Concurrent Group Dynamic Assessment: Shedding New Lights to Mediational Strategies of Listening Comprehension

Based on Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory of mind (SCT), Poehner (2009) made a distinction between the ‘cumulative’ and ‘concurrent’ approaches to Group dynamic assessment (G-DA). The overall aim of this study is putting group dynamic assessment (G-DA) theoretical principles into practice and trying out the applicability of concurrent G-DA in recognizing innovative mediational strategies in order to operationalize instructional and assessment goals in the classroom context. This study had a microgenetic, longitudinal methodology with an interactionist concurrent G-DA design. A total number of 50 students, both males and females, aged at 12 to 16 who were selected according to OPT test went through G-DA procedure for 8 weeks. All the materials that were selected for this study were taken from the Topnotch Fundamental and Topnotch 1 and TV series and listening comprehension exercises with clear accent and pronunciation. The qualitative analysis of G-DA interactions revealed a variety of innovative mediational strategies involving different forms of implicit and explicit. This study demonstrated the intrinsic function of microgenetic analysis in following L2 listeners progressive processes in the areas such as probing for comprehension, managing the interactions, or helping the learners to reconsider their recall and a number of field-tested strategies like confirming/rejecting response, structuring the text, replaying, and offering contextual reminders, etc. This study illustrated the ability of microgenetic analysis to capture L2 listening developmental processes and provided an innovational and grand new approach for the feasibility of microgenetic methodology in L2 research and practice. Finally, this study’s which benefited from cumulative format G-DA suggested that submitted classroom interactions are more systematic, adjusted and harmonious to learners’ emergent needs and G-DA as a framework for the classroom also provided the possibility of re-considering groups as not only collections of individuals but as cohesive units that the development of the group is interrelated with the development of individuals (Poehner, 2009).

کلیدواژه ها:

Socio-cultural theory ، Group Dynamic Assessment ، Concurrent Group Dynamic Assessment ، Mediation Strategies