Student Collaboration and Teacher‐Directed Classroom Dynamic Assessment: A Complementary Pairing

Abstract

Abstract This article examines collaboration during small‐group tasks with young language learners studying Spanish. After five days of classroom dynamic assessment (DA) targeting WH‐question formation, students worked in small groups on a collaborative writing task. This research sought to determine whether learners were able to mediate their peers during this task and if so, whether this mediation might be traced back to participation in classroom DA. Findings revealed that students drew upon collective knowledge to complete the task. While the learners did not appropriate forms of mediation used during DA, characteristics such as repetition and first language usage appeared in peer scaffolding. We conclude that classroom DA can be supplemented by small‐group tasks and that assistance, albeit in different forms, emerged in these two contexts .