Influence of dynamic assessment on Taiwanese undergraduates and graduate students’ academic writing of research proposals

Chin-Wen Chien

doi:10.1515/cercles-2023-0031

Article

Influence of dynamic assessment on Taiwanese undergraduates and graduate students’ academic writing of research proposals

Chin-Wen Chien

Published/Copyright: October 14, 2024

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From the journal Language Learning in Higher Education Volume 14 Issue 2

Abstract

Dynamic assessment (DA) integrates assessment and instruction between the instructor and learners. It emphasizes the learning process. DA was introduced to 24 undergraduates and 9 graduate students in two academic writing courses in Taiwan. The analysis of the pre- and post-tests, writing portfolios, observations, and interviews reached the following major conclusions. First, participants had a positive attitude toward DA, particularly regarding expert evaluation as the mediation for identifying global and local errors. Secondly, the integration of DA influenced the participants’ academic writing on research proposals, particularly the structure and the use of the APA format. Thirdly, participants regarded the instructor’s model writing and the exemplary journal articles as useful mediations. Suggestions on the effective integration of DA into academic writing courses are provided.

Keywords: academic writing; APA format; dynamic assessment (DA); research proposal

Corresponding author: Chin-Wen Chien, National Tsing Hua University, No. 521. Nanda Road., Hsinchu 330, Taiwan, E-mail: chinwenc@ms24.hinet.net

Appendix I

Sample test on research proposals

Choose the best answer.

What is the correct structure of major academic paper format?
1. conclusion → method → references → literature review
2. method → introduction → result → literature review
3. title→ introduction → literature review→ method
4. literature review → method → introduction → conclusion
It includes the title, purpose, point of view, supporting details and examples, and evidence of current practice.
1. results
2. method
3. references
4. abstract
Which one is NOT TRUE about literature review?
1. Literature review should focus a critical analysis of the relationship among different works.
2. Literature review should focus on a broader topic.
3. Literature review is a summary of the main points.
4. It enables the researcher to know what has been learned
Which statement is written based on APA format?
1. Smith (2011). Learner construction of corpora for general English in Taiwan. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(4), pp. 291–316.
2. According to Smotrova (2017), “teachers need to be made aware of the pedagogical uses of gesture as a mediational tool for teaching L2 pronunciation” (p. 59).
3. Only a few proportion of the word families include homographs (Wang and Nation 2003).
4. Nation (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge University Press.
Of the structure of academic paper, where can you mostly find it? Considering all the above, this study will employ multiple, sensitive tests of word knowledge to determine the vocabulary acquisition benefits which a learner of French derives from a period of extensive reading. In particular, the study addresses the following questions.
1. discussion
2. limitations
3. introduction
4. references
The researchers will check out the consistency of different data sources within the same method, such as observation, interview, and document.
1. triangulation
2. hypothesis
3. validity
4. comparability
It literally means to describe a people or cultural group.
1. phenomenology
2. grounded theory
3. ethnography
4. action research
Which one is the NOT the feature of case study?
1. It must have data from multiple sources.
2. It examines something in a real-life context.
3. It provides counterfactual evidence from a control group.
4. It uses theories to generalize results.
An interview conducted with a small group of people, all at one time, to explore ideas on a particular topic.
1. Likert scale
2. focus group
3. field work
4. member checking
Which one is true about survey research?
1. It collects data on groups too large to observe directly.
2. It provides detailed explanation.
3. It collects descriptive data, or learners’ feelings and opinions.
4. It can establish cause-and-effect relationships.

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Received: 2023-09-29

Accepted: 2024-08-11

Published Online: 2024-10-14

Published in Print: 2024-10-28

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-0031

Keywords for this article

academic writing; APA format; dynamic assessment (DA); research proposal