An Empirical Research On The Effects Of Dynamic Assessment On English Listening Self-Efficacy Of Junior High School Students

Listening self-efficacy is an individual’s estimation of listening comprehension ability.Dynamic assessment is an assessment approach that encourages learners to reach the zone of proximal development via the interaction between learners and mediators.Many junior high school students need help with listening comprehension problems currently,partly because junior high school teachers frequently conduct static assessments in English listening classes,failing to pay attention to changes of students’ listening self-efficacy promptly and failing to assist them in determining their listening development potential.This study aims to determine if dynamic assessment may increase junior high school students’ listening self-efficacy in English to provide academic recommendations for teachers to investigate a probable approach for developing students’ listening skills.This study,therefore,poses two research questions:(1)What effects does dynamic assessment have on the English listening self-efficacy of junior middle school students?(2)How does dynamic assessment affect students with different levels of listening self-efficacy?This study employs two parallel classes of students from a junior high school in Foshan,Guangdong,China,as research subjects and conducts a 12-week dynamic assessment experiment.A dynamic assessment experiment was conducted in the experimental class,while the control class used the conventional teaching method,like commenting following the static listening test.In this study’s data collection and analysis section,the two classes’ listening self-efficacy levels and performance were measured before and after the experiment using the same listening self-efficacy questionnaire and two similar static listening tests with the same difficulty level.Before the experiment,the students in the experimental class were divided into three groups based on their level of self-efficacy.After the experiment,two members from each listening self-efficacy level group(6 members in total)in the experimental class were randomly selected to attend a semi-structured interview.The quantitative and qualitative data analysis results of this study indicate that:(1)Dynamic assessment can significantly enhance the English listening self-efficacy of junior middle school students.(2)Dynamic assessment exerts varying effects on students with different listening self-efficacy levels.It has no significant effects on learners with high listening self-efficacy but has significant effects on learners in the other two groups.(3)Before and after the dynamic assessment,there is a positive correlation between listening self-efficacy and listening performance and listening self-efficacy predicts students’ listening performance across time.This study demonstrates that applying dynamic assessment in English listening class helps to reshape students’ cognition of the listening process through the mediated learning experience presented in the form of intervention.Subsequently students’ listening self-efficacy can be improved.It is feasible to implement dynamic assessment in junior high school English listening classrooms to improve students’ efficacy expectations in developing listening ability and promote students’ listening comprehension ability to reach their zone of proximal development.