Enhancing EFL Learners’ Knowledge of L2 Requests During Mobile-Mediated Text-Based and Audio-Based Dynamic Assessment

The study reported in this paper investigated the effects of mobile-mediated dynamic assessment (DA) during text and audio chat on learning well-formed and appropriate requests by second language (L2) learners. The participants included Sixty-seven English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners who were randomly assigned into one control and two experimental WhatsApp groups. The participants in the two experimental groups participated in three mobile-mediated DA sessions and received mediation for their errors in formulating requests either through text or audio chat depending on their group designation. A discourse completion task and a pragmatic judgement test, administered as pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test were utilized to measure the impacts of the treatment sessions on L2 development. The results revealed that both audio-based and text-based DA were effective for promoting learners’ knowledge of well-formed and appropriate requests. Moreover, the findings indicated that text-based DA has an edge over audio-based DA for promoting learners’ development.