Dynamic assessment of PSL learners` grammar learning via electronic communication

This qualitative study investigates the process of learning verbs, as one of the fundamental aspects of learning Persian language, by PSL (Persian as a second language) Learnersthrough dynamic assessment and using new technologies which are in contradiction with the traditional approaches of teaching and assessment. In so doing, two Iraqi students of Razi University were subjected to a four-month enrichment program that captured their microgenetic development and involved using IMO which, as a realization of new technologies, provides its users with the opportunity of synchronized electronic communication. Results indicate that each learner upon receiving the right level of instruction and prompts moved along the continuum of mediation internalization to get closer to the self-regulation extreme which in turn denotes their social and cognitive development in their Zone of Proximal Development in using the target structures. That is, dynamic assessment via electronic communication equipped the researchers with an in-depth knowledge of each learner`s position along the continuum of other-self regulation which was followed by the appropriate level of instruction and led to his development. The findings of this study contribute to the area of second language teaching in general and Persian language teaching in particular