Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:02:34.817Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mobile-mediated dynamic assessment: A new perspective for second language development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2020

Alberto Andujar Open the ORCID record for Alberto Andujar [Opens in a new window]
Alberto Andujar*
Affiliation:
University of Almería, Spain ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present investigation analyses the potential of a pedagogical dynamic assessment (DA) approach to foster second language (L2) development through the use of a mobile instant messaging application. Students’ zone of actual and proximal development is observed through the use of a grammar and vocabulary level test and the use of the WhatsApp application respectively. Sixty students taking a B1 English course at the language centre of a Spanish university were studied. A mixed methods methodology was used to analyse the differences between two pre-existing groups (control and experimental), each consisting of 30 participants. Both groups received the same tuition and content, and students in the experimental group participated in a daily conversation in the application during a five-month period where negative feedback was provided by the teacher through the use of an inventory of prompts, from most implicit to most explicit. Throughout the research, pedagogical mobile-mediated DA became a central part of the students’ learning process, extending learning beyond the in-class time and becoming a constant source of L2 input and feedback. Moreover, results indicated that DA and dialogic mediation helped students reflect on their language performance, gradually requiring less explicit feedback and metalinguistic explanations.

Keywords

dynamic assessmentmobile-assisted language learningCALLlanguage learningvirtual learningvirtual learning environments
Type
Regular papers
Information
ReCALL , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 178 - 194
Check for updates
Copyright
© European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdolrezapour, P. (2017) Improving L2 reading comprehension through emotionalized dynamic assessment procedures. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 46(3): 747–770. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-016-9464-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ai, H. (2017) Providing graduated corrective feedback in an intelligent computer-assisted language learning environment. ReCALL, 29(3): 313–334. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095834401700012XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
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/10.2307/328585CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ally, M. (2008) Nomadicity and information access: The mobile digital library for people on the move. In Needham, G. & Ally, M. (eds.), M-Libraries: Libraries on the move to provide virtual access. London: Facet, 37–46.Google Scholar
Andujar, A. (2016) Benefits of mobile instant messaging to develop ESL writing. System, 62: 63–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.07.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andujar, A. & Salaberri-Ramiro, M. S. (2019) Exploring chat-based communication in the EFL class: Computer and mobile environments. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1614632CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andújar-Vaca, A. & Cruz-Martínez, M.-S. (2017) Mobile instant messaging: WhatsApp and its potential to develop oral skills. Comunicar, 25(50): 43–52. https://doi.org/10.3916/C50-2017-04CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, D. M. & Ellison, N. B. (2007) Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, 13(1): 210–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno-Alastuey, M. C. (2013) Interactional feedback in synchronous voice-based computer mediated communication: Effect of dyad. System, 41(3): 543–559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.05.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campione, J. C. & Brown, A. L. (1985) Dynamic assessment: One approach and some initial data (Technical Report No. 361). Washington, DC: Nation Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED269735) http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED269735.pdfGoogle Scholar
Creswell, J. W. (2003) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE. http://blog.soton.ac.uk/dissertation/files/2013/09/Book-Creswell-PDF-draft.pdfGoogle Scholar
Darhower, M. A. (2014) Synchronous computer-mediated Dynamic Assessment: A case study of L2 Spanish past narration. CALICO Journal, 31: 221–243. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/calicojournal.31.2.221.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contentsCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davin, K. J., Herazo, J. D. & Sagre, A. M. (2017) Learning to mediate: Teacher appropriation of dynamic assessment. Language Teaching Research, 21(5): 632–651. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816654309CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davin, K. J., Troyan, F. J. & Hellmann, A. J. (2014) Classroom dynamic assessment of reading comprehension with second language learners. Language and Sociocultural Theory, 1(1): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1558/lst.v1i1.1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feuerstein, R., Feuerstein, R. S., Falik, L. H. & Rand, Y. (2003) Dynamic assessment of cognitive modifiability: The learning propensity assessment device: Theory, instruments and techniques. Jerusalem: ICELP Press.Google Scholar
Fulcher, G. & Davidson, F. (2007) Language testing and assessment: An advanced resource book. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203449066Google Scholar
Hatch, E. M. & Lazaraton, A. (1991) The research manual: Design and statistics for applied linguistics. New York: Newbury House Publishers.Google Scholar
Heift, T. (2017) History and key developments in intelligent computer-assisted language learning (ICALL). In Thorne, S. L. & May, S. (eds.), Language, education and technology: Encyclopedia of language and education (3rd ed.). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02237-6_23Google Scholar
Iwashita, N. (2003) Negative feedback and positive evidence in task-based interaction: Differential effects on L2 development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25(1): 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263103000019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jepson, K. (2005) Conversations – and negotiated interaction – in text and voice chat rooms. Language Learning & Technology, 9(3): 79–98. http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num3/jepson/ https://www.lltjournal.org/item/2520Google Scholar
Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J. & Turner, L. A. (2007) Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2): 112–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689806298224CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kozulin, A. & Garb, E. (2002) Dynamic assessment of EFL text comprehension. School Psychology International, 23(1): 112–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034302023001733CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2009) Will mobile learning change language learning? ReCALL, 21(2): 157–165. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344009000202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. & Poehner, M. E. (2004) Dynamic assessment of L2 development: Bringing the past into the future. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1): 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.1.1.49.55872CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. & Poehner, M. E. (2007) Dynamic assessment. In Shohamy, E. & Hornberger, N. H. (eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Volume 7: Language testing and assessment. Berlin: Springer, 273–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02261-1_18Google Scholar
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/10.1177/1362168810383328CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In Ritchie, W. C. & Bhatia, T. K. (eds.), Handbook of research on second language acquisition. San Diego: Academic Press, 413–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012589042-7/50015-3Google Scholar
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%2F1362168816668675CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nunan, D. (1992) Research methods in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Onwuegbuzie, A. J. & Teddlie, C. (2003) A framework for analyzing data in mixed methods research. In Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C. (eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 351–383.Google Scholar
Poehner, M. E. & Lantolf, J. P. (2005) Dynamic assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 9(3): 233–265. https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168805lr166oaCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poehner, M. E. & Lantolf, J. P. (2010) Vygotsky’s teaching-assessment dialectic and L2 education: The case for dynamic assessment. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 17(4): 312–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749030903338509CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poehner, M. E. & Lantolf, J. P. (2013) Bringing the ZPD into the equation: Capturing L2 development during computerized dynamic assessment (C-DA). Language Teaching Research, 17(3): 323–342. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1362168813482935CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poehner, M. E., Davin, K. J. & Lantolf, J. P. (2017) Dynamic assessment. In Shohamy, E., Lair, G. & May, S. (eds.), Language, testing and assessment: Encyclopedia of language and education (3rd ed.). Cham: Springer, 243–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02261-1_18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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/10.1177/0265532214560390CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharples, M., Adams, A., Alozie, N., Ferguson, R., FitzGerald, E., Gaved, M., McAndrew, P., Means, B., Remold, J., Rienties, B., Roschelle, J., Vogt, K., Whitelock, D. & Yarnall, L. (2015) Innovating pedagogy 2015: Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers: Open University Innovation Report 4. Milton Keynes: The Open University. https://iet.open.ac.uk/file/innovating_pedagogy_2015.pdfGoogle Scholar
Shavelson, R. J. (1981) Statistical reasoning for the behavioral sciences. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Shrestha, P. & Coffin, C. (2012) Dynamic assessment, tutor mediation and academic development writing. Assessing Writing, 17(1): 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2011.11.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shute, V. J. (2011) Stealth assessment in computer-based games to support learning. In Tobias, S. & Fletcher, J. D. (eds.), Computer games and instruction. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing, 503–524.Google Scholar
Shute, V. & Ventura, M. (2013) Stealth assessment: Measuring and supporting learning in video games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9589.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slavin, R. E. (1990) Achievement effects of ability grouping in secondary schools: A best-evidence synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 60(3): 471–499. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F00346543060003471CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teo, A. (2012) Promoting EFL students’ inferential reading skills through computerized dynamic assessment. Language Learning & Technology, 16(3): 10–20. https://www.lltjournal.org/item/2778Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Yang, Y. & Qian, D. D. (2017) Assessing English reading comprehension by Chinese EFL learners in computerized dynamic assessment. Language Testing in Asia, 7(1): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-017-0042-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, Y. & Qian, D. D. (2019) Promoting L2 English learners’ reading proficiency through computerized dynamic assessment. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1585882CrossRefGoogle Scholar