The Role of Tutor Mediation in Understanding and Developing Iranian EFL Learners’ Reading Strategies

Abstract

Mediation is the unique characteristic of DA which has recently been applied to understanding and developing learners’ language ability in L2 context (Poehner & Lantolf, 2010; Poehner, 2009; Ableeva, 2008, Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; Anton, 2003; Kozuline & Garb, 2002). This paper reports part of a research conducted to observe if tutor mediation is helpful in the instruction and assessment of Iranian EFL learners’ reading strategies. 62 subjects, all majoring in EFL, took part in this research. They were given two formats of a reading test: non-mediated and mediated. Non-mediated test was not accompanied by mediation in order to test the Ss’ background knowledge, but mediated test included mediation in order to observe its probable effect on the learners’ reading performance. Written mediation was given to the learners within the mediation boxes appearing after each question following reading texts. The Ss’ scores on the two test formats were compared through paired t-test analysis. Results indicated that mean scores of Ss in the two tests were significantly different, t(61)= -16.82, p<.01. This may be due to Vygotsky's proposal that if instruction moves in the learners’ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), their hidden abilities will emerge. One of the implications for the teachers/testers may be that their intervention in the assessment procedure is advantageous both in assessing learners’ ability to learn in the future as well as their ability to do now and pushing their reading abilities forward.