Unpacking Chinese lower-proficiency EFL learners’ conceptual development of English subjunctives with group dynamic assessment: Efficacy, sustainability and reciprocity

Abstract

Vygotsky’s distinctive pedagogy, dynamic assessment (DA), has been validated by numerous studies that examine the one-on-one interactions between learners and mediators. However, the literature on group dynamic assessment (G-DA) is scarce, particularly in terms of comparative studies involving L2 learners with different proficiency levels. Among these learners, lower-proficiency Chinese EFL learners have been largely neglected. Additionally, G-DA’s sustainability and reciprocity have been ignored. To fill these gaps, we examined G-DA’s effect on Chinese learners’ conceptual development in English subjunctives. An experiment was conducted at a Chinese university in a northeastern city with 59 Chinese EFL students divided into three groups: a lower-level experimental class (LEC = 20), a lower-level control class (LCC = 20), and a higher-level experimental class (HEC = 19). LCC received traditional instruction, while LEC and HEC used G-DA. The data collection spanned eight weeks, including the following sources: teacher-mediated scaffolding, learner responses, pre-test, post-test, and delayed test scores, and a transfer task that assessed learners’ conceptual development of English subjunctives. The results showed that G-DA significantly and sustainably affected the conceptual development of English subjunctives for both LEC and HEC, compared to LCC. Moreover, the study identified eleven mediational and nine reciprocal interactions that revealed the learners’ conceptual changes. This study also found that HEC learners demonstrated more transfer of the target knowledge. Finally, the study concluded with some implications for EFL teachers.