iranian efl teachers' perceptions towards dynamic assessment implementation (dai): an ecological system theory (est) perspective

The use of dynamic assessment (da), as a paramount mode of alternative assessment, has gained momentum in english as a foreign language (efl) settings in recent years. the prevalence application of da in efl contexts, in turn, has necessitated a strand of explorations into teachers’ perceptions towards da. however, a scrutiny of the methodology section of such investigations reveals the non-existence of a rigorous conceptual framework for probing teachers’ perceptions in general and their perceptions towards dai in particular. to address such a theoretical pitfall, in the current study we have adopted ecological systems theory (est) to examine and analyze teachers’ perceptions towards da from a multi-layered and holistic vantage. more specifically, this study set out to probe teachers' perceptions towards dai from a qudpartite layered and interconnected lens consisting of microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. the participants were 15 iranian efl teachers within the age range of 28 to 45. their teaching experience fell within the range of 5 to 15 years and they were selected based on snowball sampling procedure. semi-structured interviews were used to collect the required data. a dual thematic analysis consisting of both deductive and inductive analysis was employed to analyze the interview contents. the results revealed that teachers’ perceptions towards dai were nested in the four layers of est. overall, the results yielded various themes reflecting different aspects of teachers’ perceptions towards dai while concurrently such themes fit the four layers of est at a conceptual level. the results provide efl teacher educators and teachers with awareness regarding how various aspects of teachers’ perceptions in regard to dai can be embedded across multiple layers contributing to a holistic conceptualization of teachers’ perceptions. put it another way, the results can theoretically shed light on the interconnection of different aspects of teachers’ perceptions across multiple systems.