Diagnostic Assessment of Interactional Competence in Paired Speaking Tests: Investigating Rating Accuracy of Iranian EFL Learners

Assessment of interactional competence (IC) as a multi-componential construct poses several challenges for both teachers and administrators. Having a diagnostic assessment perspective through stakeholders’ involvement, this mixed methods study attempts to provide information about students’ strengths and weaknesses in IC. The paper first explored the distinctive effects of diagnostic self- and peer-assessments on the development of Iranian EFL learners’ IC; it then examined the accuracy of the learners’ diagnostic assessment of IC in paired speaking tests. The learners’ perception toward the application of diagnostic assessment was also investigated qualitatively. To this end, 60 students majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University participated in this study. Taking the instructor’s ratings as the criterion, over the course of 12 weeks, the accuracy of the learners’ diagnostic self- and peer- assessments was investigated. Data analysis, using T-test and MANOVA, confirmed that while the two groups of diagnostic self- and peer- assessments had considerable improvement in IC, there was not any significant difference between the two groups’ gain. In addition, no statistically significant difference was found between the accuracy of diagnostic self-, peer - assessment and those of instructor- assessment throughout the course. Furthermore, the results showed that the participants held favorable perception toward the application of diagnostic assessment.