| This dissertation seeks to offer an alternative way of conceptualizing the relationship between assessment and instruction whereby the two are integrated as a unified activity. Dynamic Assessment (DA) is rooted in L.S. Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of mind, and requires the examiner to mediate the examinee's performance during the assessment itself through the use of prompts, hints, and questions. In this way, the focus of the assessment shifts from examinees' success or failure to an analysis of the amount and kinds of assistance they required as well as the extent to which they reciprocated the examiner's interactive moves. Vygotsky formalized this approach to simultaneously understanding and promoting development as the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Analysis of ZPD collaborations reveals learners' future level of performance.; This study explores the application of DA to a French L2 learning context. In particular, L2 DA was considered in terms of: (1) insights into learners' abilities that were not obtained only through DA; (2) the promotion learners' abilities through DA; (3) The usefulness of DA in leading to individualized instruction that remained sensitive to examinees' ZPD; and (4) the extent to which development transcended the given assessment context. Six advanced undergraduate learners of L2 French were asked to orally construct a series of narratives based on short video clips. The learners created the first narrative independently and the second through interaction with the examiner. The assessment results were used to develop a six-week long individualized tutoring program. The goal of the tutoring was to address problems that were identified during the assessments and to do so in a manner that took account of learners' interactions with the examiner during DA. The nature and extent of their development was subsequently explored through repetitions of the original assessments as well as variations of these tasks. The findings suggest that DA is an effective means of understanding learners' abilities and helping them to overcome linguistic problems. The approach is especially relevant to L2 classrooms as a method for rendering formative assessment practices more systematic. |
