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Chapter 6
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-5660-6.ch006
ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the theoretical background of dynamic assessment (DA) and its praxis with pedagogi-
cal suggestions for foreign language writing instructional settings. Resting on Vygotsky’s sociocultural
theory (1978), DA asserts that there is a need for blending instruction with assessment because of the
social interaction’s salience on cognition modification. Thus, DA adopts learning-and-learner-based
feedback approaches and a present-to-future model of assessment, which rests on reciprocal teacher-
learner interaction. Grounding in the need for enlightening DA in an EFL setting, this chapter presents
reciprocal interactions between a teacher and four students. The interaction analyses unveil that the
teacher has adopted a variety of mediational moves to finely instruct the students and diagnose their
microgenesis, and students have displayed various reciprocity acts towards the mediational moves pro-
vided to them, which unpacks each student’s zone of proximal development. Based on these findings, the
chapter ends with suggestions for EFL writing teachers.
INTRODUCTION
People come from different socio-cultural backgrounds, and their interactions with society may show
differences, which directly affects each person’s opportunity to reach qualified education and information.
Today students, especially those who are at the tertiary level, are getting mobilized around the world, so
students whose socio-cultural and educational backgrounds are diverse might also influence classrooms’
dynamics (Shrestha, 2020). Even though the diversity inside the classrooms may be an advantage, it may
Dynamic Assessment
as a Learning-Oriented
Assessment Approach
Tuba Özturan
Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Turkey
Hacer Hande Uysal Gürdal
Hacettepe University, Turkey