Investigating Learner Reciprocity in Online Dynamic Assessment of Oral Fluency: A Case Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Razi Universityersity

2 MA in applied linguistics Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

Abstract

This case study examined the oral fluency development responses of four adult EFL learners to delayed mediation in online dynamic assessment (DA). To gain insight into the developmental processes of learners, four Iranian EFL learners who obtained IELTS speaking band descriptor scores ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 in fluency were recruited via convenience and purposive sampling. They participated in six one-on-one DA sessions in synchronous computer-mediated communication followed by a Transcendence (TR) session. Microgenetic analysis was used as the general framework to generate reciprocity typology of the primary linguistic repertoires that caused disfluencies. The results showed that “vocabulary” and “grammar” were the primary linguistic repertoires providing comprehensive reciprocity typologies. The reciprocity typology that emerged from the interactions revealed how learners responded to mediation on oral fluency. Also, the microgenetic analysis of learner reciprocity showed that apart from the overall decrease in the quantity of reciprocity moves due to the intervention, the learners became more responsive and made more explicit reciprocating moves. This study provides an in-depth example of learner reciprocity to delayed mediation in an interactionist model of DA on the development of oral fluency. The findings are discussed in the light of the recent literature.

Keywords

References

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Technology Assisted Language Education
Volume 1, Issue 1
March 2023
Pages 1-29

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