Development of a Computerized Dynamic Assessment Program for Second Language Grammar Instruction and Assessment

Abstract

A computerized dynamic assessment (CDA) program was created to help instructors develop student understanding of second language grammatical features and as a diagnostic and assessment tool. The program (called CDAG) approximates an interactionist approach to dynamic assessment, utilizing hints/prompts calibrated to the student’s answer choice. CDAG allows the instructor to customize language, question type, linguistic features to be assessed, answer choices (including distractors), and mediational prompts: it can thus assess a variety of grammatical structures. To evaluate the effectiveness of CDAG vis-à-vis static assessment, control and CDA groups were compared in terms of mediated and unmediated individual and group scores. The use of CDAG aided in the micro and macrogenetic development of Spanish as a foreign language students’ ability to conjugate Spanish verbs in the future tense. The information CDAG provides about the specific root causes for students’ incorrect answers makes it useful as a diagnostic and assessment tool.