Computer Mediated Diagnosis and Enhancement of L2 Learners Listening Abilities

Dynamic Assessment (DA) overcomes the assessment-instruction dualism by integrating them according to the principle that mediated interactions simultaneously reveal and enhance learners’ abilities. Mediation with its centralrole in Sociocultural theory (SCT) is referred to as any kind of support in the form of hints through dialogic interaction[1].This study seeks to discover the effect of standardized mediation on EFL learners listening comprehension. Thestudy relied upon [2] Vygotsky s notion of Zone of Proximal Development ZPD, Brown s [3] Graduated PromptApproach and [4] developed computerized model of dynamic assessment (C-DA) to construct assessment sessions. After holding a QPT test, 100 out of 140 lower-intermediate EFL students from Afarinesh Mehr English Language Institute inBabol were selected to participate in this study. Based on [5], a hierarchical array of mediations ranging from the mostimplicit to the most explicit was presented to the students during listening comprehension tests. Students NDA and DAscores were calculated following [6]. A perception questionnaire was presented to the students regarding their attitudetowards the C-DA listening test. Results of qualitative and quantitative data analyses revealed that the offeredmediations resulted in significant changes in the listening ability of the learners and improved their ZPD in listening comprehension. Comparison of the means of NDA and DA scores showed that the participants improved as a result ofmediations. Moreover, the C-DA procedure revealed intriguing information about learners surfaced abilities and underlying potential

کلیدواژه ها:

Sociocultural Theory (SCT) ، Dynamic assessment (DA) ، Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) ، Interventionist approach ، Mediation ، Computerized Dynamic Assessment(C-DA) ، Listening comprehension