Computerized Dynamic Assessment: A Vygotskian Perspective to Assess L2 Reading Comprehension Skills

Dynamic Assessment (DA) traced back in Socio-cultural Theory (SCT) is a major area of interest
within the field of applied linguistics. In fact, DA seeks to unify assessment and instruction so as to
improve learner development. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to investigate the
pedagogical utility of Computerized Dynamic Assessment (C-DA) in measuring L2 learners’ reading
comprehension abilities. To this end, based on Brown’s (Brown, 1985) Graduated Prompt Approach,
a specific software was developed to automatically offer pre-fabricated mediatory prompts when
learners failed to choose the correct answer. The software also assigned Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD) and Zone of Actual Development (ZAD) scores for each learner. The scores
gradually decreased with the presentation of more explicit prompts until the learner reached the
correct option. The participants included 40 female and male English major students ranging in age
from 20 to 24. They were asked to read a text from computer screen and then, answer two reading
comprehension questions by clicking on the appropriate option among 10 alternatives related to each
question. The results revealed that electronically delivered mediatory scaffolding through this
temporally-based C-DA procedure can enhance L2 learners’ reading comprehension performance.
Moreover, the study also indicated that learners with larger ZPDs spent less processing time to reach
the correct answer. Interestingly, the C-DA procedure can benefit standardized, high-stakes testing
since it can be administered to a large group of individuals.