How does dynamic assessment enable learner development in EFL classroom context: microgenetic analysis of classroom interactions and teacher narratives

Unlike traditional assessment that evaluates learners with reference to their failures in independent performance, dynamic assessment (DA) focuses on what learners can be guided to achieve when provided with different levels of mediated assistance. The explicitness of mediation they need and their assisted performance uncover the sources of their problems, their learning potential, and help mediators/instructors plan their teaching accordingly. However, due to the dialogic nature of DA, the research contexts of past studies were mostly limited to small group interactions in an experimental setting, with the hope to produce results that can be transferred to larger scale classroom contexts. How DA can work in a real L2 classroom to enable learner development has been underresearched. The current study examines the implementation of DA in naturalistic classroom taught by a DA-trained instructor. Observations of two college English listening and speaking classes (one at a high level and the other at an intermediate level) taught by the same instructor were made for a period of 10 weeks. Lesson recordings and observational notes were used to capture classroom interactions. Reflective journals kept regularly by the teacher were also collected. Microgenetic analysis was conducted to reveal how learning was mediated in the whole-classroom context. This involved examining the language-related episodes, in which learner problems were anticipated, indicated or identified, followed with mediated assistance provided by the teacher, and resolved as positive changes occurred in their L2 performance. Results show that DA, especially a cumulative model of group DA can benefit a class of over 30 students and enable learners to achieve increased awareness and control of the L2.