Expanding the role of Dynamic Assessment in language education

Abstract

The four research studies included in this issue exemplify different approaches to the implementation of dynamic assessment (DA) in second language learning and teaching contexts. Although the studies are quite different from each other, they are unified by a focus on learner development and by a genuine effort to respond to challenges in concrete teaching situations in a way that is practical, meaningful, and accessible to teaching practitioners. As a whole, the studies contribute toward the development of a pedagogica program that is based on the principles of sociocultural theory. In what follows, I will briefly review the emergence of DA in the spectrum of assessment trends that depart significantly from traditional assessment, highlighting the main characteristics of DA and how it has been implemented in second language contexts. Then I will discuss how the four articles in this issue illustrate different aspects of DA, and how all of them are innovative and contribute to the expansion of DA in L2 educational settings.