Measuring and Supporting Second Language Development Using Computerized Dynamic Assessment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.31710Keywords:
computerized dynamic assessment, diagnostic language assessment, learning potentials, mediation, second language development, Zone of Proximal DevelopmentAbstract
This study developed an innovative framework for measuring and supporting second language development through integrating diagnostic language assessment and instruction by incorporating mediation. Nineteen students enrolled in an intermediate Chinese listening and speaking course at a large public university in the Midwest United States took a computerized dynamic assessment (C-DA) listening test in the Spring 2015 semester. The C-DA test differed from traditional standardized tests in that it diagnosed not only students’ fully developed abilities but also their emerging abilities. It offered students graduated mediational prompts for items they had difficulty with and tracked the amount of mediation they needed for those items. The test report also included a learner profile detailing each student’s independent and mediated performance on clusters of items designed to test different language constructs. Based on the results of the diagnostic C-DA test, students were categorized in three groups, and each group was offered instructional support tailored to their listening abilities and learning needs. Analysis of the diagnostic test reports, student interviews, and end-of-semester student evaluations of the course provided evidence that the integration of diagnostic language assessment and instruction that incorporates appropriate mediation helped creating a coherent and effective pedagogy for the students.
References
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Tomlinson, C. A. (1995). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999a). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999b). Mapping a route toward differentiated instruction. Educational Leadership 57 (1): 12–16.
van Compernolle, R. A. and Williams, L. (2012). Promoting sociolinguistic competence in the classroom zone of proximal development. Language Teaching Research 16 (1): 39–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168811423340
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1998). The problem of age. In R. W. Rieber and A. S. Carton (Eds), The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky, Vol. 5: Child Psychology, 187–206. New York: Plenum. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5401-1_6
Zhang, J. (2013). Group dynamic assessment in a process approach to teaching listening. Paper presented at the XX Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning Research Working Group Meeting, University Park, PA, September 26–28.
Ableeva, R. (2010). Dynamic Assessment of Listening Comprehension in L2 French. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
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
Davin, K. (2013). Integration of dynamic assessment and instructional conversations to promote development and improve assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research 17 (3): 303–322. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168813482934
Donato, R. (1994). Collective scaffolding in second language learning. In J. P. Lantolf and G. Appel (Eds), Vygotskian Approaches to Second Language Research, 33–56. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263100014303
Donato, R. (2004). Aspects of collaboration in pedagogical discourse. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 24 (1): 284–302.
Gal’perin, P. Y. (1989). Organization of mental activity and the effectiveness of learning. Soviet Psychology 27: 45–65. https://doi.org/10.2753/rpo1061-0405270365
García, P. N. (2017). A sociocultural approach to analyzing L2 development in the Spanish L2 Classroom. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 14: 99–124.
Haywood, H. C. and Lidz, C. S. (2007). Dynamic Assessment in Practice. Clinical and Educational Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jang, E. E. (2008). A framework for cognitive diagnostic assessment. In C. A. Chapelle, Y.-R. Chung, and J. Xu (Eds), Towards Adaptive CALL: Natural Language Processing for Diagnostic Language Assessment, 117–131. Ames, IA: Iowa State University.
Kozulin, A. and Garb, E. (2002). Dynamic assessment of EFL text comprehension of at-risk students. School Psychology International 23 (1): 112–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034302023001733
Kunnan, A. J. and Jang, E. E. (2009). Diagnostic feedback in language assessment. In M. H. Long and C. J. Doughty (Eds), The Handbook of Language Teaching, 610–627. Malden, MA: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444315783.ch32
Lantolf, J. P. and Poehner, M. E. (2004). Dynamic assessment of L2 development: bringing the past into the future. Journal of Applied Linguistics 1 (2): 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.1.1.49.55872
Lantolf, J. P. and Poehner, M. E. (2014). Sociocultural Theory and the Pedagogical Imperative in L2 Education: Vygotskian Praxis and the Research/Practice Divide. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203813850
Lantolf, J. P. and Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm027
McNamara, T. (2001). Language assessment as social practice: Challenges for research. Language Testing 18 (4): 334–399.
Mislevy, R. J., Almond, R. G., and Lukas, J. F. (2004). A brief introduction to Evidence-Centered Design. CSE Technical Report 632, The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, Center for the Study of Evaluation. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles. https://doi.org/10.26616/nioshheta913952244
Poehner, M. E. (2005). Dynamic Assessment of Advanced L2 Learners of French. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Poehner, M. E. (2008). Dynamic Assessment: A Vygotskian Approach to Understanding and Promoting Second Language Development. Berlin: Springer.
Poehner, M. E. (2009). Group dynamic assessment: Mediation for the L2 classroom. TESOL Quarterly 43 (3): 471–491. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00245.x
Poehner, M. E. and Lantolf, J. P. (2005). Dynamic assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research 9 (3): 233–265. https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168805lr166oa
Poehner, M. E. and Lantolf, J. P. (2013). Bringing the ZPD into the equation: Capturing L2 development during Computerized Dynamic Assessment. Language Teaching Research 17 (3), 323–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168813482935
Poehner, M. E., Zhang, J., and 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
Poehner, M. E., Zhang, J., and Lu, X. (in press). Computerized dynamic assessments for young language learners. In M. K. Wolf, and Y. G. Butler (Eds), English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315674391
Spring, M. K. (2012). Making Connections. Enhance Your Listening Comprehension in Chinese (2nd edn). Boston, MA: Cheng & Tsui Company.
Tomlinson, C. A. (1995). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999a). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, C. A. (1999b). Mapping a route toward differentiated instruction. Educational Leadership 57 (1): 12–16.
van Compernolle, R. A. and Williams, L. (2012). Promoting sociolinguistic competence in the classroom zone of proximal development. Language Teaching Research 16 (1): 39–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168811423340
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1998). The problem of age. In R. W. Rieber and A. S. Carton (Eds), The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky, Vol. 5: Child Psychology, 187–206. New York: Plenum. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5401-1_6
Zhang, J. (2013). Group dynamic assessment in a process approach to teaching listening. Paper presented at the XX Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning Research Working Group Meeting, University Park, PA, September 26–28.
Published
2019-09-04
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Zhang, J., & Lu, X. (2019). Measuring and Supporting Second Language Development Using Computerized Dynamic Assessment. Language and Sociocultural Theory, 6(1), 92-115. https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.31710
