In this presentation, we discuss the possibilities and challenges of combining the paradigms of dynamic assessment and diagnostic language assessment, at the conceptual level and at the operational/design level. We explore this through the DIALANG 2.0 project, a regeneration exercise of an existing, widely used computer-based diagnostic language assessment system.
For the past two decades, DIALANG has been a pioneering example of a computer-based diagnostic language assessment system (Alderson, 2005). As an open-access platform which tests 14 languages (and has 18 instructional and feedback languages), DIALANG continues to be a popular tool for learners and teachers, with around 250,000 tests taken per annum. However, for DIALANG to remain relevant, and to reflect recent developments in theorising diagnostic language assessment (Alderson et al., 2015; Huhta et al., forthcoming), DIALANG needs regeneration. For that reason, a team of researchers from the universities of Lancaster, Jyväskylä and Innsbruck have started work on conceptualising DIALANG 2.0, an online system designed to provide a considerably different approach to diagnostic language assessment from the original format. One key feature of DIALANG 2.0 is that it aims to model an ideal diagnostic procedure: (1) observation, (2) initial assessment, (3) hypothesis checking, and (4) decision making (Harding et al., 2015). A key question, however, is whether, and how, dynamic assessment might play a role within this diagnostic procedure. More specifically, it is important to consider how dynamic assessment could be conceptualised in a broader theory of diagnosis in a second/foreign language, and how it would be operationalised within the specific design principles of DIALANG 2.0. This talk will address these questions by, first, outlining the conceptualisation of diagnostic assessment which underlies DIALANG 2.0, second, presenting the operational blueprint for DIALANG 2.0, and third, discussing the points within DIALANG 2.0 at which dynamic assessment might be integrated within the system. We will discuss the challenges of combining these two paradigms both at the conceptual level, and at the operational/design level. We will also consider the crucial role of the diagnostician (whether a teacher, or a computer system), and the knowledge required for ‘diagnostic competence’ in a diagnostic/dynamic assessment system.
