Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 13. Number1 March 2022 Pp.3-26
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no1.1
The Efficacy of Completing Form-focused Tasks Collaboratively vs Individually: Utilizing
Interventionist Dynamic Assessment to Quantify Learning Gains
James Scotland
Foundation Program Department of English
Qatar University, Qatar
Email: scotland@qu.edu.qa
Received: 9/7/2021 Accepted: 11/1/2021 Published:3/24/2022
Abstract:
Many language teachers employ collaborative learning within their classrooms. However, expectations surrounding the efficacy of working collaboratively need to be empirically verified. This study employed dynamic assessment to investigate whether learners who are situated within an undergraduate Qatari EFL context learn second language grammatical structures more effectively by working either collaboratively with their peers or individually. Interventionist dynamic assessment was used to quantify the extent of the learning gains made by male Arabic undergraduate EFL learners (N = 52) three times (pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest) over a 12-week period. In between the pretest and the posttest, six form-focused treatment tasks were administered. The experimental group (n = 20) completed the tasks collaboratively with their peers; a comparison group (n = 16) completed the tasks individually; and a control group (n = 16) did not complete the tasks. The target structures were the simple past passive and the present continuous passive. A Mood’s median test (Mood, 1954) found no statistically significant differences between the collaborative condition and the individual condition. Although measuring emergent abilities which are still in the process of developing provided a more complete picture of the efficacy of working collaboratively, the lack of a statistically significant difference between the performances of the experimental and comparison groups for both target structures suggests that working collaboratively is not statistically more effective in facilitating learners’ linguistic development than working individually.
Keywords: collaborative learning, focus on form, individual learning, interventionist dynamic assessment
Cite as: Scotland, J. (2022). The Efficacy of Completing Form-focused Tasks Collaboratively vs Individually: Utilizing Interventionist Dynamic Assessment to Quantify Learning Gains. Arab World English Journal, 13 (1) .3-26.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no1.1
References
Adams, R. (2007). Do second language learners benefit from interacting with each other. In A.
Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition (pp. 29-51). Oxford University Press.
Adams, R., Nuevo, A. M., & Egi, T. (2011). Explicit and implicit feedback, modified output, and
SLA: Does explicit and implicit feedback promote learning and learner–learner interactions?
The Modern Language Journal, 95(s1), 42-63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01242.x
Alfieri, L., Brooks, P. J., Aldrich, N. J., & Tenenbaum, H. R. (2011). Does discovery-based
instruction enhance learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021017
Aljaafreh, A., & Lantolf, J. P. (1994). Negative feedback as regulation and second language
learning in the zone of proximal development. The Modern Language Journal, 78(4), 465-483.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994.tb02064.x
Antón, M. (2009). Dynamic assessment of advanced second language learners. Foreign
Language Annals, 42(3), 576-598. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2009.01030.x
Antón, M. (2019). Expanding the role of dynamic assessment in language education. Language
and Sociocultural Theory, 6(1), 116-131. https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.38913
Antón, M., & DiCamilla, F. J. (1999). Socio-cognitive functions of L1 collaborative interaction
in the L2 classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 83(2), 233-247. https://doi.org/10.1111/0026-7902.00024
Budoff, M. & M. Friedman. (1964). “Learning potential” as an assessment approach to the
adolescent mentally retarded. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 28(5), 434–439. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040631
Carpenter, S. K., & Mueller, F. E. (2013). The effects of interleaving versus blocking on foreign
language pronunciation learning. Memory & Cognition, 41(5), 671-682. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-012-0291-4
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.).
Routledge.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning,
teaching, assessment. Cambridge University Press.
Davin, K. J., & Gómez-Pereira, D. (2019). Evaluating instruction through classroom dynamic
assessment: A sandwich approach. Language and Sociocultural Theory, 6(1), 6-31.
https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.38914
Donato, R. (1994). Collective scaffolding in second language learning. In J. P. Lantolf & G.
Appel (Eds.), Vygotskian approaches to second language research (pp. 33-56). Ablex.
Dumas, D., McNeish, D., & Greene, J. A. (2020). Dynamic measurement: A theoretical–
psychometric paradigm for modern educational psychology. Educational Psychologist, 55(2), 88-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2020.1744150
Eckerth, J. (2008). Investigating consciousness-raising tasks: Pedagogically targeted and non-
targeted learning gains. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18(2), 119-145.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2008.00188.x
Elabdali, R. (2021). Are two heads really better than one? A meta-analysis of the L2 learning benefits
of collaborative writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 52, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2020.100788
Fernández Dobao, A. (2012). Collaborative writing tasks in the L2 classroom: Comparing group,
pair, and individual work. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21(1), 40-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2011.12.002
Fernández Dobao, A. (2014a). Vocabulary learning in collaborative tasks: A comparison of pair
and small group work. Language Teaching Research, 18(4), 497-520. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168813519730
Fernández Dobao, A. (2014b). Attention to form in collaborative writing tasks: Comparing pair
and small group interaction. Canadian Modern Language Review, 70(2), 158-187. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.1768
Ferrara, R. A., Brown, A. L., & Campione, J. C. (1986). Children’s learning and transfer of
inductive reasoning rules: Studies of proximal development. Child Development, 57(5),
1087-1099. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130433
Gánem-Gutiérrez, G. A (2008). Microgenesis, method and object: A study of collaborative
activity in a Spanish as a foreign language classroom. Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 120-148.
https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm032
Guthke, J. & J. F. Beckmann. (2000). The learning test concept and its applications in practice.
In C. S. Lidz & J. G. Elliott (Eds.), Dynamic assessment: Prevailing models and applications (pp.17-69). Elsevier.
Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I. (2002). The effect of interaction in acquiring the grammar of a second
language. International Journal of Educational Research, 37(3), 343-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0883-0355(03)00009-0
Lantolf, J. P. (2009). Dynamic assessment: The dialectic integration of instruction and
assessment. Language Teaching, 42(3), 355-368. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444808005569
Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language
development. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.2167/le127b.0
Lantolf, J. P., & Poehner, M. E. (2011). Dynamic assessment in the classroom: Vygotskian
praxis for second language development. Language Teaching Research, 15(1), 11-33.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168810383328
Lapkin, S., Swain, M., & Smith, M. (2002). Reformulation and the learning of French
pronominal verbs in a Canadian French immersion context. The Modern Language Journal,
86(4), 485-507. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00157
Long, M. H., & Porter, P. A. (1985). Group work, interlanguage talk, and second language
acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 19(2), 207-228. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586827
McNeil, L. (2018). Understanding and addressing the challenges of learning computer-mediated
dynamic assessment: A teacher education study. Language Teaching Research, 22(3), 289-309.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816668675
McNicoll, J., & Lee, J. H. (2011). Collaborative consciousness-raising tasks in EAL classrooms.
English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 10(4), 127-138.
Minick, N. (1987). Implications of Vygotsky’s theories for dynamic assessment. In C. Lidz
(Ed.), Dynamic Assessment (pp. 116–140). Guilford Press.
Mohammadimoghadam, M. (2015). Effects of mediation on an EFL learner’s grammar
development: A case study of an EFL beginner student. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 192, 101-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.06.015
Mood, A. M. (1954). On the asymptotic efficiency of certain nonparametric two-sample tests.
The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 25(3), 514-522.
https://doi.org/10.1214/aoms/1177728719
Nassaji, H., & Tian, J. (2010). Collaborative and individual output tasks and their effects on
learning English phrasal verbs. Language Teaching Research, 14(4), 397-419. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168810375364
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and
quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417-528. https://doi.org/10.1111/0023-8333.00136
Pica, T., & Doughty, C. (1985). The role of group work in classroom second language
acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7(02), 233-248. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263100005398
Poehner, M. E. (2007). Beyond the test: L2 dynamic assessment and the transcendence of
mediated learning. The Modern Language Journal, 91(3), 323-340. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00583.x
Poehner, M. E. (2008). Dynamic assessment: A Vygotskian approach to understanding and
promoting L2 development. Springer Science & Business Media.
Poehner, M. E., Zhang, J., & Lu, X. (2015). Computerized dynamic assessment (C-DA):
Diagnosing L2 development according to learner responsiveness to mediation. Language Testing, 32(3), 337-357. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532214560390
Rassaei, E. (2019). Tailoring mediation to learners’ ZPD: Effects of dynamic and non-dynamic
corrective feedback on L2 development. The Language Learning Journal, 47(5), 591-607.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2017.1343863
Reinders, H. (2009). Learner uptake and acquisition in three grammar-oriented production
activities. Language Teaching Research, 13(2), 201-222. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168809103449
Rohrer, D. (2012). Interleaving helps students distinguish among similar concepts. Educational
Psychology Review, 24(3), 355-367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-012-9201-3
Roschelle, J., & Teasley, S. D. (1995). The construction of shared knowledge in collaborative
problem solving. In C. O’Malley (Ed.), Computer supported collaborative learning (pp. 69-97). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-85098-1_5
Scotland, J. (2017). Participating in a shared cognitive space: An exploration of working
collaboratively and longer-term performance of a complex grammatical structure, (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation).
University of Exeter, United Kingdom. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/32739
Scotland, J. (2021). The efficacy of collaboratively completing form-focused tasks: A research
synthesis. In M. D. P. G. Mayo (Ed.), Working collaboratively in second/foreign language learning (pp. 35-57).
De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511318-003
Spielman-Davidson, S. J. (2000). Collaborative dialogues in the zone of proximal development,
grade eight French immersion students learning the conditional tense, (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation).
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, Canada.
Storch, N. (2005). Collaborative writing: Product, process, and students’ reflections. Journal of
Second Language Writing, 14(3), 153-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2005.05.002
Storch, N., & Wigglesworth, G. (2007). Writing tasks: The effects of collaboration. In M. D. P.
García Mayo (Ed.), Investigating tasks in formal language settings (pp. 157-177). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853599286-011
Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through
collaborative dialogue. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning
(pp. 97-114). Oxford University Press.
Swain, M. (2001). Integrating language and content teaching through collaborative tasks.
Canadian Modern Language Review, 58(1), 44-63. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.58.1.44
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent
French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal, 82(3), 320-337.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb01209.x
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2001). Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task
effects. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning,
teaching and testing (pp. 99-118). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315838267-14
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2002). Talking it through: Two French immersion learners’ response to
reformulation. International Journal of Educational Research, 37(3/4), 285-304.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0883-0355(03)00006-5
Teng, M. F. (2020). The effectiveness of group, pair and individual output tasks on learning
phrasal verbs. The Language Learning Journal, 48(2), 187-200. doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2017.1373841
van Compernolle, R. A., & Zhang, H. (2014). Dynamic assessment of elicited imitation: A case
analysis of an advanced L2 English speaker. Language Testing, 31(4), 395-412.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532213520303
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Harvard University Press.
Wajnryb, R. (1990). Grammar dictation. Oxford University Press.