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 (). This article proposes an interactional framework to bridge STI and DA. Mediated development (MD) emphasizes mediator–learner dialogic interaction in which the aim is not to assess emerging capabilities but rather to guide learner appropriation of concept‐based instructional materials as symbolic tools for thinking. The researchers situate MD in relation to the broader Vygotskian second language research tradition, while also acknowledging the contributions of Israeli researcher Reuven Feuerstein (Feuerstein, Feuerstein, & Falik, 2010). Feuerstein's work to promote general cognitive abilities among learners with special needs closely parallels Vygotsky's research and was influential in developing this proposal of MD. The authors discuss principles of the framework and illustrate them through close analysis of excerpts of mediator–learner interactions from an STI program to teach the English tense‐aspect system in a university‐level ESL academic writing program. Analysis reveals the value of mediator guidance in helping learners to recognize the relevance of instructional materials and to begin to use them as tools during communicative activity.

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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-learner interaction in the context of an STI program targeting learner understanding of the English tense-aspect system. Importantly, the focus of interaction was not to diagnose learner L2 abilities but to introduce specially designed pedagogical materials, or tools. The framework of Mediated Learning, developed by Reuven Feuerstein through his work with learners with special needs, guided the approach taken to joint mediator-learner functioning. Close analysis of transcribed mediator-learner interactions point to processes through which materials come to function as tools and the importance of the social relation created by mediators and learners.

The present article reports on a study that extends Dynamic Assessment (DA) to the domain of second language (L2) writing instruction. As in general education, the L2 field has increasingly moved toward a process approach to writing that emphasizes the importance of multiple drafts, opportunities for feedback, and attempts at revision. The present study, undertaken collaboratively with an experienced classroom teacher of L2 Japanese, reformulated this process as three interrelated stages of mediated activity: an initial DA session in which the teacher prompted learners to identify and correct errors in order to identify knowledge and abilities that were in the process of emerging; a peer mediation session to collaboratively review, discuss, and correct exemplar sentences containing representative problematic constructions; and a whole-class discussion of the language constructions. Analysis of recorded and transcribed sessions indicates the value to learners of collaboratively discussing and correcting similar error types in their peers’ writing.

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