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The present case study had as its aim to uncover the diagnostic and instructional potential of dynamic assessment (DA) in the context of L۲ writing during asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC). More precisely, the study investigated the role of ACMC-based DA through e-mail in diagnosing and promoting low-proficiency L۲ learners’ writing abilities in an Iranian EFL context. To this end, a case study design was adopted and three low-proficiency students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) were selected to participate for a time span of ten weeks. The error analysis of learners’ performances in the pretest and posttest sessions led to the detection of a number of writing problems including the content, structural organization, grammatical accuracy, lexical appropriateness, and mechanics. A posterior examination of computer-mediated offline interactions led to the detection of a number of mediational strategies namely ask to revise, identify a problem area, specify the problem area, clarify the error kind, offer a choice and provide an explicit explanation as well as reciprocity patterns including unresponsive, growing autonomy and full autonomy which together helped diagnose the students' writing problems and trace their developmental trajectories. On implication side, it is argued that the ACMC-based DA serves as a strong diagnostic tool that makes a genuine understanding of L۲ learners' writing abilities.
 

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پیروِ پیدایش رویکردها و روش­های نوین در حوزۀ تدریس زبان انگلیسی، ارزیابی زبان دست­خوش تغییرات بسیار اساسی شده است و روش­های سنتی جای خود را به ارزیابی­ پویا داده­اند. ارزیابی پویا مبتنی ­بر نظریۀ اجتماعی ـ فرهنگی ویگوتسکی (۱۹۷۸) و منطقۀ مجاور رشد است. اگرچه رویکرد ارزیابی پویا برای بیشتر جنبه­های یادگیری زبان دوم کاربرد دارد، اما به­ندرت در جهت بررسی روند توسعه و تکامل منظورشناسی بین­زبانی تحقیقی انجام نشده است. بنابراین، پژوهش حاضر با هدف بررسی تأثیر ارزیابی پویا بر درک کنش­های گفتاری معذرت­خواهی و درخواست­ در میان زبان­آموزان زبان انگلیسی سطح متوسط در ایران نگاشته شده است. در این راستا، تعداد ۶۶ زبان­آموز زبان انگلیسی سطح متوسط که در آموزشگاه زبان شکوه در شهرستان کلاله مشغول به تحصیل بوده­اند، برحسب نمره­هایشان در آزمون تعیین­سطح آکسفورد انتخاب و سپس به سه گروه تقسیم شدند: گروه ارزیابی غیرپویا، گروه ارزیابی پویا و گروه شاهد. در این پژوهش از طرح پیش­آزمون ـ پس­آزمون  استفاده شده­ است. برای ارزیابی توانش منظورشناختی در این تحقیق، در دوران پیش و پس از مداخله، آزمون درک منظورشناسی شنیداری بیرجندی و درخشان (۲۰۱۴) اجرا شده ­است. اعضای شرکت­کننده در این تحقیق، هشت جلسۀ آموزش ۴۵ دقیقه­ای را در قالب کلیپ­های ویدئویی منتخب از فصل­ها و بخش­های مختلف ۱۳ Reasons Why  و Suits دریافت کردند. نتایج حاصل از آزمون تحلیل واریانس یک­متغیره نشان داده که میان این سه گروه، تفاوت­ معنادار آماری وجود داشته ­است و نتایج به­دست­آمده از آزمون تعقیبی توکی نیز حاکی از آن بوده که گروه ارزیابی پویا، نسبت­به دو گروه ارزیابی غیرپویا و شاهد، عملکرد بهتری داشته ­است. پژوهش حاضر کاربردهای قابل­ملاحظه­ای برای معلمان، زبان­آموزان و طراحان مواد آموزشی خواهد داشت.

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Driven by the concept of mediation, this study is set out to use sociocultrual theory as the theoretical framework to explore the mediation role of textbooks, specifically, the series Northstar in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university classes in Vietnam. Learning journals with guided questions are employed to collect data on how different aspects of English textbooks assist students’ learning in the classroom. Besides, transcripts of recorded classroom obervations are analysed to interpret how the textbooks formulate and faciliate students’ ideas related to the given tasks and generate their interaction in both the target language and the mother tongue. It is found from the students’ journals that the textbooks assist them in understanding the lesson contents and the images help them with visualizing the lessons. Besides, the students make use of the tasks/activities when practising language skills, especially the listening skill. The transcripts reveal the process in which students refer to their previous knowledge related to the topics/tasks provided in the textbooks to interact with one other. More speficially, the tasks and the ideas of other group members mediate more thoughts of the students, leading to  collective knowledge construction and task completion. From the findings, recommendations for the use of textbooks in the framework of sociocultrual theory are put forward.

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Dynamic assessment (DA), premised on Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory (SCT), constitutes a valuable venue for language teachers to promote the dialectical praxis and awareness of language assessment and teaching in the EFL context. In spite of the surge of interest in the importance of DA in assessing the dynamically emergent abilities, little has been written down regarding EFL teachers' attitudes toward DA. The current study attempted to fill that void by unearthing Iranian EFL teachers' beliefs about DA and also to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between university and language institute teachers' attitudes with regard to DA. To this end, forty Iranian EFL teachers in the two contexts (i.e., universities and language institutes) were selected through purposive and snowball sampling procedures. Adopting an exploratory design, the researchers collected the data through an Email interview. The results of the Chi-square tests indicated that there is no significant difference in the attitudes of university and language institute teachers toward DA, and both groups held a positive attitude toward it. In addition, the content analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of three major themes namely, teachers' classroom assessment practices, EFL teacher's attitudes toward DA, and impediments to applying DA principles in EFL classes. The findings of this study cater for implications for teachers to voice their concerns about the edifice of language testing and assessment in Iran.  

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This sociocultural theory-based study investigates how professional development activities mediated novice EFL teachers in their teaching careers. Four volunteer novice teachers in their two-year probation time participated in the study. Each novice teacher wrote a narrative every month in a semester and was interviewed at the beginning and end of that semester. Data from all the narratives and interviews disclose that the institutional context with much teaching workload, mandatory research, and involvement in administration-related work provide the affordances for the novice teachers to internalize their understanding of the duties of English lecturers and drive to practice those duties. Besides, the professional development activities in teaching, researching and others are reported to lead to growth in the understanding, experience as well as confidence level of novice teachers. From the findings, implications are put forward to how to provide support to mediate the professional growth of early-career teachers.