Exploring Use of Mobile-mediated Hybrid Dynamic Assessment in Improving EFL Learners' Descriptive Writing Skill

Abstract

The present study investigated the potential of a pedagogical hybrid dynamic assessment (HDA) approach to foster second/foreign language (L2/EFL) descriptive writing development through the use of a mobile instant messaging application namely Edmodo. Learners’ zone of actual and proximal development is observed through the use of pretest and posttest descriptive essays test through mobile-mediated and face-to-face mediation to learners. Thirty learners taking an intermediate English course at the language institute of one of the cities of Iran were examined. A mixed-methods methodology was used to analyze the differences between two intact classes groups (control and experimental), each consisting of 15 participants. Both groups received the same tuition and content, and learners in the experimental group participated in a daily conversation in the application during a period where negative feedback was provided by the teacher through the use of an inventory of immediate feedback, from most implicit to most explicit. Throughout the study, pedagogical mobile-mediated HDA and face-to-face mediation became a central part of the learners’ learning process, extending learning in-class and beyond the in-class time and becoming a constant source of L2 input and feedback. Moreover, results indicated that HDA and mediation helped learners to save their time and utilized more teacher-to-learner interaction.