Matthew E Poehner
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 213074 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Matthew E Poehner |
| PRENOMES | Matthew E |
| SOBRENOME | Poehner |
| ASSINATURA | POEHNER M E |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Pennsylvania State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2862-8759 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 49 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 95 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 49 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1981 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Dynamic Assessment in Second Language Acquisition
Dynamic assessment (henceforth DA) is a structured approach to interaction in which a teacher or assessor cooperatively engages with learners, helping them extend their performance beyond levels they could reach independently.
Developing L2 semantic knowledge of English modality through concept‐based language instruction
This study investigates the pedagogical impact of integrating cognitive linguistics (CL) into concept‐based language instruction (C‐BLI) for teaching English modal verbs. Eighty‐nine Mandarin‐speaking university learners were assigned to one of three instructional conditions: C‐BLI with CL‐based conceptualizations (C‐BLI‐CL), C‐BLI with non‐CL functional grammar explanations (C‐BLI‐nonCL), and traditional definition‐based instruction (control). A…
Dynamic Assessment and L2 Development
Dynamic assessment (DA) is a framework aimed at expanding diagnoses of abilities to include not only those that have already fully developed but also abilities that are still in the process of emerging. This distinction follows L. S. Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory, in particular his understanding of the zone of proximal development. While conventional assessments prioritize observation of independent performance, Vygotsky maintained that the zon…
Mediated Development
Since its inception with Negueruela (2003) , concept-based language instruction (C-BLI) has incorporated approaches to organizing curricula around abstract language concepts that are initially presented to learners through specially designed materials (e.g., visuals, diagrams, and objects) and subsequently practiced in communicative activities to support concept appropriation by learners ( Lantolf & Poehner, 2024 ). Research associated with C-BLI…
Reading with a Chatbot - The added value of Generative AI as a resource in mediating learners in Dynamic Assessment of L2 English reading
This study is part of the DD-Lang project (see Leontjev et al., 2024) aimed at enhancing Finnish upper secondary school students’ reading in English and developing their understanding of their reading processes by bringing together two approaches that support language learning: diagnostic assessment (DiagA) and dynamic assessment (DA). The project designed online reading exercises for English based on retired Matriculation Examination items that …
Crisis! Commentary on “synergies” in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) and how the field may advance
We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the special synergies issue on SLA/T (Atkinson et al., MLJ 2025 Supplement). Given length limitations we will restrict our commentary to what we believe to be a crucial matter evidenced by the special issue (SI), namely that it, along with other dialogues in the field (e.g., Douglas Fir Group, 2016; Hulstijn et al., 2014, 2015) are indicative of a crisis in SLA/T. This is not the same type of crisis tha…
In pursuit of pink elephants
Indeterminacy, disruption, and (more) intelligent approaches to classroom language assessment
As the COVID-19 pandemic brought nearly all public activities to a halt in 2020, the disruptions to education were as significant as in any domain (Ali et al., 2020).The months that followed -and in some cases much longer was required before there was a return to any kind of normalcy -challenged teachers to identify, adapt, and create practices that could enable them to continue to make progress toward learning goals and, equally important, to ma…
Sociocultural Theory and Corpus‐Based English Language Teaching
Although Sociocultural Theory (henceforth, SCT) originated nearly a century ago in the writings of Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky, historical circumstances meant that the theory began to influence international research communities only in the 1980s. Since its introduction to the second language (L2) field (e.g., Frawley & Lantolf, 1985), central concepts such as mediation, internalization, and zone of proximal development (ZPD) have become …
Developing L2 writing abilities through an instructional enrichment program informed by dynamic assessment
Sociocultural theory and classroom second language learning in the East Asian context
In this introduction to the special issue, we first present a brief historical overview of sociocultural theory (SCT) as it has been extended to the process of second language (L2) development and instruction, beginning with two significant publications that appeared in 1994. In the early years, the theory was used as a lens to understand various aspects of learning and instruction. Eventually, it came to be used as a means of promoting the proce…
Digital Language Learning
The article reviews Digital Language Learning (DLL) research that has used principles and concepts of Sociocultural Theory (SCT) to support the research. We explain several key principles of the theory and shows how they have been misused or used in a superficial way in the DLL research. These include the assumption that SCT is a social rather than a psychological theory as well as misinterpretation of the central concepts of imitation and the Zo…
A cultural-historical perspective on Digital Language Learning
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Peer interaction, mediation, and a view of teachers as creators of learner L2 development
SLA researchers in a variety of theoretical traditions have argued that interaction is essential to supporting learner L2 (second/foreign language) development. While L2 research informed by sociocultural theory has generally examined either peer‐to‐peer or teacher–learner interactions, the present study investigated how these may function together to form a mediating classroom environment. Drawing on examples from a collaborative project with a …
Dynamic Assessment of L2 Writing
Rubrics, commonly used in L2 writing programs, not only facilitate teacher grading of student writing, but also serve the purpose of providing feedback to improve learners’ texts. While the potential of rubrics to support writing development more generally has been discussed, realizing that potential through specific pedagogical practices remains under‐researched. Grounded in Vygotskian theory, this study conceptualizes rubrics as a mediating too…
Alex, the toolmaker
The ZPD, Second Language Learning, and the Тransposition ~ Transformation Dialectic
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) held “great practical significance” for education as it identified how instruction can optimally impact learner development: by aligning mediation not to abilities that have already fully formed but to those that are emerging or “ripening” [30]. Despite being one of the most well-known and influential features of Vygotsky’s writings, it has also been subject to critique. For instance, it is [25] suggested th…
Dynamic Assessment and second language development
This timeline is concerned with Dynamic Assessment (henceforth, DA) as it has been taken up and elaborated in contexts involving the teaching, learning, and assessment of learners of second languages (L2s). DA is distinguished by its insistence that an individual's independent performance of assessment tasks reveals only part of his/her abilities, namely those that have completed their development at the time of the assessment; insights into abil…
Sociocultural theory and concept-based language instruction
In the initial sociocultural theory (SCT) timeline, Lantolf and Beckett (2009) surveyed a broad spectrum of research informed by sociocultural psychology as it was extended into the field of second language acquisition and language teaching. Since that time, the amount of research that has been published within the SCT framework has grown exponentially. With regard to the educational setting, two major strands of research have emerged; one that a…
Realizing the ZPD in Second Language Education
Vygotsky’s (1978, 1987) notion of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) brings into focus the dialectical nature of interactional processes that provoke second language (L2) learner development. Two areas of L2 sociocultural theory (SCT-L2) scholarship that draw upon the ZPD as a framework for organizing instructional interactions are Dynamic Assessment (DA), wherein mediator-learner interaction functions to diagnose learner maturing abilities (…
Mediated Development and the internalization of psychological tools in second language (L2) education
Pursuing Vygotsky's Dialectical Approach to Pedagogy and Development
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a widely recognized construct articulated by L. S. Vygotsky, whose scholarship inspires the approach to L2 research known as Sociocultural Theory (SCT). In a synthesis of North American L2 ZPD work, Kinginger (2002) outlined how the construct had been appropriated, focusing on three interpretations then permeating the field: skill mastery, scaffolding, and metalinguistic knowledge. Kellogg (2017) has argu…
Sociocultural theory and the dialectical-materialist approach to L2 development
Sociocultural Theory (SCT), as formulated in the writings of Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky (1987), was first introduced to the L2 field 30 years ago (Frawley and Lantolf, 1985) as a powerful lens for interpreting processes of L2 development and their relation to particular activities, practices, and interactions (see also Lantolf and Appel, 1994). Beginning with Lantolf and Thorne (2006), L2 SCT researchers have drawn upon principles from t…
L2 Development As Cognitive-Emotive Process
The aim of this paper is twofold. On a conceptual level, we argue that the cognitive and emotive exist in dialectic relation to one another and that as such both are ever present in psychological activity, including L2 development. Related to this first point, we seek to orient researchers and practitioners to ways in which interactions with learners may simultaneously attend to both aspects of this cognitive-emotive dialectic to optimally promot…
Mediated Development
The authors point to systemic-theoretical instruction (STI), which underscores the importance of abstract conceptual knowledge in schooling, and dynamic assessment (DA), in which mediators and learners function cooperatively, as examples of the theory–practice relation envisioned by Vygotsky (1987). This article proposes an interactional framework to bridge STI and DA. Mediated development (MD) emphasizes mediator–learner dialogic interaction in …
Bridging the Gap
For some, research in learning and teaching of a second language (L2) runs the risk of disintegrating into irreconcilable approaches to L2 learning and use. On the one side, we find researchers investigating linguistic-cognitive issues, often using quantitative research methods including inferential statistics; on the other side, we find researchers working on the basis of sociocultural or sociocognitive views, often using qualitative research me…
Second language learning as a mediated process
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Group Dynamic Assessment
Dynamic assessment (DA) offers a conceptual framework for teaching and assessment according to which the goals of understanding individuals' abilities and promoting their development are not only complementary but are in fact dialectically integrated. More specifically, DA follows Vygotsky's proposal of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) by offering learners external forms of mediation in order to help them perform beyond their current level …
The “private function” of gesture in second language speaking activity
This article examines Slobin's concept of thinking for speaking (TFS) in the gesture/speech interface of advanced L2 speakers of English and Spanish. The focus is on the use of motion verbs in the respective languages. English, a satellite‐framed language, encodes manner of motion in the verb and indicates path of motion on satellite phrases (e.g. The frog leaped out of the boy's pocket ). Spanish, a verb‐framed language, encodes path, and only r…
The linguistic analysis of private writing
Sociocultural theory and concept-based language instruction
In the initial sociocultural theory (SCT) timeline, Lantolf and Beckett (2009) surveyed a broad spectrum of research informed by sociocultural psychology as it was extended into the field of second language acquisition and language teaching. Since that time, the amount of research that has been published within the SCT framework has grown exponentially. With regard to the educational setting, two major strands of research have emerged; one that a…
Dynamic Assessment and second language development
This timeline is concerned with Dynamic Assessment (henceforth, DA) as it has been taken up and elaborated in contexts involving the teaching, learning, and assessment of learners of second languages (L2s). DA is distinguished by its insistence that an individual's independent performance of assessment tasks reveals only part of his/her abilities, namely those that have completed their development at the time of the assessment; insights into abil…
Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition
Second language acquisition (SLA) research informed by sociocultural theory (henceforth, SCT) began in earnest with the publication of Frawley & Lantolf's (1985) article on L2 (second language) discourse (described in the timeline proper). Since then, well over 300 journal articles, book chapters and doctoral dissertations have appeared in the research literature. Although the term ‘sociocultural’ is often applied to a wide array of approaches to…
Dynamic Assessment of L2 Writing
Rubrics, commonly used in L2 writing programs, not only facilitate teacher grading of student writing, but also serve the purpose of providing feedback to improve learners’ texts. While the potential of rubrics to support writing development more generally has been discussed, realizing that potential through specific pedagogical practices remains under‐researched. Grounded in Vygotskian theory, this study conceptualizes rubrics as a mediating too…
Mediated Development
The authors point to systemic-theoretical instruction (STI), which underscores the importance of abstract conceptual knowledge in schooling, and dynamic assessment (DA), in which mediators and learners function cooperatively, as examples of the theory–practice relation envisioned by Vygotsky (1987). This article proposes an interactional framework to bridge STI and DA. Mediated development (MD) emphasizes mediator–learner dialogic interaction in …
Happiness is drinking beer
This paper examines multimodal conceptual metaphors in a corpus of 32 American and Ukrainian beer commercials. The dominant metaphor in both cultures is HAPPINESS IS DRINKING BEER, with a secondary metaphor BEER IS A PERSON. The Ukrainian commercials exhibit a third metaphor that appears in a very subtle way in the American commercials: LOVE FOR THE MOTHERLAND IS DRINKING BEER. The analysis reveals cross‐cultural variation in the mappings and ent…
Dynamic assessment
This presentation is situated within the general framework of Vygotsky's educational theory, which argues that development in formal educational activity is a fundamentally different process from development that occurs in the everyday world. A cornerstone of Vygotsky's theory is that to be successful education must be sensitive to learners' zone of proximal development . This requires the dialectical integration of instruction and assessment int…
Commentary from the flower garden
I begin my necessarily brief commentary on Gregg (2000) with a confession: I am not, nor have I ever been, a practising postmodernist. I freely admit, however, that some of the ideas that have emerged from this project are sufficiently interesting to take seriously. I wrote my 1996 article to stir up the waters and to explore what a postmodernist perspective might do for, and to, second language acquisition (SLA). It can be useful for any discipl…
In pursuit of pink elephants
Sociocultural Theory and Corpus‐Based English Language Teaching
Although Sociocultural Theory (henceforth, SCT) originated nearly a century ago in the writings of Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky, historical circumstances meant that the theory began to influence international research communities only in the 1980s. Since its introduction to the second language (L2) field (e.g., Frawley & Lantolf, 1985), central concepts such as mediation, internalization, and zone of proximal development (ZPD) have become …
Enhancing student experiences abroad
Educational institutions are acknowledging the requirements of a globalized world on students’ mobility, interculturality, and language skills by offering study-abroad programmes. These need to be accompanied by procedures to assess student needs prior to and during their time abroad as well as upon their return. In the exploratory study reported here, we use Dynamic Assessment (DA) to examine international students’ interculturality and learning…
Validity and interaction in the ZPD
Based on Vygotsky's articulation of the zone of proximal development, dynamic assessment (DA) involves offering mediation to help learners perform beyond their level of independent functioning while simultaneously supporting development of those abilities, and thus integrating teaching and assessment as a single activity. As with any assessment, it is imperative to determine how well L2 DA fulfills its intended purposes, namely providing insights…
The cognitive function of linguistic performance
Colloquium on Spanish and Luso-Brazilian Linguistics
Negative Feedback as Regulation and Second Language Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development
The linguistic analysis of private writing
The cognitive function of linguistic performance
Second language learning as a mediated process
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Commentary from the flower garden
I begin my necessarily brief commentary on Gregg (2000) with a confession: I am not, nor have I ever been, a practising postmodernist. I freely admit, however, that some of the ideas that have emerged from this project are sufficiently interesting to take seriously. I wrote my 1996 article to stir up the waters and to explore what a postmodernist perspective might do for, and to, second language acquisition (SLA). It can be useful for any discipl…
Dynamic assessment of L2 development
The “private function” of gesture in second language speaking activity
This article examines Slobin's concept of thinking for speaking (TFS) in the gesture/speech interface of advanced L2 speakers of English and Spanish. The focus is on the use of motion verbs in the respective languages. English, a satellite‐framed language, encodes manner of motion in the verb and indicates path of motion on satellite phrases (e.g. The frog leaped out of the boy's pocket ). Spanish, a verb‐framed language, encodes path, and only r…
The Toefl Trump Card
Much of the research on the effects of tests on foreign and second-language classrooms has examined the impact or washback effect that commercial/institutional language tests, such as the TOEFL, have on teachers' instructional practices (Hughes, 1998; Wall & Alderson, 1993). Using a case study methodology, this study uncovered the ways in which the classroom practices of one teacher and his students interact with their perceptions of the validity…
Sociocultural Theory and L2
This article considers the implications of two central constructs of sociocultural theory (SCT) for second language (L2) development: mediation and internalization. It first discusses Vygotsky's general theoretical claim that human mental activity arises as a consequence of the functional system formed by our biologically specified mental capacities and our culturally constructed symbolic artifacts. It then examines some of the L2 research that h…
Dynamic Assessment
Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition
Second language acquisition (SLA) research informed by sociocultural theory (henceforth, SCT) began in earnest with the publication of Frawley & Lantolf's (1985) article on L2 (second language) discourse (described in the timeline proper). Since then, well over 300 journal articles, book chapters and doctoral dissertations have appeared in the research literature. Although the term ‘sociocultural’ is often applied to a wide array of approaches to…
Dynamic assessment
This presentation is situated within the general framework of Vygotsky's educational theory, which argues that development in formal educational activity is a fundamentally different process from development that occurs in the everyday world. A cornerstone of Vygotsky's theory is that to be successful education must be sensitive to learners' zone of proximal development . This requires the dialectical integration of instruction and assessment int…
Group Dynamic Assessment
Dynamic assessment (DA) offers a conceptual framework for teaching and assessment according to which the goals of understanding individuals' abilities and promoting their development are not only complementary but are in fact dialectically integrated. More specifically, DA follows Vygotsky's proposal of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) by offering learners external forms of mediation in order to help them perform beyond their current level …
Vygotsky's Teaching-Assessment Dialectic and L2 Education
This article concerns a particular application of Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) wherein conventional assessment situations are reorganized to allow for cooperation between assessor and learner as they jointly complete assessment tasks and work through difficulties that arise. This approach, known as Dynamic Assessment (DA), a term coined by Luria (1961 Luria, A. R. 1961. Study of the abnormal child. American Journal…
Dynamic assessment in the classroom
This article reports the efforts of an elementary school teacher of Spanish as a second language to implement principles of dynamic assessment (DA) in her daily interactions with learners. DA is neither an assessment instrument nor a method of assessing but a framework for conceptualizing teaching and assessment as an integrated activity of understanding learner abilities by actively supporting their development (Poehner, 2008). DA is based on Vy…
Validity and interaction in the ZPD
Based on Vygotsky's articulation of the zone of proximal development, dynamic assessment (DA) involves offering mediation to help learners perform beyond their level of independent functioning while simultaneously supporting development of those abilities, and thus integrating teaching and assessment as a single activity. As with any assessment, it is imperative to determine how well L2 DA fulfills its intended purposes, namely providing insights…
Sociocultural Theory
Vygotsky's (1926/2004) monograph The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology is his foundational work in which he lays out the theoretical basis of his theory of culturally mediated mind, which is eventually expanded into his much better known publication Thinking and Speech (Vygotsky, 1987).
Happiness is drinking beer
This paper examines multimodal conceptual metaphors in a corpus of 32 American and Ukrainian beer commercials. The dominant metaphor in both cultures is HAPPINESS IS DRINKING BEER, with a secondary metaphor BEER IS A PERSON. The Ukrainian commercials exhibit a third metaphor that appears in a very subtle way in the American commercials: LOVE FOR THE MOTHERLAND IS DRINKING BEER. The analysis reveals cross‐cultural variation in the mappings and ent…
Sociocultural Theory and the Pedagogical Imperative in L2 Education
Explicating clearly and concisely the full implication of a praxis-oriented language pedagogy, this book argues for an approach to language teaching grounded in a significant scientific theory of human learning—a stance that rejects the consumer approach to theory and the dichotomy between theory and practice that dominates SLA and language teaching. This approach is based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, according to which the two activities …
Bridging the Gap
For some, research in learning and teaching of a second language (L2) runs the risk of disintegrating into irreconcilable approaches to L2 learning and use. On the one side, we find researchers investigating linguistic-cognitive issues, often using quantitative research methods including inferential statistics; on the other side, we find researchers working on the basis of sociocultural or sociocognitive views, often using qualitative research me…
Mediated Development
L2 Vygotskian research has turned increasingly toward the design of educational practices to promote learner development. Two important strands of work that have emerged are Systemic Theoretical Instruction (STI), wherein L2 curricula are organized around linguistic concepts, and Dynamic Assessment, emphasizing mediators and learners engaged in what Vygotsky described as inter-psychological activity. This paper examines processes of mediator-lear…
Computerized dynamic assessment (C-DA)
Dynamic assessment (DA) derives from the sociocultural theory of mind as elaborated by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky. By offering mediation when individuals experience difficulties and carefully tracing their responsiveness, Vygotsky (1998) proposed that diagnoses may uncover abilities that have fully formed as well as those still in the process of developing. This insight has led to numerous assessments, collectively referred to as DA, tha…
Enhancing student experiences abroad
Educational institutions are acknowledging the requirements of a globalized world on students’ mobility, interculturality, and language skills by offering study-abroad programmes. These need to be accompanied by procedures to assess student needs prior to and during their time abroad as well as upon their return. In the exploratory study reported here, we use Dynamic Assessment (DA) to examine international students’ interculturality and learning…
Sociocultural theory and the dialectical-materialist approach to L2 development
Sociocultural Theory (SCT), as formulated in the writings of Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky (1987), was first introduced to the L2 field 30 years ago (Frawley and Lantolf, 1985) as a powerful lens for interpreting processes of L2 development and their relation to particular activities, practices, and interactions (see also Lantolf and Appel, 1994). Beginning with Lantolf and Thorne (2006), L2 SCT researchers have drawn upon principles from t…
Psychology (41 obras) · Educational and Psychological Assessments (31 obras) · Sociology (26 obras) · Linguistics (25 obras) · Computer Science (22 obras) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (22 obras) · Pedagogy (22 obras) · Mathematics education (20 obras) · Zone of proximal development (19 obras) · Epistemology (18 obras)