Computerized Dynamic Assessment: A Vygotskian Perspective to Assess L2 ReadingComprehension Skills

Dynamic Assessment (DA) traced back in Socio-cultural Theory (SCT) is a major area of interestwithin the field of applied linguistics. In fact, DA seeks to unify assessment and instruction so as toimprove learner development. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to investigate thepedagogical utility of Computerized Dynamic Assessment (C-DA) in measuring L2 learners’ readingcomprehension abilities. To this end, based on Brown’s (Brown, 1985) Graduated Prompt Approach,a specific software was developed toautomatically offer pre-fabricated mediatory prompts whenlearners failed to choose the correct answer. The software also assigned Zone of ProximalDevelopment (ZPD) and Zone of Actual Development (ZAD) scores for each learner. The scoresgradually decreased with the presentation of more explicit prompts until the learner reached thecorrect option. The participants included 40 female and male English major students ranging in agefrom 20 to 24. They were asked to read a text from computer screen and then, answer two readingcomprehension questions by clicking on the appropriate option among 10 alternatives related to eachquestion. The results revealed that electronically delivered mediatory scaffolding through thistemporally-based C-DA procedure can enhance L2 learners’ reading comprehension performance.Moreover, the study also indicated that learners with larger ZPDs spent less processing time to reachthe correct answer. Interestingly, the C-DA procedure can benefit standardized, high-stakes testingsince it can be administered to a large group of individuals.

کلیدواژه ها:

Dynamic assessment (DA) ، zone of proximal development (ZPD) ، computerized dynamicassessment (C-DA) ، mediatory scaffolding