بهاره هاشم پور

The present study trailed a proper experimental design to examine jigsaw reading method in our setting. The data collection process encompassed qualitative and quantitative evaluations. The scrutinization aimed to influence the interactive jigsaw method on EFL intermediary Iranian learners’ reading capability and anxiety. 205 Iranian learners acquired the Oxford Placement Test, 135 intermediary learners were selected as the research sample. A random control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG) were designated to the participants. The instrumentation was pre-and post-tests for evaluating the reading performance, and the subjects replied reading anxiety questionnaire, which was validated by Zoghi (2012). The EG outperformed the CG in their reading performance comprehension, which is indicated in the results. Also, EG participants’ reading anxiety reduced after considerable management. The outcomes also did not reveal any significant variance among the two age groups. The findings might accord creative intuitions in jigsaw interactive learning and reading, and the situation could encompass the conclusions of the associated literature. T he research results can be advantageous to instructors by invigorating their learners’ L2 reading ability. Moreover, learners become skilled in regulating their anxiety and acting more assertively amid the tasks. Keywords : anxiety, intermediate Iranian learners, jigsaw interactive method, reading conception

Performance testing including the use of rating scales has become widespread in the evaluation of second/foreign oral language assessment. However, no study has used Multifaceted Rasch Measurement (MFRM) including the facets of test takers’ ability, raters’ severity, group expertise, and scale category, in one study. 20 EFL teachers scored the speaking performance of 200 test-takers prior and subsequent to a rater training program using an analytic rating scale consisting of fluency, grammar, vocabulary, intelligibility, cohesion, and comprehension categories. The outcome demonstrated that the categories were at different levels of difficulty even after the training program. However, this outcome by no means indicated the uselessness of the training program since data analysis reflected the constructive influence of training in providing enough consistency in raters’ rating of each category of the rating scale at the post-training phase. Such an outcome indicated that raters could discriminate the various categories of the rating scale. The outcomes also indicated that MFRM can result in enhancement in rater training and functionality validation of the rating scale descriptors. The training helped raters use the descriptors of the rating scale more efficiently of its various band descriptors resulting in a reduced halo effect. The findings conveyed that stakeholders had better establish training programs to assist raters in better use of the rating scale categories of various levels of difficulty in an appropriate way. Further research could be done to make a comparative analysis between the outcome of this study and the one using a holistic rating scale in oral assessment.