Dynamic versus static assessment: effects on Iraqi EFL learners’ resilience, burnout, positive orientation, and academic success

Abstract

Assessment plays a vital role in English language learning as it helps students recognize their weak and strong points. Two main types of assessment are dynamic assessment (DA) and static assessment (SA) that their effects have not been examined on Iraqi EFL students’ resilience, burnout, positive orientation (PO), and language academic achievement yet. Therefore, this research aims to close this gap. To do so, sixty intermediate EFL students were selected and divided into DA and SA groups to do so. The two groups were then given pretests on the four dependent variables. Subsequently, one group was taught ten reading literary texts with 100 new words using DA, whereas the other group was taught identical materials using SA. After the 8-week course, both groups took the post-tests on resilience, burnout, PO, and academic performance. The study’s findings showed that the DA group did better than the SA group on the four post-tests. It can be concluded that using DA with the support of literary texts can produce positive effects in EFL classes. The current study has consequences for researchers, students, English instructors, and other stakeholders.

Introduction

Traditional assessments such as static assessment (SA) are no longer adequate for EFL learners (Abdulrazzaq & Abdellatif, 2023). According to Poehner (2011), the failure of SA has led researchers to look for novel methods of assessment that are more suited to each learner’s unique strengths and shortcomings. The rationale is that specific instructional tactics for correcting learning deficiencies are not intended to be evaluated by typical evaluation methods. Additionally, it ignores the learner’s capacity for success in the presence of sufficient environmental support (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2002). Many researchers have sought to concentrate on dynamic assessment (DA) to give additional information about the individual’s learning ability to allay this unhappiness with standard assessment methods (Momeni & Nushi, 2022; Pratolo & Zahruni, 2020).

DA suggests fresh perspectives on evaluation and highlights areas where a student needs to grow (Siwathaworn & Wudthayagorn, 2018). According to its definition, DA is the process of assessing a learner’s degree of modifiability as well as how positive changes and cognitive functioning may be generated and sustained. Based on Ghonsooly and Hassanzadeh (2019), the teacher-student relationship supplies predictions about the pupils’ likely future growth in DA. One prominent characteristic of DA is that it shifts the emphasis from the individual performance of the learner to how receptive he is to the interventions offered. Especially when employing literary texts such as novellas, short stories, or any brief narratives, it allows for the broadening of students' cognitive abilities and the addition of new vocabulary to their linguistic stock, which will reduce learners’ burnout and provides significant resilience in learning, and expediting the teacher’s task in delivering lessons to students (Ajideh & Nourdad, 2012).

Also, DA supports the improvement of learners, and the progress and capacities of the learners are assessed in light of their growth throughout teaching. Therefore, according to Poehner (2008), it is development-centered or development-referenced. Whether mediation is involved in the process, irrespective of where it takes place, decides whether a procedure is static or dynamic, not the instrument itself (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2002). Stated differently, the goal of the procedure and how it is later delivered define the status of various tests, which are neither static nor DAs in and of themselves.

Furthermore, DA can affect the emotional state of EFL students. Investigating how emotions affect language learning and teaching (Qi & Derakhshan, 2023) is crucial. Positive orientation (PO) as a kind of emotion is considered as a human capital factor and one of their personal traits. Caprara et al. (2009) characterize it as a fundamental propensity to have an optimistic attitude toward life, experiences, oneself, and the future. It is recognized as the shared hidden element that encapsulates the essence of optimism, life fulfillment, and self-worth. Self-acceptance and self-evaluation serve as the foundation for the subjective concept of self-esteem. A strong sense of self-worth and being “good enough” result from high self-esteem (Manning et al., 2006). Individuals with high self-esteem handle dangerous circumstances in a different way than those with low self-esteem. While the second group is focused on avoidance, the first group uses techniques to achieve the goal (Dewaele et al., 2018). According to the PO theory, life satisfaction is the overall evaluation of one’s connections and activities that provide value to life. Furthermore, optimism describes generally optimistic predictions for future developments (Caprara et al., 2012). A high degree of optimism is positively correlated with self-efficacy, internal locus of control, effort and planning, and self-esteem (Jin & Wang, 2018).

In addition to PO, resilience may be impacted by the use of DA. Resilience is crucial for the best possible functioning of people, groups, and organizations, especially in transition and crisis (Tudo & Spray, 2017). Resilience is relevant, so organizational management and psychology are becoming more attractive. Resilience is essential for pupils and language acquisition (Awais et al., 2023). As Tamannaeifar and Shahmirzaei (2019) state, resilience is the ability of positive psychology to recover or “bounce back” from problems, uncertainty, conflict, failure, or even positive change, progress, and increased responsibility. It is also the capacity to endure and recover, going above and beyond (resiliency) to succeed when faced with challenges and adversity. According to Secades et al. (2016), resilience is the capacity to cope and adapt to significant life adversity effectively. Resilience and coping are terms used by Fletcher and Sarkar (2013) to describe tactics used after evaluating a problematic experience. Theoretically, the danger, stress, and uncertainty that the pupils experience throughout this time enhance resilience with coping.

As a part of psychological capital, resilience is crucial for managing transitions, issues, pressures, and unclear circumstances (Martin, 2002). According to Cheng et al. (2020), resilience can be a supportive element that keeps students from having signs of depression following academic burnout. Furthermore, Bittmann (2021) discovered that, compared to kids with lesser resilience, individuals with stronger resilience have higher average grades, higher life satisfaction, and fewer intentions to drop out of school. Additionally, resilience and psychological well-being have a favorable correlation. This implies that psychological well-being can be improved by resilience (Derakhshan et al., 2022; Tan et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2022a, 2022b; Yu & Chae, 2020).

Moreover, pupils’ academic burnout, learning engagement, resilience, and psychological well-being are all correlated with social support (Dunn et al., 2008; Nayernia & Babayan, 2019). According to Zhang et al. (2021), social support is another element that may assist shield students from burnout related to their studies. This is because learners with social support will be happy with their lives, and happy lifestyles can also lower the risk of academic burnout (Ye et al., 2021). Social support from various sources also impacts students’ psychological health and academic motivation (Emadpoor et al., 2016). The outcomes of Zhuang et al. (2023), which depicted that support from family, friends, and instructors is positively related to study involvement, make this clear. Moreover, resilience levels can be raised by peer, family, school, and societal support (Wang et al., 2022a, 2022b).

Regarding the vital role of the variables explained above, this study was designed to inspect the influence of DA and SA on Iraqi learners’ resilience, burnout, PO, and academic success. The importance of this paper is that it works on the psychological variables (resilience, burnout, PO) of language learners. Its findings can bring about some ramifications for EFL learners and instructors worldwide.

Review of the literature

Theoretical background

Dynamic assessment

DA is regarded as one of the most modern methods for evaluating language learners’ development. A language assessment can be done using the DA technique to ascertain a person’s aptitudes and learning capacity (Anazi Alsaadi, 2021). It is widely regarded as a helpful approach and is being utilized by educational psychologists worldwide more and more (Rashidi & Bahadori Nejad, 2018). It is frequently described as an active measurement method for the learner’s perceptual, reasoning, comprehension, and problem-solving skills (Hasson, 2017). This method considers both the type and quantity of examiner investment in addition to the learning process. It has also been seen to be very process-oriented and interactive. In fact, using it to evaluate students from a range of language and cultural backgrounds is really advantageous. To clarify, it may be stated that DA impacts students by altering their cognitive functioning and bridging the gap between cultural-linguistic assessment and standard testing (Chen et al., 2022; Zohoor et al., 2021).

Besides, Poehner and Lantolf (2005) expounded on the objective of DA instruction, stating that it aims to help students not only complete a given work but also to succeed in future assignments by facilitating the negotiation process between teachers and students. A typical definition of DA is a strategy that concurrently incorporates activities for both teaching and evaluation. To put it another way, DA views assessment and instruction as two sides of the same coin that are inextricably linked in the sense that both excellent assessment and teaching are necessary for good instruction (Tabatabaei & Bakhtiarvand, 2014). Consequently, instruction and evaluation are complementary techniques that should work together to produce real learning. Additionally, because the assessment approach stresses a person’s capacity to acquire information and skills conceptualized for the exam by precise teaching, another research has characterized it as a test-teach retest model (Lauchlan & Carrigan, 2013).

Furthermore, DA is a strategy that combines evaluation and instruction to advance learners’ development through suitable kinds of mediation, according to Alshammari (2022). To help learners recognize and utilize the intended phrase during a discussion, the DA approach entails an organized sequence of mapping activities using unknown items to convey pretense throughout a play (Hasson, 2017). In fact, DA may be defined as more akin to an instructional scenario than an assessment scenario. To show the DA processes as a process that aims to alter performance with the help of examiners to comprehend learning potential (Malmeer & Zoghi, 2014).

Additionally, Desalegn (2020) stated that communication between professors and students is necessary for DA. When a student has trouble answering a question or solving a problem, the teacher tries to help them by changing the format, giving more examples or trials, modeling a suitable solution method, or giving increasingly clear clues or prompts. By outlining the many stages that might occur to establish DA, Lidz (2015) provided DA methods in a precise manner. To create a baseline, the examiner measures the learner’s competence on a task by having them work alone (static mode). Second, the kid completes a similar activity under the examiner’s supervision while receiving guidance and support in a controlled procedure (dynamic mode) (Zohoor et al., 2021). Third, the learner completes the task in isolation (static mode) and is then given a post-test that includes an alternative version of the initial assessment. Fourth, to determine the student’s zone of proximal growth, the examiner compares the test and retest measurements. Fifth, the examiner evaluates the student's performance regarding both the process and the product (Lidz, 2015). It may be presumed, therefore, that this form is more complicated than the other DA forms that teachers might use in the classroom to gauge their students’ understanding and performance. Given that the DA process is a type of active learning and teaching through perception, observation, and thought, it may be able to alter a learner’s cognitive processes as well as their problem-solving strategies to account for individual variations in the classroom (Poehner & van Compernolle, 2020).

Static assessment

The transition from SA to DA was the most significant paradigm change in testing history (Palmer et al., 2020). The related studies show that cultural differences, traumatic life events, a lack of learning opportunities, and particular learning impairments are the main reasons why many learners fail in SA (Rashidi & Bahadori Nejad, 2018). Thus, it has been suggested that DA be applied in the counseling and psychoanalytic domains. It has also been applied to neuropsychology, the study of cognitive programming and cultural variations.

In contrast to the SA technique’s passive, standardized, and observational nature, the DA method requires active engagement from both the examiner and the learners. It seems to be responsive and able to be changed. In fact, the DA process differs significantly from the SA procedure. To do this, the examiner must not only administer the test and note any mistakes made during the lesson but also utilize the results to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the students (Beak & Kim, 2003; Shakki, 2022). It is not advised for SAs to influence the learners’ development in various ways, such as by assessing the students’ capacity to exhibit a certain set of behaviors alone and utilizing the results to establish a performance benchmark. The SA approaches have also been shown to be highly problematic since they function under the premise that all students had the same chances and experiences before evaluation, which is typically not the case (Naeini & Duvall, 2012).

Research comparing the effects of DA and SA on kindergarten-aged children demonstrated that the evaluation approach helps kids understand learning at both the visual motor and symbolic levels (Rahbardar et al., 2014). Additionally, the majority of skills assessed by DA are linked to the learners’ social, linguistic, and cultural characteristics. Furthermore, it has been seen that the evaluation assists pupils in developing their problem-solving abilities and using them to tackle various challenges while they study (Saritas Akyol & Karakaya, 2021). However, instead of offering constant explanations of their learning procedures or corrective learning techniques, several SAs have demonstrated that pupils are explained in generic terms, for instance, their relative standing within their peer group (Lantolf & Poehner, 2005).

The SA is a real-time monitoring adjustment approach that will be more basic and harsher than the DA. SA is more suited for first gaining a general knowledge. Students can adjust to their real-time circumstances utilizing the DA’s real-time updating of the teaching scenario and subsequent modifications (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2002). Simultaneously, SA is performed on a comparatively single exam without the modification procedure throughout the test, demonstrating to DA the ability to assess personal progress in a more focused way (Anton, 2009).

Academic burnout

Freudenberger (1974) used the word “burnout” to describe the stress that comes with employment (Kim et al., 2018). Numerous studies have discovered that caregivers and employees may experience burnout while working (Madigan & Curran, 2021). Yet, burnout has recently become a significant variable that has been inspected in a diversity of settings, including the workplace (Artz et al., 2022), the educational system, the sports arena, transportation, etc. (Fernández-Castillo et al., 2021).

According to Maslach et al. (2001), burnout is a psychiatric condition brought on by work-related stress. In addition, stress can generate or cause psychological suffering, known as burnout (Zhang et al., 2021). The three components of burnout are cynicism, inefficacy, and emotional weariness. The first element is emotional exhaustion, defined as feeling stretched, mentally and physically worn out from labor, and reflecting a persistent sense of fatigue from hard effort. An excessive workload leads to the emotional fatigue stage. Cynicism is the second element of burnout (Kwan, 2022). Cynicism is the term used to describe a worker’s attitude about their work being hostile, ignorant, and withdrawing from it (Moneta, 2011). Cynicism also encompasses a loss of interest in one’s job and a lowering of one’s level of trust in one’s work and organization. The final element is inefficacy, which is the belief held by employees that they cannot work and are unable to finish the task by the deadline. One aspect of this inefficacy is the worker’s sense of inadequacy (Mostert & Pienaar, 2020).

Like other psychiatric syndromes, academic burnout is brought on by prolonged stress and challenges related to learning (Xie et al., 2019). More precisely, failure to satisfy students’ demands for success in their studies and a lack of resources to utilize during the learning process is the root cause of academic burnout (Lee & Lee, 2018). When students experience academic burnout, they may become cynical about their studies and tasks and feel physically and emotionally worn out due to the high academic demands. Furthermore, individuals may perceive themselves as unfit for school and incapable of learning (Yu & Chae, 2020).

Similar to occupational burnout, academic burnout is a multifaceted phenomenon. It comprises three parts: cynicism, inefficacy, and emotional weariness (Lee & Lee, 2018). In addition to having high study demands but not having the means to meet them, emotional fatigue is a psychological term that describes feeling emotionally and physically spent from all the stress that comes with studying. Study-related assignments may become less attractive to finish due to emotional tiredness (Lee et al., 2020; Madigan & Curran, 2021).

Cynicism is another aspect of academic burnout. A cognitive component, cynicism, denotes unfavorable attitudes and reactions toward the research. In addition, cynicism may also mean losing interest in homework, losing passion for studying, and thinking that homework and studying are useless (Kim et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2020; Madigan & Curran, 2021; Salmela‐Aro & Upadyaya, 2014). Lastly, there is inefficacy. One cognitive component, inefficacy, describes how pupils feel they are not good at studying or that their learning capacity is progressively deteriorating. Identifying as academically unsuccessful is another aspect of it (Lin & Huang, 2014).

Unsurprisingly, academic burnout is linked to a variety of negative effects, including dropout, absenteeism, academic underachievement, and mental health issues (Wang et al., 2018). Longitudinal research discovered that academic burnout in university students might lead to and predict employment burnout 2 years later (Robins et al., 2018). Thus, investigating the protective and dangerous aspects of academic burnout has both educational and psychological consequences.

Research has extensively documented the relationship between demotivating and burnout variables in language acquisition (Ghanizadeh & Jahedizadedh, 2015; Xu, 2017). For example, Ghanizadeh and Jahedizadedh (2015) evaluated the effect of demotivational variables on student burnout. The study found that higher levels of student demotivation predicted higher levels of burnout. The two most common demotivating elements contributing to burnout are a lack of interest in learning the language and a lack of attractive class materials that might improve motivation while studying the target language (Pourgharib & Shakki, 2024). Xu (2017) investigated the components and context of learning burnout among English primary university students. The study found variables that might lead to respondents’ burnout, such as a lack of information about their subject of study, insufficient practice, and a lack of support from their seniors.

In another research, Yang and Zhai (2022) investigated the association between perceptions of language learning and English language acquisition among non-English primary college students in China. It was shown that students perceived English learning primarily as a test, which caused them to prioritize achieving a high score on their English exam over enhancing their skill in the target language. This would then impact their language learning strategy, possibly limiting their capacity to use it in real-world circumstances and impeding their overall language development.

Positive orientation

PO, or positivity, is another idea that deserves discussion. It is a fundamental personality trait that predisposes individuals to positively see life and events (Caprara et al., 2012). Humans’ confidence in their life is rooted in positivity (Alessandri et al., 2012b). Positive thinkers also tend to be more self-assured, have more optimism for the future, and have a deeper appreciation for life. Higher optimism among students is associated with more favorable views about teachers, fellow students, and classroom activities (Alessandri et al., 2012a). Furthermore, because PO represents people’s views about life and themselves, it is a crucial element of life balance. According to Karaman and Sarı (2020), positivism is an optimistic internal perspective that reflects an individual’s thoughts about the future and themselves, as well as their level of happiness with their situation. It accounts for people’s success and ability to adjust, is a positive mechanism for mental health, and lends perspective to life.

PO is a prevalent mode of evaluating, perceiving, and comprehending that significantly impacts how individuals predispose themselves to events and behaviors. In addition, people require a significant level of optimism to deal with the unavoidable hardships, setbacks, and losses that come with life (Caprara et al., 2012). As shown by Alessandri et al. (2012a) and Caprara et al., (2010a, 2010b), PO’s central tenet is a positive attitude toward experience, which casts an optimistic light on the self, life, and the future.

Moreover, PO, also known as positive thinking, is a frequent latent in people that is invisible, according to Caprara et al., (2010a, 2010b). Furthermore, sadness and measurements of both good and negative emotions are predicted by positivity. Furthermore, prior cross-cultural and longitudinal research demonstrated that the degree of positivity varies greatly among Italy, Canada, Japan, and Germany concerning lifestyle choices and cultural issues. Individual variations in PO also exert substantial biological and social elements in balancing approach and prevention tendencies to risk and innovation (Caprara et al., 2009).

However, Alessandri et al. (2012a) noted that positivity may explain a discernible range of negative and positive effects. On the other hand, once people have control over positivity, life happiness, and self-confidence, it can explain a negligible amount of the variation of the same constructs. According to Caprara et al., (2010a, 2010b), PO can demonstrate the necessary cause of a syndrome of optimal functioning and be regarded as a protective factor in coping with mental diseases and depression. Ultimately, the positive aspects of personal functioning have drawn much attention lately, primarily due to their connection to the positive psychology movement (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Also, an optimistic viewpoint can impact how people perceive their social relationships. Students who consistently perceive themselves, others, and life events positively have a more favorable opinion of social relationships (Alessandri et al., 2012a). It is plausible to predict that students with a PO may have less FL classroom anxiety (Jin & Jean-Marc, 2018). People with stronger PO have higher levels of self-confidence, a more optimistic outlook on the future, and a greater appreciation for life. Students with a greater degree of PO are more likely to appraise teachers/peers and class activities positively and have favorable sentiments toward them (Alessandri et al., 2012b). According to empirical research, PO predicts physical and mental health outcomes more accurately than the three conceptions of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism (Alessandri et al., 2012a).

Students with a greater level of PO are more receptive to happy times, more responsive to reward signals from teachers or peers, and perceive failures in learning as less scary. They can recover faster from disappointments (Caprara et al., 2010b). This promotes higher-PO students’ devotion to classroom learning and/or greater affinity with teachers/peers, which adds to these students’ subjective well-being as measured by decreased anxiety and, as a result, optimum functioning in the FL classroom. On the contrary, learners who think less favorably are more prone to notice the negative features of situations or persons and perceive something pleasant or neutral as unfavorable. These students are more likely to see their professors or peers as unsupportive, which exacerbates their FL anxiety (MacIntyre et al., 2016). Furthermore, Jin and Jean-Marc (2018) verified the impact of PO and perceived social support on foreign language classroom anxiety.

Academic resilience

Positive emotions may enable people to do more than just feel good since they can decrease the harmful impacts of negative emotions, increase life satisfaction, and promote positive interpersonal interactions. One positive emotion is academic resilience, one of the significant predictors of how students feel and respond to learning-related problems, according to prior positive psychology research (Capstick, 2018). Previous studies have demonstrated that resilience can impact language acquisition performance when combined with other positive traits. More research is needed to comprehend the nature of resilience in L2 and how it relates to language learning since researchers also affirm the potential utility of resilience and its significance in language learning success (Khammat, 2022, Namaziandost et al., 2023). Naturally, we can only promote resilience in language learners if we know its causes and effects. Thus, this investigation aimed to inspect some of the variables associated with language learners’ resilience. In particular, we look at how language learners’ ideal L2 selves, linguistic mindsets, and perceived ability influence resilience and discover the relationship between resilience and L2 learning context engagement, well-being, and effort investment (Derakhshan et al., 2024; MacIntyre et al., 2019).

According to Yun et al. (2018), resilience is the product, the process, and the ability to successfully adjust oneself when handling difficult or dangerous circumstances, as well as overcoming daily obstacles and failures. As defined by Kim et al. (2017), academic resilience is a student’s ability to overcome short-term or long-term challenges that are perceived as significant attacks on the educational process in an academic context. Additionally, they pointed out that student’s ability to cope with issues like persistent underachievement, intense anxiety, truancy, dissatisfaction with school, widespread and persistent hostility toward teachers, and various minor and significant daily obstacles and setbacks all contribute to their academic resilience. According to studies conducted in educational psychology, persistence, low anxiety, self-efficacy, control, and planning positively predicted academic resilience (Hu et al., 2015).

Previous research has shown that academic resilience has a favorable impact on enhancing academic success. In a study of African junior pupils, Kotzé and Kleynhans (2013) found that academic resilience strongly predicts academic achievement. Çelik et al. (2014) investigated the links between academic resilience, self-esteem, locus of control, hope, and academic accomplishment among 1169 Turkish EFL learners. They discovered that personal concerns, family support, and environmental context, as protective variables, substantially impacted learners’ development of hope, confidence, academic resilience, and accomplishment. Mwangi et al. (2015) found a substantial relationship between academic resilience and academic accomplishment. Nguyen et al. (2016) found a considerable link between L2 learners’ resilience and narrative experience for resilience building. They also mentioned that other protective variables for resilience include problem-solving abilities, social competence, purpose, and storytelling to improve resilience and autonomy. Recent research has demonstrated a link between academic resilience and achievement (Bayu Hendro Wicaksono et al., 2023; Çelik et al., 2014; Fallon, 2010; Kwek et al., 2013; Haibin, 2017; Marie et al., 2021).

Likewise, prior studies on language acquisition have demonstrated that pupils with high levels of resilience experienced greater competition in the classroom. On the other hand, low-resilient pupils felt their reading classes were more rigid and less focused (Waxman et al., 2012). Yun et al. (2018) investigated buoyancy—a concept synonymous with resilience—in the context of second language acquisition. They found that L2 buoyancy was substantially predicted by self-efficacy and self-regulation, which is the ideal L2 self. Additionally, they discovered that buoyancy was a strong predictor of L2 success. However, it must be stated that resilience is more related to threats or adversities that hamper improvement, whereas buoyancy is primarily pertinent to issues and anxieties that interrupt the students’ motivation by intimidating their self-confidence and perseverance. According to research on SLA, resilience substantially and favorably predicts approach coping and enjoyment but adversely predicts avoidant coping (Aldosari et al., 2023; Chen & Padilla, 2019; Falah Theiyab Alazemi, et al., 2023).

Also, studies have indicated that psychological well-being is also enhanced by academic resilience (Windle, 2011). Many viewpoints have been used to define psychological well-being. According to Nguyen et al. (2015), psychological well-being may be described as the subjective assessment of having a high degree of happy emotions and a low degree of negative emotions from a hedonic perspective. Most of the time, psychological well-being and happiness are used interchangeably (Rutter, 2012). It is often considered as a subjective, all-encompassing perspective of life marked by a comparatively higher proportion of good than negative feelings. Prior studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of high well-being on an individual’s life in terms of social connections, social assistance, employment, income, longevity, and health (Wright et al., 2013). Furthermore, according to Mercer et al. (2016), happiness may be the core cause of several desirable traits, is connected to effective behaviors, and arrives before several positive outcomes.

Experimental studies

Some researchers conducted several empirical investigations on the impacts of DA on EFL learners’ English language learning. The effects of DA and SA on the syntactic enhancement of Iranian EFL college preparation learners were studied by Jafary et al. (2012). Sixty pupils were chosen and split into EG and CG to achieve the study’s objectives. Next, 20 participants in a parallel group were given the pre-test. In the DA model, the EG was mediated through comparison tactics, clue-finding techniques, and the elimination of responses that did not fit. Deductive grammar rules were taught to the CG during twelve sessions.

At last, the post-test and t test were utilized, and the pre-test was given again. The results demonstrated that the EG's mean was higher than the CG’s for various scores at the 0.05 significance level. The study revealed that DA worked better in raising learners’ syntactic understanding.

Furthermore, Derakhshan and Shakki (2016) sought to relate DA to improving learners’ listening skills and broaden the conventional notion of listening evaluation in foreign language situations. Then, 36 Iranian primary pupils were chosen for this purpose and then split into three groups: a DA group, a non-DA group, and a CG. The results of the data analysis showed that the DA group performed better than the CG and the non-DA group but not better than the non-DA group.

Derakhshan et al. (2020) also aimed to determine how DA affected Iranian EFL learners’ ability to acquire requests and apologies in speech acts. To do this, 66 pupils were chosen and split up into three groups: a CG, an NDA, and a DA. The study’s pretest and posttest were listening pragmatic comprehension tests. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the DA group and the other two groups, suggesting that the DA performed better than the different groups.

In one more research, Kazemi and Tavassoli (2020) tried to investigate the impact of diagnostic assessment and DA on enhancing the speaking proficiency of EFL students. To do this, 82 EFL pupils were selected based on how well they scored on the IELTS (2016). After that, the subjects were divided into control, diagnostic evaluation, and DA. The members of the diagnostic group received feedback on their problems along with the same three speaking tests, while the members of the CG completed the standard speaking courses by concentrating on the same three speaking tests. The students in the DA group also received three speaking tests in the form of test-mediation-retest. Two raters also recorded and rated the speaking tests. An ANOVA with two-way repeated measurements was used to answer the study questions. According to the results, the three groups’ performance improved from the pretest to the posttest. More precisely, there was a noticeable improvement in both the diagnostic and DA groups; however, there was no discernible difference in their advancement rates.

Yet, in another study, the influences of DA mediation on the learning growth of EFL students were inspected by Jia et al. (2022). In this study, the researchers used DA-based mediation to train the students. The researchers tried to transition from implicit to explicit coaching by giving students enough latitude to respond in ways that best suited their individual learning requirements. The study’s data analysis revealed that following the DA mediation, learners’ perceptions of the learning process were noticeably better, and the caliber of their learning performance considerably increased.

Lately, Kafipour and Khoshnood (2023) sought to scrutinize the impacts of DA on the speaking abilities of Iranian EFL students while considering the cognitive types of language learners (field independence and field reliance). Convenience sampling was used to choose 60 Iranian female intermediate-level EFL students from three Shiraz, Iran, language schools that use comparable teaching strategies. Subsequently, two EGs (FD and FI learners with the DA) and two CGs were randomly allocated to the participants. The results showed that the EGs benefited from DA; however, the field-dependent group with DA performed better than the other.

In another recent investigation, the effects of applying the DA technique on learners’ second language acquisition were examined by Sun et al. (2023). To promote Chinese language acquisition as a second language, the researchers in this study used an active DA-regulated intervention to teach the four learning skills of speaking, writing, reading, and listening. Throughout the training course, the EG received continual reinforcement of desired ideas, suggestions, prompts, and advice as part of the DA presentation. The study’s statistical analysis revealed a considerable improvement in the trainees’ learning accomplishments and skills.

In a further study, the extent to which DA affects English language structures during dialogues on learners’ speaking accuracy during monologues was investigated by Managdew and Regassa Seda (2023). To achieve this, 48 s-year English language students participated in experimental research. Next, using systematic random sampling, 48 students were alienated from EG and CG, and the equivalency of these two groups was examined. Finally, a DA of speaking skills was given to the treatment group, while a 12-week non-dynamic assessment (NDA) of speaking skills was given to the CG. The outcome demonstrated that DA significantly impacted students' speech correctness.

Recently, Rezai et al. (2023) looked at how DA may enhance the reciting skills of Iranian Quran learners. Two complete grade 7 classes were chosen for this study and randomly allocated to the DA group (n = 21) and the non-DA group (n = 23). After that, they had a pre-test, an immediate post-test, a delayed post-test, and an intervention (provided for the DA group in 15 sessions and based on the DA group’s principles and processes). A unidirectional ANCOVA was used to examine the gathered data. The outcomes showed that the DA group did better in the immediate post-test than the non-DA group. Furthermore, the outcomes demonstrated that the DA group outnumbered the CG on the delayed post-test.

After reviewing the related literature, we noticed that the integration of DA is useful for helping EFL students develop their English language learning. Also, the above-reviewed studies show that most researchers scrutinized the influences of DA on the primary skills of the English language. Few empirical studies have investigated the impacts of DA psychological variables among EFL learners. Therefore, this research intended to inspect the effect of DA and SA on Iraqi students’ resilience, burnout, PO, and academic success. Based on the research objectives, the four questions were posed:

• RQ1. Is there a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ resilience?

• RQ2. Is there a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ academic burnout?

• RQ3. Is there a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ academic success?

• RQ4. Is there a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ PO?

Four null hypotheses were suggested:

• HO1. There is not a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ resilience.

• HO2. There is not a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ academic burnout.

• HO3. There is not a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ academic success.

• HO4. There is not a meaningful difference between DA and SA concerning their impacts on Iraqi EFL learners’ PO.

Method

Participants

A quasi-experimental design was exploited to do this study. Sixty Iraqi intermediate students fulfilled the study’s eligibility standards. The intermediate-level students were selected as we did not have sufficient access to advanced EFL students in Baghdad. On the other hand, the elementary level students could not answer the tests and the questionnaires used in this study. A convenience selection approach selected them from three classes based on practical characteristics such as availability and simple accessibility, and they had an intermediate level of English proficiency. All of the students who were chosen as participants were split into two groups: DA and SA. The participants were English language learners, aged 13 to 19, who attended the subject “English for Iraq” at different intermediate and high schools in the Al-Rusafa area of Baghdad, Iraq. We chose this book as it is widely used in all institutes of Iraq. In fact, the book we used in this study covered general issues such as conversations, listening, vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension texts. There were 8 units in this book: unit 1: The Health Service, unit 2: the Police and Armed Forces, unit 3: Vocational Training, unit 4: the World of Business, unit 5: Holidays, unit 6: Banking And Finance, unit 7: Further Education, and unit 8: the Environment And Recycling.

Instruments

The Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was administered to standardize the participants’ overall language proficiency. The two sections of the test were given to the students in paper and pencil format. The researchers decided to conduct the first part of the exam, which consisted of 40 multiple-choice questions. According to the test’s recommendations, those who received a score between 24 and 30 were classified as intermediate. Designed by Cambridge ESOL and Oxford University Press, it is a reliable and efficient test of English language competency that saves time and has been verified by over 6000 students in 20 countries.

Another instrument was the academic resilience scale, created by Cassidy (2016), which was modified and employed in this study as a multi-dimensional construct measure. It consists of one narrative and a questionnaire with thirty items on a five-point Likert scale (from 1 strongly agree to 5 strongly disagree). The ARS-30 examines students’ reactions to this scenario after using the resilience scale to help them visualize themselves in a demanding academic setting and facing academic hardship (Cassidy, 2016). Each participant required 20 to 30 min to complete the questions. Three English experts evaluated this scale’s face and content validity, and Cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.87) was used to determine the scale’s reliability.

Also, this study employed the Positivity Orientation Scale (POS), adapted from Carpara et al. (2012). Eight multiple-choice questions with five-point ratings for strongly disagree, disagree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, and highly agree were included in the POS. One of the things that had negative wording should be mentioned. Carpara et al. (2012) stated that the positivity scale measures students’ self-esteem, happiness with their life, and confidence in people or the future. “I am generally happy with myself, and I have a lot of trust in the future” are two examples of the POS. When scoring, the researchers gave a score of 1–5 for items with positive wording and a score of 5–1 for items with negative wording. It should be mentioned that there was a range of 8 to 40 points on this scale, with higher scores denoting greater optimism. The reliability of this scale was α r = 0.89 based on the results of Cronbach’s alpha.

Moreover, the study employed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) as a tool. Maslach created this inventory’s initial version, and Schaufeli et al. (2002) conducted an adaptation study on college students using this inventory. The 15 elements on the scale were divided into three sub-factors: effectiveness, cynicism, and weariness. Kutsal (2009) carried out the Turkish adaptation of the inventory for high school students. Based on this study, the scale was determined to include three sub-dimensions: self-efficacy (6 items), cynicism (4 items), and weariness (5 items), totaling 15 items. The scale’s reliability was re-examined in this study since the MBI-SS was utilized in a different sample group. α = 0.89 is Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient, which indicates how reliable the MBI-SS was in this study sample.

The final tool was a research-created English competency test consisting of forty objective questions that assessed each participant's grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension knowledge. The test was created using the participants' course materials. A panel of experts in the field of English language acquisition certified the validity of the exam, and the KR-21 formula was utilized to determine its reliability (α = 0.83). To see if the test could be administered to the target group, a pilot test was carried out on a separate group that was comparable to the target group. It is important to note that this test and the previously described questionnaires served as the pre-and post-tests for the study and were given both before and after the intervention. Two English professors in applied linguistics approved the validity of all the scales.

Procedures and analysis

The instruments mentioned above served as pretests for the two groups at the start of the study. The test-mediation-retest (TMR) methodology was used to treat the participants in the DA group. During each cycle of TMR, learners were given techniques to enhance their language learning skills during the mediation phase. A mini-test based on the material in the book was given to the DA group at the end of each session. The researchers created the mini-test. Following each mini-test, the instructor reviewed the test results with the DA group of students, explaining the methods needed to answer each question, working with them to identify the shortcuts for each question, and suggesting possible answers. In addition, students assisted their peers in determining the correct response for every question. In this group, the teacher advanced one step until he reached the last step, giving the students a thorough explanation, even if they supplied accurate answers. If they submitted wrong answers, no mediation was offered. However, there was no such mediation in the SA group; instead, students in the SA group just received an SA to go over the content they had learned following teaching. The course of therapy comprised 17 sessions. The questions mentioned above were administered to both groups a week following the treatment to evaluate the impacts of the intervention on their resilience, burnout, positive outlook, and academic progress in language. Data analysis was performed utilizing independent samples t tests and ANCOVA tests.

Results

To see if the data were normally distributed, the Shapiro–Wilk test was applied. The results showed that all dependent variable scores on the pre-and post-tests had a normal distribution. Consequently, the data was analyzed using parametric statistics.

Table 1 shows that the mean scores of both groups on all pre-tests are almost the same. These results show that there was no statistically significant difference in the pre-test responses between the two groups. However, to determine if this difference is significant, an independent samples t test was used. Since all of the Sig values in Table 2 are greater than 0.05, it may be decided that there was no substantial difference between the two groups on any of the four pretests.

Table 1 Mean Scores of the Groups on the Pre-tests

Table 2 Independent Samples T-tests of the Groups on the Pre-tests

Table 3 shows that the mean score for the DA group is 76.66, and the mean score for the SA group is 61.50. It seems that the DA group did better than the SA group on the resilience posttest. With Sig being.00, less than 0.05. Table 4 shows that there was a significant difference in the resilience post-test results between the two groups. As it happened, the DA group outdid the SA group on the resilience posttest.

Table 3 Post-test Descriptive Statistics of Resilience

Table 4 Post-test Inferential Statistics of Resilience

Table 5 depicts the descriptive results for the two groups on the post-test for academic burnout. The DA group seemed to perform better than the SA group on the post-test for academic burnout. Table 6’s one-way ANCOVA test indicates that there is a substantial difference between the two groups post-test results for academic burnout, with Sig (0.00) being less than 0.05.

Table 5 Post-test Descriptive Statistics of Burnout

Table 6 Post-test Inferential Statistics of Burnout

As indicated in Table 7, the SA group’s mean score is 24.56, whereas the DA group’s mean score is 28.66. The one-way ANCOVA test findings, with Sig being.00, less than 0.05, shows significant differences between the PO posttest outcomes for the two groups. Table 8 shows that the DA group outperformed the SA group on the PO posttest.

Table 7 Post-test Descriptive Statistics of PO

Table 8 Post-test Inferential Statistics of PO

Based on Table 9, the mean score for the DA group is 15.46, whereas the mean score for the SA group is 13.56. Based on one-way ANCOVA test results, the DA group outstripped the SA group on the language academic achievement posttest. With Sig being less than 0.05 at 0.00, the table above shows that the difference was statistically substantial.

Table 9 Post-test Descriptive Statistics of Language Academic Success

In brief, this study scrutinized the influences of two primary sorts of assessment -DA and SA- on Iraqi EFL students’ resilience, burnout, PO, and language academic achievement. The results show that the DA group outperformed the SA group on all post-tests. It can be said that the DA positively developed Iraqi EFL students’ resilience, burnout, PO, and language academic achievement (Table 10).

Table 10 Post-test Inferential Statistics of Language Academic Success

Discussion and conclusion

The study’s findings demonstrated how employing DA can help EFL learners become more resilient, less burned out, more optimistic in their outlook on life, and more successful academically. The results show that the DA group did better on the four post-tests in this study than the SA group. The obtained consequences are along with the findings of prior research on integrating DA in educational settings. For instance, Ghonsooly and Hassanzadeh (2019) discovered that DA had a beneficial effect on EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Furthermore, Kamali et al. (2018) figured out that DA positively impacted EFL learners’ grammar acquisition. According to Tavassoli and Nikmard (2019), DA was a critical strategy that considerably raised EFL students’ performance on several reading assignments. Besides, Mazloomi and Khabiri (2016) discovered that EFL learners’ writing abilities were significantly impacted by dynamic self-assessment when receiving the proper instruction and feedback from their professors.

Additionally, the results of our study agree with those of Ableeva (2010), who looked at how students’ French listening abilities were affected by both traditional and dynamic evaluation methods. According to his research, pupils who got therapy using DA performed better than those who received treatment through standard evaluation methods. Furthermore, our results are consistent with Chen et al. (2022), Ghahderijani et al. (2021), Pratolo and Zahruni (2020), and Safdari and Fathi (2020), who demonstrated that DA assisted students in gaining better control over L2 structures, thereby leading to notable advancements in their oral production, reciprocating comprehension, and autonomous performance. The results of recent research by Abdulaal et al. (2022) and Alshammari (2022) that demonstrated DA significantly influences learners’ development of proper speech output are likewise consistent with the findings.

Similarly, Managdew and Regassa Seda (2023) corroborate our findings, demonstrating the beneficial impacts of DA on learners’ speaking accuracy during monologues. Rezai et al. (2023), who approved the constructive effect of DA on enhancing Iranian Quran learners’ reciting performance, also corroborated our findings. Moreover, the outcomes of this survey align with the findings of Kazemi and Tavassoli’s (2020) research, which demonstrated the efficacy of DA in enhancing the speaking proficiency of EFL learners.

The intervention used in the form of test-mediation-retest can help explain the findings of the existing investigation about the involvement of DA. The effectiveness of mediation in DA is crucial as different types of mediation may work better for other people. All things considered, DA provides students with structured, helpful information to assess and direct their own language acquisition. Moreover, DA in the mediation type of contact creates an environment where the instructor or other mediating agent works with a student on a task and provides as much mediation as needed to help the student complete the assignment (Davin, 2013).

The idea that providing learners with congruent, contingent prompts based on their ZPDs may have helped them co-shape additional awareness and knowledge, ultimately improving their abilities in progress, provides one explanation for the study’s findings (Poehner & Infante, 2017). The statement that “knowledge is originally co-constructed on a social level where students have the opportunities to have interactions with more skilled partners” is somewhat in line with this description of one of the fundamental tenets of social cultural theory (SCT). In other words, the conversations helped the participants jointly create the information needed to complete the recitation tasks.

Furthermore, the study’s results might be attributed to the diagnostic capabilities of DA (Poehner et al., 2015). In other words, the instructor may have identified both internalized and immature language elements thanks to the contingent, graduated cues (Xi & Lantolf, 2021). This would have given the instructor a better grasp of how to fill in the gaps in the student’s prior knowledge of the targeted linguistic qualities with prompts. In fact, Vygotsky (1980) supports this argument by stating that when learners are given graduated cues that are specific to their ZPD, a valuable chance for instructors to identify the mature and immature skills opens up.

This core tenet of SCT—that high-quality education centers on in-depth interactions between teachers and students—may also be used to explain the DA group’s superiority over the SA group (Poehner & Lantolf, 2005). Given that recitation learning was the main emphasis of the teacher-student interactions in the DA class, it is possible that these interactions helped the students co-construct the necessary information and progress toward the targeted stage of development. The instructor in the current study had extended interactions with the DA group following a paradigm that moved from the implicit to the explicit. On the other hand, the interactions were little used in the SA group. It is possible that the kids’ learning has not increased sustainably. Tajeddin and Tayebipour (2012) provide evidence in favor of this claim. As proper interactions within learners' ZPD create a compelling context for students to increase their learning, they noted that ZDP-sensitive interactions may support the dominance of DA over SA.

The fact that DA can provide us with helpful information regarding current and prospective performance that is not easily obtainable from other sources may be the reason for the findings that were obtained. Additionally, this approach helps students who appear to have poor motivation, a learning difficulty, an emotional problem, a personality condition, or mental retardation. Another circumstance in which DA might be helpful is when a teacher encounters language issues, such as a limited vocabulary, discrepancies between the mother tongue and the school tongue, or delays in language acquisition. DA serves as a bridge between intervention and assessment. It can collect information about students’ capacity for learning. DA can incorporate adjustments and modifications and is progress-sensitive.

In summary, the study’s findings indicate that while participants in the SA group did not meaningfully increase resilience, burnout, PO, or academic performance between the pretest and posttest, there were substantial differences in these areas among the DA groups. Stated differently, the DA group’s feedback and mediation improved the members’ language acquisition skills. It may be concluded that, in contrast to typical language learning environments, the DA offers students and teachers a novel setting for language acquisition. In SA, examinees receive little or no feedback on the quality of their performance until the assessment is completed to protect the instrument's reliability, whereas, in DA, a specific type of feedback is provided for assistance, which is the crux of the assessment process (Rezayat & Bavali, 2016). According to Alavi et al. (2012), Farangi and Kheradmand Saadi (2017), and Shabani (2012), the improved performance of the DA group can be attributed to teachers’ accurate diagnostic feedback, learners’ participation in DA interactions, and the ability to discuss learning materials with their teachers. In fact, students received treatment and evaluation during each session in the DA group. When these students have problems with their assignments, teachers give them clues and prompt them to see if they can overcome the problem; if they still need help, the teacher will request peer support and feedback or teacher assistance. The instructor compliments the pupils for overcoming a challenge or finishing a task (Antón, 2009).

It is advised that DA be used as a legitimate and practical strategy to maximize education for students of all ages. The study’s conclusions recommend that learning barriers may be lessened and even eliminated via the active participation of students in the developmental process as well as the mediation and intervention of teachers. Teachers who like having more engaging and dynamic classes can find considerable value in the positive reviews of prior research. Additionally, educators need to be ready to modify and adapt their methods in light of fresh research and innovations in the pedagogy of DA-based language instruction.

The present research’s findings will benefit EFL students, teachers, content creators, and testers. Like DA, helpful techniques were utilized to enhance the subjects’ language acquisition; if students are diligent enough, they may pick up these techniques and apply them to further their development. By using DA, teachers may become aware of the practical methods students need to become self-sufficient and incorporate those tactics into their lesson plans. Furthermore, suppose the producers of the materials are cognizant of the impact that DA has on learners’ development. In that case, they may integrate this evaluation into their course books, which will be very beneficial to both instructors and pupils. Testers may utilize this assessment sort in a way that is appropriate to the needs and levels of the students by knowing the degree of efficacy of DA on the learners’ improvement. This allows teachers to use DA to assist learners’ progress further. The outcomes of this research will aid foreign language educators, testers, and learners as they will provide light on the efficacy of a novel approach to assessment known as dual assessment, which combines instruction and assessment simultaneously.

Like many studies, this one had limitations and could not cover every problem surrounding the subject. The study’s age restriction of participants to those between the ages of 13 and 19 is one of its limitations. Thus, extrapolating the outcomes to the other age groups is not possible. There could only be sixty EFL students in the population. Thus, it is also impossible to generalize about this. There was a cap of eight weeks allotted for teaching. As only female learners participated in the research, the findings may not be safely applied to male learners.

Given its limitations and results, this study indicates that more research is necessary. It may, for starters, be repeated with more people at other universities or involve literary texts only, such as a novel or a short story, away from linguistic content. Students at different levels should also be involved to gain further insight into how well the DA works for English language acquisition. Furthermore, follow-up research can examine the effects of the DA by extending its administration period and number of treatment sessions. In addition, a few qualitative research techniques (such as interviews and open-ended questionnaire items) can be used to learn more about the opinions of instructors and students regarding the DA. Comparing different assessment formats to see how they affect EFL learners’ speaking, writing, listening, or reading skills at various competency levels is another fascinating topic to investigate.