Dynamic Diagnostic Language Assessment (DD-LANG)

DD-Lang team's paper in Kielikukko - the Journal of the Finnish Reading Association

This was such a productive year for DD-LANG, with numerous meetings with #teachers and #learners, many #conference #presentations, and notable developments incorporating #AI into DD-LANG.

We also wrote a paper with teachers for the #Kielikukko journal.

Thank you to everyone who made this happen!

Matt Poehner, Ari Huhta, and I presented a part of the DD-Lang project's work focusing on AI as a part of mediational sequences.

Title slide of the presentation "I think the most interesting thing iscthat this would help them"

Very interesting CBLA and MLA SIG today at #EALTA2025 with a large variety of foci, contexts, and methodologies. Vera Vesala and I presented our paper on a part of @ddlangproject.bsky.social project, focusing on our collaboration with teachers, namely, on how we together design classroom activities

DD-Lang #collaborator meeting is also happening during the #EALTA2025 conference.

Thu, May 28, Matt Poehner, @dima403.bsky.social, and Ari Huhta present a paper discussing #GenAI, namely #chatbot interactions as part of #mediation #sequences for #assessing and promoting #learners' L2 #English #reading abilities

Wed, May 28, Vera Vesala and @dima403.bsky.social give a paper “I think the most interesting thing is that this would help them” focusing on #praxis with DD-Lang #teacher collaboratorsat Classroom-Based Assessment & Multilingual Language Assessment SIG meeting

DD-Lang team is travelling to #EALTA2025, Saltzurg. We will be presenting two papers focusing on different aspects of the project: ⏭️

A poster with the word missing written in all caps on top, a picture of a shark, and a sentence "Have you seen this shark?" Written at the bottom

DD-Lang team has been travelling around Finland to engage with our amazing #teacher collaborators and meet with students. We collected lots of data, had really interesting #discussions with teachers and #students, and got lots of ideas.
Also, a shark is missing in Turku, apparently

a view of city centre, Tampere, Tammerkoski river, and red-brick industrial buildings.

DD-Lang team has been out and about again, collecting data. This time in #Tampere.
We owe this all to our wonderful #teacher #collaborators and enthusiastic #students 🙌
Kiitos kaikille for making this happen!

Dynamic Diagnostic Language Assessment - Conceptual and Practical Innovation in Foreign Language Education and Assessment Dynamic and diagnostic assessment of foreign language

Slides for this and other presentations are available at our project page: www.jyu.fi/en/projects/...

Title slide of the presentation: Dynamic Assessment of Integrated Argumentative Writing: A Comparative Case Study of Two Multilingual Writers' Development

Matt Poehner and Lu Yu are presenting a paper on #dynamic #assessment of #argumentative #writing, focusing on developmental trajectories of two multilingual learners at #AAAL2025

We built an argument for the necessary change in teacher and reseacher positionality in praxis required for these developments to happen.

We outlined the praxis with language teachers in DD-Lang, focusing on how our engagements with the teachers allow for simultaneous development of the DD-Lang tasks, mediation, and procedures and teacher understanding of assessment, learning and teaching with the goal to develop classroom practices.

Title slide of the presentation: Teacher and researcher positionality in praxis: Adapting dynamic assessment to increase learner agency in classrooms

DD-Lang project's @dima403.bsky.social and Matt Poehner presented the paper:
#Teacher and #researcher
#positionality in #praxis:
Adapting dynamic #assessment to increase #learner #agency in classrooms
at #AAAL2025

General workflow for ChatGPT-enhsnced DA

Xiaozgeng Dai, Lu Yu, Zhingyuan Zhuang, Xiaofei Lu, and Matt Poehner
On potential of #ChatGPT to enhance #DA of #L2 #argumentative #writing at #AAAL2025

refusal as another R Refusal understands the wisdom in a story, as well as the wisdom in not passing that story on. Refusal in research makes way for other r-words- for resistance, reclaiming, recovery, reciprocity. repatriation, regeneration -Tuck and Yang 2014, p. 244

Brilliant plenary by Wesley Y. Leonard on relational accountability
A framework for language work and beyond
At #AAAL2025

Why Integrate Al with Mediation in Language Instruction • Al tools provide immediate, targeted feedback enhancing learner engagement. • Teacher mediation helps learners critically assess Al-generated feedback. • Integrating Al with mediation promotes deeper metalinguistic awareness • Encourages autonomous learning by guiding informed use of language tools Significance: • Combines strengths of human teachers and Al technology • Addresses Al limitations through human judgment. • Supports learner development within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

Yuwei Xia and Qi Xu on #AI #integration with #Vygotskian #mediation fostering the #development of #lexical #sophistication awareness at #AAAL2025

Teachers and researchers in dialogue

An interesting special session on language #teachers, teacher #educators, and #researchers #collaboration and #networking at #AAAL2025

Slide: Best practices are situated practices

Catherine DeFelice-Box and Anne Pomerantz on listening to your #participants in #EMI #research at #AAAL2025
Best #practices are #situated practices.
EMI is different for different stakeholders in different situations.

AAAL Denver 2025

DD-Lang project's @dima403.bsky.social is participating in #AAAL2025 conference in #Denver.
Matt Poehner and Dmitri will be presenting a part of the project, focusing on our praxis with teachers on March 24 at 10.45. If you are at AAAL, consider joining us

A view of Aurajoki in Turku

DD-LANG team had great two days in #Turku last week, meeting our #teacher #collaborators and presenting the project to several groups of #students. It was an excellent opportunity to develop our ideas together, including using #AI as #pedagogical tool in the #classroom!

What makes DD-Lang special is that #teachers and #learners are not our participants but our collaborators. They help us to move the project forward in Zoom-meetings and discussions when we visit the #schools all around #Finland.

Dmitri presenting at EALTA 2024

DD-LANG project's presentation on Vygotskian praxis and assessment fairness at AAAL 2024 by Ari, Dmitri, and Matt

We have also presented in numerous conferences throughout the world, including #AAAL2023 #AAAL2024 #EALTA2024 #LTRC2024, #AIRiAL2024, and #SCT-SLL on #mediation in #DA, #assessment #fairness #constructss, and #AI

You can find our conference slides on the project page:
www.jyu.fi/en/projects/...

Cover of the Diagnosis of Writing in Second or Foreign Language book

Two publications are out: (1) a book on #diagnosing #writing in a second or foreign #language by Ari Huhta, Claudia Harsch,
@dima403.bsky.social, and Lea Nieminen, which informed the DD-LANG project and (2) an article on construct work in #Dynamic #Diagnostic #assessment doi.org/10.30661/afi... 🧵

DD-LANG Project's collaborator team including scholars in the US, Canada, Europe, and China.

Here are some of the highlights of what we have achieved by the mid-point of the project with, a lot of which we owe to our wonderful teacher collaborators and and the international collaborator team 🧵

The first post of DD-LANG-project on Bluesky! We have just moved here from Twitter. Welcome to follow us! We have just finished #piloting of #AI #chatbot as a part of #mediation in learner #assessment

Working with our #teacher collaborators, we are now collecting data from learner participants.