Dynamic assessment of Chinese EFL learners' L2 reading comprehension ability: A case study

This paper reports on a case study that investigates the application of Feuerstein's dynamic assessment (DA) model to promote and understand L2 reading comprehension ability with a group of intermediate adult L2 learners of English in China. Six Chinese college EFL learners participated in this study and were asked to complete two independent reading tests and two mediated sessions. The reading tests were adapted from the reading section of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and targeted three key reading skills, i.e. locating detailed information, identifying main ideas, and making inferences.

Each independent reading test was followed by a one-on-one mediated session organised according to the principles of Feuerstein's mediated learning experience theory which was aimed to help learners acquire the target reading skills through negotiated dialogues. Learners' modifiability was evaluated based on the combined result of quantitative and qualitative analyses. The study shows that there was no significant difference in learners' test scores between the two independent reading tests; however, a close analysis of the two mediated sessions revealed changes in the quality of mediator-learner interactions across time as well as differences among individual learners in terms of their modifiability. The results indicate that learners' L2 reading comprehension ability is highly modifiable, but more training is needed to help them internalise the target reading comprehension skills. The study also suggests that DA can serve as a useful method for identifying learners with different levels of modifiability that is otherwise unachievable using traditional static tests.