for, and preferences regarding DA and SA. Additionally, a sub-group of volunteer participants was requested to provide narratives detailing their real-world classroom experiences using DA and SA. Content and thematic analysis of the responses revealed that the majority of participants were familiar with DA, with the most commonly employed type being GDA. While DA was predominantly viewed as a form of feedback, SA was still seen as a more formal means of classroom assessment. Consequently, it is highly recommended that EFL teachers exploit the advantages of both assessment approaches in order to ensure more equitable decisions concerning students' abilities. | | KEYWORDS
Classroom assessment practices
EFL teachers Feedback
Formal assessment Language assessment literacy | | | 1. Introduction Dynamic assessment (DA), rooted in Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)(Poehner et al., 2017; Poehner & Wang, 2021), emerged as a response to the limitations of traditional, psychometric assessments. Luria (1961) later contrasted psychometric/systematic assessment, which isolates performance in a controlled environment, with the emphasis on mediated learning inherent in DA. Dynamic assessment emphasizes an examiner's guidance, allowing an individual to solve tasks with support and subsequently apply that learned strategy to similar tasks (Luria, 1961) . This interactive process provides a richer picture of an individual's potential for learning and development. Sternberg and Grigorenko (2002) further define DA as an assessment process that considers intervention outcomes. The examiner guides the examinee to improve performance, with the score reflecting either learning progress (pretest-posttest difference) or just the final achievement. However, as Vygotsky suggests (Poehner et al., 2017), true development goes beyond mastering a single task. According to him, the ZPD emphasizes the ability to transfer mediated knowledge to new situations. In this context, Sternberg and Grigorenko (2002) submit that summative assessment (SA) stands in contrast 1 PhD in Applied Linguistics, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran, [Email:](Email: monanajjarpour@gmail.com)[ ](Email: monanajjarpour@gmail.com)[monanajjarpour@gmail.com](Email: monanajjarpour@gmail.com) [2](2 Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics)[ Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics](2 Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics), Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran, Email: [easalimi@atu.ac.ir](easalimi@atu.ac.ir) (Corresponding author) Cite this paper as: Najjarpour, M., & Salimi, S. A. (2024) . Navigating Mindset Trajectories: Exploring EFL Teachers' Evolution in Embracing Dynamic and Summative Assessment in the Language Classroom. International Journal of Language Testing, 14(2), 117

FAQs

What is the main objective of the study?

The study examines how EFL teachers’ perspectives evolve toward integrating Dynamic Assessment and Summative Assessment in their classrooms.

How were participants recruited and what data were collected?

Fifty EFL teachers in Iran were recruited through convenience sampling to complete an online open-ended questionnaire, and a volunteer subgroup provided narratives of their real classroom experiences.

What perceptions did teachers report about DA and SA?

Most participants were familiar with DA and commonly employed GDA; DA was mainly viewed as feedback, whereas SA was still seen as a more formal means of classroom assessment.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Ivy