Mediated dialogue and the microgenesis of second language listening comprehension

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses quantitative recall data from a longitudinal study that investigated the effects of Dynamic Assessment (DA) on diagnosing and promoting listening comprehension in French as a second language. We first define the theoretical concept of DA based on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, which integrates mediation and assessment into a unified pedagogical activity; next we outline the research design of the study, rooted in Vygotskyan genetic methodology; finally, we provide a microgenetic analysis of learner recall of idea units contained in three different authentic aural text genres. The data show improvement in listening ability as measured by an increase in the number of idea units recalled over time and as a result of mediation. It also shows that learners are able to transfer their ability, to some extent, to more complex texts. We explain the constraints on transferability.

Keywords:

• dynamic assessment
• listening comprehension
• zone of proximal development
• mediation

Notes

1. ‘Miles de años de historia social han producido más, a este respeto, que millones de años de evolución biológica.’

2. A frequent misunderstanding of Vygotsky’s construal of the ZPD has its source in how Vygotsky’s original Russian term obuchenie () has been translated into English. According to Cole (2009), while the Russian term can refer to both instruction and learning, Vygotsky and his colleagues favoured the former meaning. English‐speaking translators of Vygotsky’s writing, however, have overwhelmingly favoured the latter meaning when rendering obuchenie in English; thus, giving rise to the often‐cited phrase that in the ZPD ‘learning leads development’, when in fact, Vygotsky’s preferred reading was ‘teaching leads development’.

3. In Russian dynamic assessment is usually rendered as ‘teaching‐learning experiment’ (). ‘Teaching‐learning experiment’ prescribes gradually offered prompts (), which is the essential assessment parameter used in this framework, see, e.g., Lidz and Gindis (2003); Ableeva (2010).

4. For illustrative purposes, an example of one of the texts is included in the Appendix.

5. The whole version of the text in French followed by its translation in English is presented in the Appendix.

6. Because the transition from articulation of French [p] to the following vowel differs from English, learners frequently hear this sound as an English [b], which has a similar transition phase to the French [p].

7. Recall that all DA and TA sessions included an initial independent performance phase, after which the learners’ recall of the same text was mediated by R.