Traditional approaches to language assessment have been criticized for their inadequacy in taking account of language learners' potential for development. To obviate this pitfall in traditional assessment, language teachers and researchers have been paying increasing attention to dynamic assessment (DA), which is rooted in Vygotsky's (1978)…

This paper probes into implicit language aptitude (LA), a set of cognitive abilities that showcase learners' unconscious, automatic second language (L2) attainment. Implicit LA is becoming an important part of aptitude research, and advances the understanding of L2 learning mechanism. This paper critiques the construct of implicit LA and proposes…

The construct of "learning potential" has been proposed to capture differences between learner independent performance and performance during Dynamic Assessment (DA). This paper introduces a new LPS formula implemented in a DA study involving Pakistani learners of L2 Chinese. Learners were randomly assigned to a control or experimental…

This paper explores the role of language testing in English education, focusing on its theoretical foundations, methodologies and practical applications. It analyzes how language tests fulfill various purposes, such as placement, progress monitoring, achievement evaluation and diagnostic feedback, underlining the importance of a critical…

Listening is a major challenge for many English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) learners. Decoding training, which helps learners develop the ability to recognize words from speech, is frequently used to assist EFL learners. Although recent empirical studies on decoding training have provided positive evidence on its effectiveness in improving EFL…

Though dynamic assessment (DA) has gained strong theoretical and empirical support over the last decades, second language (L2) practitioners have blamed it for its applicability in large classes. To ameliorate this limitation, peer-dynamic assessment (peer-DA), rooted in the conceptualization of zone of proximal development (ZPD), can be…

Testing-effect literature has shown the benefits of retrieval practice to enhance retention and attenuate forgetting. However, research in memory reconsolidation has demonstrated that a memory trace can be rendered labile by retrieval and requires restabilisation to persist. This study investigated the effects of the initial test interval and…

This study empirically compares two often-utilized motivation theories in L2 studies: self-determination theory and the L2 motivational self system. It also examines the relationships among their motivational constructs, learners' intended L2 learning effort, and L2 proficiency. While a number of studies have utilized these models in order to…

This study is intended to explore the influence of partners' L2 proficiency on test-takers' performance and on their interaction patterns in paired oral assessment, and it tries to analyze the underlying causes on the basis of Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and Storch's patterns of interaction. An experiment including…

This study implemented the principles of dynamic assessment (DA) with computer technology, iSpring Quiz Maker, to (1) identify the English listening difficulties of 172 L2 English learners; (2) diagnose their individual learning needs, and (3) promote their future potential abilities. Upon evaluating the participating junior high school students'…

While language aptitude and motivation are considered to be important contributors to second language (L2) attainment, two major gaps in the past research have been (1) a lack of nonlinear models stemming from a naive and tacit assumption that learning outcomes are linearly related to their predictors, and (2) a lack of unified and integrative…

This study investigates the effects of four online vocabulary tasks on second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition among learners of different proficiency levels. While tasks are widely used to support L2 vocabulary learning, the efficacy of a task depends on the interplay between task and learner factors. Thus, choosing an appropriate task…

The focus of this article is on the design and administration of an online computerized dynamic assessment of an important area of pragmatics: implicature comprehension (i.e., indirect meaning). The assessment centered on indirect acceptances, refusals, and opinions. Drawing on Vygotskian psychology, this assessment had a dual aim: (a) to evaluate…

Language MOOC research has evolved over the last three years to a more mature stage in which researchers have gained a deeper comprehension of the theories that enable effective language learning in this format. The application of these theoretical advances should be reflected in the instructional design of the courses. This study is based on this…

From the perspective of complexity theory and based on Robinson's Cognition Hypothesis and the Triadic Componential Framework, this paper investigated the effect of manipulating task complexity along resource-dispersing dimension on L2 written performance. The results showed that: 1) Significant interactive effects were found between the two…