Design for the future: optimizing mediations in L2 dynamic assessment

Abstract For L2 Dynamic Assessment (DA), the provision of graduated feedback, or mediations, is crucial, but their design process remains unexplored. As part of a larger project on hybrid computerized DA of L2 inferential reading, this paper reports on the cascading and calibrating stages of mediation design, with participants from two parallel EFL classes in a Chinese university. For cascading, an initial mediational template was generated from participants’ thought processes and inferential difficulties reported through online questionnaires. For calibrating, various categories of mediations were identified through dialogic group DA sessions informed by this template. They were further tailored to students’ Zone-of-Proximal-Development (ZPD) in line with the computerized programme, leading to three mediational prompts from ‘implicit’ to ‘explicit’. The paper posits the significance of designing contextualized mediations for maximizing L2 development. With emphasis on demystifying and improving the mediation design, this paper also puts forward a ‘design-for-the-future’ model for EFL practitioners.