TY - JOUR
T1 - The unfairness of equal treatment
T2 - Objectivity in L2 testing and dynamic assessment
AU - Lantolf, James P.
AU - Poehner, Matthew E.
N1 - Funding Information:
5. This project was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education (Grant Award P017A080071). However, the contents of this article do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and one should not assume endorsement by the Federal Govern-ment. Although we served as official co-PIs for the project, we want to acknowledge the indis-pensible contributions of co-researchers, Rumia Ableeva, Ekaterina Arshevskaya, Xiaofei Lu, Adam van Compernolle, Mei-Hsing Tsai, and Jie Zhang. We also acknowledge the contribution of Arlo Besinger, who developed the computer platform for the administration and scoring of the tests. The tests are available on the webpage of CALPER (Center for Advanced Language Pro-ficiency Education and Research) at The Pennsylvania State University. They may be accessed free of charge for non-commercial users; however, they are password protected. The URL is http://calper.la.psu.edu/dyna_assess.php?page = exams
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - This paper considers dynamic assessment (DA) as it relates to second language (L2) development. DA is grounded in Vygotsky's (1987) sociocultural theory of mind, which holds that human consciousness emerges as a result of participation in culturally organized social activities where mediation plays a key role in guiding development. In DA, the evidential basis for diagnosing and promoting development includes independent as well as mediated performance. Unlike in conventional testing, objectivity derives not from standardization, which treats everyone in precisely the same manner; rather, objectivity is argued on the grounds that mediation is guided by a viable theory of mind. Fairness in assessment is thus reframed with the understanding that the quality of support offered may vary across individuals. The paper illustrates how this transpires in the case of classroom-based and formal testing applications of DA with L2 learners.
AB - This paper considers dynamic assessment (DA) as it relates to second language (L2) development. DA is grounded in Vygotsky's (1987) sociocultural theory of mind, which holds that human consciousness emerges as a result of participation in culturally organized social activities where mediation plays a key role in guiding development. In DA, the evidential basis for diagnosing and promoting development includes independent as well as mediated performance. Unlike in conventional testing, objectivity derives not from standardization, which treats everyone in precisely the same manner; rather, objectivity is argued on the grounds that mediation is guided by a viable theory of mind. Fairness in assessment is thus reframed with the understanding that the quality of support offered may vary across individuals. The paper illustrates how this transpires in the case of classroom-based and formal testing applications of DA with L2 learners.
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U2 - 10.1080/13803611.2013.767616
DO - 10.1080/13803611.2013.767616
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84875822439
SN - 1380-3611
VL - 19
SP - 141
EP - 157
JO - Educational Research and Evaluation
JF - Educational Research and Evaluation
IS - 2-3
ER -