Dynamic Diagnosis of Second Language Abilities

The L2 field has increasingly recognized the need to integrate feedback into assessment procedures, especially when assessments are conducted for the purpose of diagnosing learner abilities. The provision of feedback helps to bring diagnostic assessment in line with a more general move toward forms of assessment intended to support learning and promote learner autonomy. Dynamic assessment (DA) is marked by a commitment to helping learners change their manifest level of functioning through feedback in the form of mediation. This chapter traces interest in diagnostic assessment, on the one hand, to a need to address practical problems and DA, on the other hand, as a logical extension of Vygotsky’s theoretical proposals to educational practice. Despite their differences, it is argued that diagnostic assessment and DA share certain interests and face similar challenges. A focused review of L2 research in both areas suggests how Vygotskian principles underlying DA might allow for an integration of DA with diagnostic assessment.