Mediational moves and reciprocity behaviors in face-to-face and mobile-assisted dynamic assessment

Abstract

Research on dynamic assessment (DA) has been conducted on the efficiency of either face-to-face (F2F) or mobile-assissted (MA) DA sessions. However, the studies investigating the difference between these sessions conducted in the foreign language learning context are scarce. Thus, this study aims to explore the differences between F2F and MA DA sessions in terms of the mediator’s mediational moves and learners’ reciprocity behaviors. To this end, F2F and MA DA sessions were held with four tertiary level learners. Then the mediational moves and reciprocity behaviors employed in these sessions were explored through qualitative descriptive analysis. The results showed that the interactions occurred between the mediator and the learner in F2F and MA contexts were generally carried out effectively. However, it is noteworthy that the learners made more inaccurate responses and used L1 more in F2F DA sessions. In contrast to this, the learners made more careful attempts in MA DA sessions. Moreover, the teacher as a mediator tended to give more approval to the learners’ responses to eliminate the disadvantage of restricted context of MA DA. In light of these findings, pedagogical implications were suggested for both language teachers and researchers.