scholarly journals The Comparative Effect of Dynamic and Negotiated Assessment on EFL learners’ Writing Complexity and Fluency

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Shirin Sardarianpour ◽  
Sholeh Kolahi
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Optimal Choice ◽  
Comparative Effect ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Writing Complexity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Improving Writing ◽  
Pre Treatment

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the comparative effect of dynamic and negotiated assessment on EFL learners’ writing complexity and fluency. To this end, 72 female intermediate EFL participants, selected from a larger group of 103 learners based on their performances on a piloted PET, in Tak language institute in Dezfoul, Iran participated in the present study and received either dynamic assessment, negotiated assessment, or traditional instruction during a term. Both of the experiments were process-oriented; however, in the dynamic assessment, the negotiation was done through teacher’s provision of feedback wherein the negotiated assessment group peer-negotiation was encouraged. The participants’ writing complexity and fluency were measured both before and after the instruction through essay writing pre-treatment test and posttest in accordance with Larsen-Freeman’s (2006) T-Unit protocol. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was run on the posttest scores to test the null hypotheses of the study, the results of which indicated that while dynamic assessment was significantly effective in improving writing complexity (p = 0.007 < 0.05), negotiated assessment yielded significantly better results in boosting writing fluency compared to the results obtained from both control (p = 0.000 < 0.05) and dynamic assessment groups (p = 0.042 < 0.05). Nevertheless, dynamic assessment did not show significantly better results in comparison to negotiated assessment in improving writing complexity (p = 0.084 > 0.05). Learners, teachers, and syllabus designers who are engaged in the process of language pedagogy may use these results. Depending on the focus of their learning, i.e., fluency or complexity, they may choose the optimal choice between these two types of assessment.

The Effect of Collaborative Prewriting Discussions on L2 Writing: Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF)

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 18-30
Author(s):  
Mohammad Naghavi ◽  
Mahboubeh Nakhleh
Keyword(s):  
Control Group ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Assessment Measure ◽  
Writing Complexity ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study essayed to investigate the impact of collaborative pre-writing discussions on three aspects of writing skill namely, complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF). To reach this goal, 60 intermediate male EFL learners ranging from 22 to 28 years at Shahid Beheshti Language Center in Tehran, Iran participated in the study. For the purpose of homogeneity, the standardized English Proficiency Test (Preliminary English Test) was administered to 88 students and they were divided into two intact experimental and control groups. The experimental group, which was divided into six groups of five was exposed to and performed on a-40- minute essay writing tasks held two sessions per week lasting ninety-minutes for ten weeks with collaborative pre-writing discussions. Moreover, the students in experimental group were required to complete a questionnaire at the end of the study to find out about their feelings regarding prewriting discussions prior to writing in L2. The control group received the same materials and teacher as experimental group, except for, there was no collaborative pre-writing discussions to write the essays. After the raters were trained and familiarized with the rating process, the essays by both groups were collected and scored holistically based on the assessment measure provided to the two raters. In order to provide plausible answers to the research questions posed above, a series of one way ANOVA was employed to evaluate the participants' overall performance in the two conditions. The results indicated that collaborative pre-writing discussions were superior to mainstream methods. Thus, the findings can have an immediate implication for EFL teachers and practitioners who are searching for cutting edge ways of developing EFL learners' writing performance.

scholarly journals Diagnostic Assessment of Writing through Dynamic Self-Assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Siamak Mazloomi ◽  
Mona Khabiri
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Proximal Development ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Ongoing Assessment

<p>Deeply rooted in the sociocultural theory of mind by Vygotsky, Dynamic assessment (DA) asserts that mediation is essential for online diagnosis in the classroom. One of the major challenges facing language teachers is the assessment of the learners’ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) level or diagnosing the amount of mediation or scaffolding they require to achieve their potential level. Ongoing assessment of the learner’s ZPD and the tailoring of mediation to fit the learning environment seems to be a vital stage. Dynamic self-assessment (DSA) can be applied for diagnostic purposes in writing classes. In this research, it is assumed that the analysis and comparison of teacher’s assessment and DSA will not only indicate their ZPD level or the amount of mediation the learners require but also diagnose their weaknesses and strengths in writing. A quasi-experimental research on 60 sophomore English Translation students in essay writing classes in Islamshahr Azad University revealed that DSA not only significantly affects the EFL learners’ writing ability, but also it is incrementally correlated with teacher’s assessment through 8 weeks of treatment, and the analysis of DSAs reveals the leaner’s’ weaknesses and the areas which should be emphasized.</p>

Cytoprotective Effect of Tocotrienol-Rich Fraction and α-Tocopherol Vitamin E Isoforms Against Glutamate-Induced Cell Death in Neuronal Cells

2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 0140-0151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilaga Rati Selvaraju ◽  
Huzwah Khaza’ai ◽  
Sharmili Vidyadaran ◽  
Mohd Sokhini Abd Mutalib ◽  
Vasudevan Ramachandran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin E ◽  
Cell Viability ◽  
Neuronal Cells ◽  
Positive Control ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Mitochondrial Activity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Tocotrienol Rich Fraction ◽  
Major Mediator

Glutamate is the major mediator of excitatory signals in the mammalian central nervous system. Extreme amounts of glutamate in the extracellular spaces can lead to numerous neurodegenerative diseases. We aimed to clarify the potential of the following vitamin E isomers, tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) and α-tocopherol (α-TCP), as potent neuroprotective agents against glutamate-induced injury in neuronal SK-N-SH cells. Cells were treated before and after glutamate injury (pre- and post-treatment, respectively) with 100 - 300 ng/ml TRF/α-TCP. Exposure to 120 mM glutamate significantly reduced cell viability to 76 % and 79 % in the pre- and post-treatment studies, respectively; however, pre- and post-treatment with TRF/α-TCP attenuated the cytotoxic effect of glutamate. Compared to the positive control (glutamate-injured cells not treated with TRF/α-TCP), pre-treatment with 100, 200, and 300 ng/ml TRF significantly improved cell viability following glutamate injury to 95.2 %, 95.0 %, and 95.6 %, respectively (p < 0.05).The isomers not only conferred neuroprotection by enhancing mitochondrial activity and depleting free radical production, but also increased cell viability and recovery upon glutamate insult. Our results suggest that vitamin E has potent antioxidant potential for protecting against glutamate injury and recovering glutamate-injured neuronal cells. Our findings also indicate that both TRF and α-TCP could play key roles as anti-apoptotic agents with neuroprotective properties.

THE EFFECT OF METACOGNITIVE INSTRUCTION ON MAXIMIZING EFL LEARNERS’ METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN LISTENING

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-17
Author(s):  
Mahsa Assadi
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness ◽  
Listening Test ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Metacognitive Instruction ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
The Impact

This study reports a pre-experimental research on the impact of metacognitive instruction on EFL learners’ metacognitive awareness and their listening performance. To obtain the goal of the study, a group of 30 Iranian intermediate EFL learners, including 14 males and 16 females, were selected randomly. Their ages range from 20 to 24. The participants took part in 16 weeks’ intervention program based on metacognitive pedagogical sequence consisted of five stages. The metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire (MALQ), and a listening test were also used to find changes in metacognitive awareness and listening performance before and after the treatment. The results of comparing pre and posttests scores revealed that metacognitive instruction raised the learners’ metacognitive awareness and helped them improve their listening comprehension ability.

The Effect of Using Flipped Classroom Model to Improve Iraqi EFL Learners’ Pronunciation in English at University Level

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (40) ◽  
pp. 631-654
Author(s):  
Khaldoon Waleed Husam Al-Mofti
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control ◽  
Experimental Group

For Iraqi EFL learners who are studying English pronunciation in a traditional instruction method often requires more effort and hard work. Thus, using new methods of teaching such as the flipped classroom model (FCM) is necessary to facilitate learning and improve performance. Hence, this study reports on explanatory research that investigates the effect of using the FCM in the teaching of English pronunciation for Iraqi EFL learners at the university level. The study implemented mixed research methods for data collection in a quasi-experimental analysis. Therefore, two tests were conducted on the assigned groups to measure the effect of the FCM before and after the intervention. Besides, a questionnaire and interviews were used on the experiment group students to collect data about their perceptions of the FCM. The study length (lasted)  was 15 weeks and is comprised of 60 students from the department of English, College of Arts at the University of Anbar. The students were divided into two groups, experimental, and control with 30 students in each group. The findings revealed that there was a significant statistical difference between the two groups in favour of the experimental group with better performance, indicating that the FCM has considerably assisted the Iraqi EFL learners to improve their English pronunciation. Moreover, the students expressed their positive feedback and satisfaction on the use of the FCM in their responses to the questionnaire and the interviews. As such, the current study recommends further research to study the effect of applying the FCM in areas and disciplines other than language learning.

Dynamic assessment and requesting: Assessing the development of Japanese EFL learners’ oral requesting performance interactively

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 545-575
Author(s):  
Allan Nicholas
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Coding Scheme ◽  
Dynamic Methods ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
Development Analysis ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThis study investigates the use of dynamically-administered strategic interaction scenarios (D-SIS) in identifying Japanese EFL participants’ difficulties with requesting-in-interaction, and tracking their development. Informed by conversation analysis research, six Japanese EFL learners at a university in Japan carried out D-SIS tasks in two phases, with the aim of both identifying specific aspects of requesting-in-interaction that were challenging, and learner development. Analysis focuses on three particular areas of difficulty that arose for participants during the dialogic interactions—connecting request turn utterance linguistic choices to social context; pre-request expansions of requesting talk, and pre-closing sequences. A coding scheme was applied that analyzed mediation sequences in terms of the efficiency with which participants oriented to and resolved problems, allowing ZPD movement to be quantified. In combination with close qualitative analysis of the transcript data, mediation sequences provided insights into the participants’ knowledge and understanding of these areas that would not have been gained through non-dynamic methods. Results therefore provide insight into areas of difficulty for Japanese learners with regards to requesting, and provide support for the use of the D-SIS task type as a diagnostic tool in regards to request-based talk-in-interaction.

scholarly journals Transcriptomic analysis identifies differences in gene expression in actinic keratoses after treatment with imiquimod and between responders and non responders

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan H. Trager ◽  
Emanuelle Rizk ◽  
Sharon Rose ◽  
Kuixi Zhu ◽  
Branden Lau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Study Endpoint ◽  
Inflammatory Gene Expression ◽  
Immune Modulators ◽  
Actinic Keratoses ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Pre Treatment

AbstractThe presence of actinic keratoses (AKs) increases a patient’s risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma by greater than six-fold. We evaluated the effect of topical treatment with imiquimod on the tumor microenvironment by measuring transcriptomic differences in AKs before and after treatment with imiquimod 3.75%. Biopsies were collected prospectively from 21 patients and examined histologically. RNA was extracted and transcriptomic analyses of 788 genes were performed using the nanoString assay. Imiquimod decreased number of AKs by study endpoint at week 14 (p < 0.0001). Post-imiquimod therapy, levels of CDK1, CXCL13, IL1B, GADPH, TTK, ILF3, EWSR1, BIRC5, PLAUR, ISG20, and C1QBP were significantly lower (adjusted p < 0.05). Complete responders (CR) exhibited a distinct pattern of inflammatory gene expression pre-treatment relative to incomplete responders (IR), with alterations in 15 inflammatory pathways (p < 0.05) reflecting differential expression of 103 genes (p < 0.05). Presence of adverse effects was associated with improved treatment response. Differences in gene expression were found between pre-treatment samples in CR versus IR, suggesting that higher levels of inflammation pre-treament may play a part in regression of AKs. Further characterization of the immune micro-environment in AKs may help develop biomarkers predictive of response to topical immune modulators and may guide therapy.

Effect of Carbon Pre-Treatment on Pd Dispersion in Synthesis of Pd/C Catalyst

2014 ◽  
Vol 804 ◽  
pp. 149-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Sun Kim ◽  
Jae Ho Baek ◽  
Myung Hwan Kim ◽  
Seong Soo Hong ◽  
Man Sig Lee
Keyword(s):  
Surface Area ◽  
Nitrogen Adsorption ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
High Dispersion ◽  
Co Chemisorption ◽  
Pd Dispersion ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Treated Carbon ◽  
Adsorption Desorption

In this study, we confirmed effect of carbon pre-treatment on Pd dispersion in synthesis of Pd/C catalyst. Physical characteristics on the surface of before and after pre-treated carbon were analyzed by nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis. The dispersion and size of Pd particles were analyzed by XRD, FE-TEM and CO-chemisorption. After pre-treatment, surface area of carbon were decreased. And mesopore area ratio were increased with decreasing micropore area ratio. In the case of pre-treated carbon, we confirmed high dispersion of Pd particles.

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