66-Article Text-135-2-10-20200922
66-Article Text-135-2-10-20200922
66-Article Text-135-2-10-20200922
Mahbobeh Rahmatirad
Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
mahbobeh60rahmati@gmail.com
Abstract Keywords
The purpose of this study is to explore Vygotsky’s contribution to socio-cultural theory; second language
the socio-cultural theory in the field of education in general. acquisition
Socio-Cultural Theory, based on Vygotskian thought, is a theory
about the development of human cognitive and higher mental
function. The theory specially emphasizes the integration of
social, cultural and biological elements in learning processes and
stresses the socio-cultural circumstances’ central role in human’s
cognitive development. The study aims to elaborate the impact of
social-cultural theory in the leaning. The study also reviews
implications and applications of socio-cultural theory in second
language acquisition. Moreover, this study also critiques the
strong points and weakness points of this theory. There are a
number of language learning theories which are introduced by
researchers in second language research. These theories are
based on research and observation in the field of language
learning. B. F Skinner’s theory of behaviorism, Chomsky’s theory
of Universal Grammar, Krashen’s five Hypotheses,
connectionism and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory have
changed people’ mind of language learning.
I. Introduction
SCT is developed from the work of Vygotsky, his co-workers and successors and
this body of work is acknowledged in the term Cultural-Historical Activity Theory.
However, most research conducted on L2 learning within this general theoretical
framework has used the term Socio-Cultural Theory, and for this reason we will use this
term throughout the paper. SCT focuses on children cognitive development and specially
emphasizes the integration of social, cultural and biological elements and believes that
socio-cultural circumstances play a central role in human’s cognitive development and that
the process of the development higher mental functionioning is the one by which people
internalize or regulate what they learn from social activities through the mediation of
symbolic tools and by going through the zone of proximal development, and during this
period, language develops from social speech to private speech and then finally to inner
speech or verbal thought. Language is the most pervasive and powerful symbolic tool that
humans possess to mediate their connection to the world, to each other, and to themselves.
That is, Language imbues humans with the capacity to free themselves from the
circumstances of their immediate environment and enables them to talk and think about
entities and events that are displaced in both time and space, including those events and
entities that do not yet exist in the real world.
Through the analysis of applicability of socio cultural theory in SLL, it can be known
how theory is applied in English language. The application of socio-cultural theory in L2
classroom clearly lies in the task based approach. There are a number of language learning
theories which are introduced by researchers in second language research. These theories
are based on research and observation in the field of language learning.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.33258/siasat.v5i3.66 23
SIASAT Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Studies, 5 (3) July 2020, 23-31
ISSN: 2721-7469 (Print), 2721-7450 (Online)
Mahbobeh Rahmatirad: A Review of Socio-Cultural Theory
https://siasatjournal.com/index.php/siasat
24
recent years. Ellis et al (2002) improved Long’s (1991) definition of FonF instruction by
making the difference between two types: ‘Planned focus-on-form’ and ‘incidental focus-
on-form.’ In many studies, focus on form was the result of prior planning on. (Alahmad,
44)
II. Methodology
Sociocultural Theory (SCT) has its origins in the writings of the Russian
psychologist L. S. Vygotsky and his colleagues. SCT argues that human mental
functioning is fundamentally a mediated process that is organized by cultural artifacts,
activities, and concepts (Ratner, 44). This suggests that there is a big difference in the
development of the child when he/she is in the company of more knowledgeable other.
This difference shows that the child learns actively and promptly in the company of a
mentor or a teacher. Vygotsky is to describe the development of the child when he/she
works independently, but the difference is made when he/she is supported by the more
knowledgeable other. The theory of Vygotsky testifies that the development of the child is
possible in the guidance of a teacher, parent or any peer. (Vygotsky, 50)
Mediation is referred as the use of tools and these tools are adopted by the child to
resolve a problem or achieve the target. The idea of mediation is treated in different words
by Turuk . For example, he describes mediation as the part in the development of the child
which is played by more knowledgeable other in his life. Mediation is the use of tools, a
part played by other person in the cognitive development of the child. Citing Donato in
this context is meaningful because he described scaffolding as a situation which is created
by an expert, peer or parent wherein the child can take part and increase his/her current
skills and knowledge to higher levels of performance. Simultaneously, Verity looked at
scaffolding as cognitive help given to the child that reduces his/her cognitive burden in the
learning task. Moreover, Lantolf & Beckett describe internalization as the process through
which learners appropriate social tools of mediation, cultural artifacts, language and utilize
it to regulate their cognitive activity. Vygotsky, (1978) defined internalization as Any
function in the child’s cultural development appears twice, or on two planes. First it
appears on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane. First it appears between
people as an inter-psychological category, and then within the child as an intra-
psychological category (p. 87).
The way Vygotsky (1978) described internalization is to understand the cognitive
development of the child which is circled in two planes and these are social and
psychological. In social plane, the child develops in the company of parent, mentor or
teacher and then he or she becomes independent. Further, Lantolf & Thorne (2006) stated
internalization as the process of learning from social to individual. Similarly, Brown &
Ferrera (1985) treated Internalization in the same vein. First of all, the learner undergoes
the process of problem solving activities in the company of others, however, he/ she tends
to perform the tasks independently.
III. Discussion
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2002). Piaget (1995, as cited in Matusov & Hayes, 2000) suggests that in participation in
the activity for which a child is not ready with a more knowledgeable other, leads mainly
to imposing the partner’ views and will not affect the structures of child’s actions (i.e.,
social constraint). Mitchell & Myles (2004) claim that most socio-cultural studies of
language development within the ZPD have focused on individual lexical items or morpho
syntactic features as found in traditional grammar. The concept of Zone of proximal
development was critiqued by Lambert & Clyde (2000) as follows: We feel…that
Vygotsky’s ZPD presents a restricted view of learning processes and reduces the learner's
role to one of passivity and dependence upon the adult (29). They actually failed to
consider the application of ZPD in language learning. Vygotsky’s descriptions of
developmental processes were cited as being vague and speculative. Vygotsky’s theory
focused more upon the processes through which children develop rather than the
characteristics of that children of particular ages are likely to demonstrate. For Vygotsky,
cognitive, social, and motivational factors were interrelated in development. (321).
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a. Teaching through Interaction
The socio-cultural theorists who work primarily within second language acquisition
framework assume that a great deal of language learning takes place through social
interaction, at least in part because interlocutors adjust their speech to make it more
accessible to learners .The essence of language is to be able to communicate one's thoughts
and feelings to another person. This concept of communication is one of the foundations of
SCT in language learning, which is one of the second language acquisition theory
modules. SCT believes that language can be acquired easily by allowing the students to
socialize and interact either with other learners or with the speakers of the language they
are learning. The interaction should also be within the context of the language being
learned. Ideally, SCT suggests that the best way to acquire a language is to learn it from
the place it is being used and to interact with native speakers. In the context of the
classroom, SCT in second language acquisition can be practiced through social activities
that simulate the cultural context of the language. Aside from the classic role playing, here
are some activities for strengthening the communication skills of second language learners
based on SCT. (Donato, R., 27-50)
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argument continued from the first, focusing more directly on the innate grammatical
structures which are presented in the theory of UG, concluding that even though children
do not receive enough linguistic input to be able to sufficiently “learn” grammatical
structures such as the use of auxiliaries in English, they still make virtually no mistakes in
the area.
b. Behaviorism Theory
SCT’s ideology is quite different from that of the behaviorism and cognitivism. In
behaviorism it is implied that language learning occurs when individuals provide
conditioned responses to stimuli and that language learning is a process of habit formation.
By contrast cognitivism expects more cognitive participation of language learners in the
process of learning and contends that learners make use of their mental processes. Many
critics argue that behaviorism is a one-dimensional approach to understanding human
behavior and that behavioral theories do not account for free will and internal influences
such as moods, thoughts, and feelings. Behaviorism does not account for other types of
learning, especially learning that occurs without the use of reinforcement and punishment.
People and animals are able to adapt their behavior when new information is introduced,
even if a previous behavior pattern has been established through reinforcement.
Behaviorism is based upon observable behaviors, so it is easier to quantify and collect data
and information when conducting research. Effective therapeutic techniques such as
intensive behavioral intervention, behavior analysis, token economies, and discrete trial
training are all rooted in behaviorism. These approaches are often very useful in changing
maladaptive or harmful behaviors in both children and adults.
c. Connectionism Theory
Connectivism is a theoretical framework for understanding learning in a digital age.
It emphasizes how internet technologies such as web browsers, search engines, wikis,
online discussion forums, and social networks contributed to new avenues of learning.
Connectivism is a learning theory that explains how Internet technologies have created
new opportunities for people to learn and share information across the World Wide Web
and among themselves. These technologies include Web browsers, email, wikis, online
discussion forums, social networks, YouTube, and any other tool which enables the users
to learn and share information with other people. A key feature of connectivism is that
much learning can happen across peer networks that take place online. In connectivist
learning, a teacher will guide students to information and answer key questions as needed,
in order to support students learning and sharing on their own. Students are also
encouraged to seek out information on their own online and express what they find. A
connected community around this shared information often results. (Siemens,3-10)
Siemens (2006b) suggests:
Instead of modelling our knowledge structures as hierarchical or flat, confined belief
spaces, the view of networks enables the existence of contrasting elements selected on the
intent of a particular research or learning activities. If the silos of traditional knowledge
classification schemes are more fluid, perhaps the individual elements of different theories
can be adopted, as required, to solve more nuances of learning problems. When the theory
does not require adoption in its fullest (i.e. interpretivism or positivism), the task of
seeking knowledge becomes more salient. (p. 29)
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d. Input Processing Theory
The importance of input has always been recognized in the field of second language
acquisition and hence one of the key questions addressed by researchers is how second
language (L2) learners process input when listening or reading. Learners seem to process
input for meaning before they process it for form. Learners seem to parse sentences by
assigning subject or agent status to the first noun or pronoun they encounter in a sentence.
Learners should be exposed to meaningful input that contains many instances of the same
grammatical meaning-form relationship. Training helps learners process input correctly
and efficiently and consequently increases the intake of target language by the learners.
Improved feedback treatments give comprehensible access for language learners Input and
proof positive. Enhancement of inputs helps learners pay attention to input grammatical
forms. Processing strategies in favor of more optimal ones. Thus, PI aims to increase the
likelihood that L2 learners will attend to form in the input by altering those undesirable
information about the target structure and ‘are informed about a particular processing
strategy that may negatively affect their pick¬ing up of the form’ (Van Patten, 2005, p.
273). This instruction is followed by Structured Input (SI) activities, in which Van Patten
states that Input is manipulated in particular ways so that learners become dependent on
form and structure to get meaning and/or to privilege the form or structure in the input so
that learners have a better chance of attending to it. (VanPatten, 2005, p. 273)
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IV. Conclusion
The study concludes with the idea that it was really surprise for researchers with the
idea that socio cultural factors are necessary for the cognitive development of the child in
language learning. His genuine contribution to socio-cultural theory and his challenging
ideas into this theoretical framework have a great place in the field of education,
psychology and applied linguistics. Broadly speaking, the application of these ideas is a
matter of great significance. Second language acquisition has undergone major changes
during recent decades. Different theoretical perspectives made language teachers and
curriculum developers behave and think differently as to how language learners should
learn a second language. We must be well aware that the knowledge of SCT can also be
useful for teachers to discover and create ways to set up tasks and activities which can
allow for the facilitation of language learning. However, SCT presented another ideology
of learning, which appeared in the field of learning with two perspectives: cognitive and
social. Therefore, SCT provides a new perspective on the process of SLA, in which
learners are encouraged or required to think as well as speak in the target language, that is
to say, language and thought should be closely connected with each other.
References
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Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological
Processes. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press.
VanPatten, B. (2003). From input to output: A teacher’s guide to second language
acquisition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). Thinking and speech. New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). Educational Psychology. Florida: St. Lucie Press.
Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Williams, M., & Burden, R. (1997). Psychology for language teachers, a social
constructivist approach. UK: Cambridge University Press.
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