Sociocultural Theories in Second Language Acquisition

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2010

The purpose of this study is to explore Vygotsky's contribution to the socio-cultural theory in the field of education in general, and applied linguistics in particular. The study aims to elaborate the impact of social-cultural theory in the existing body of literature. The study also reviews implications and applications of socio-cultural theory in second language acquisition (SLA). Moreover, this study also critiques the basic concepts of the theory and how far these concepts have been implicated in the domain of research. The central focus is to explore and to critically understand central ideas such as Zone of Proximal Development, mediation, scaffolding, internalization, and private speech. The socio-cultural theory focuses on what learners learn and the solution to their learning problems. Socio-cultural theory has made a great effect on learning and teaching languages. It also regards learning second language as a semiotic process where participation in socially mediated activities is very important (Ellis, 2000). Vygotsky (1987) singled out and studied the dynamic social surroundings which indicate the connection between teacher and the child. Moreover, he focused on the social, cultural and historical artifacts which play a pivotal role in the children's cognitive development as well as their potential performance. The study concludes with the idea of Williams & Burden (1997) that socio-cultural theory suggests that education should be associated with learning to learn and making learning experiences meaningful and relevant to the learner. The study also suggests some pedagogical implications and offers teaching and learning practices in relation to socio-cultural theory.

Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2012

This paper aims at presenting a brief overview of the major theoretical claims of the sociocultural theory (SCT) of mind and mental development with particular attention to how it relates to the learning and teaching of second/foreign languages. The sociocultural perspective has profound implications for teaching, schooling, and education. The main idea of this psychological view of human development is that social interaction is responsible for the development of higher order functions. In this regard it is believed that just the individual's internal cognitive process cannot account for developmental process. The researchers should also consider the external social factors in the child's environment. Children participate in activities which entail the use of cognitive and communicative functions and by doing so, these functions scaffold and nurture them in their developmental process. Hence in language classrooms successful instructions should be within the child's zone of proximal development (ZPD) and also successful learning process cannot be an individual's unmediated or unassisted effort but a collaborative process.

The sociocultural theory (SCT) approach to SLA (henceforth, SCT-L2) is grounded in the psychological theory of human consciousness proposed by L. S. Vygotsky. Although not developed specifically to explain SLA, SCT as a theory of human mental activity has much to offer regarding how individuals acquire and use languages beyond their first. Although some SCT researchers have examined bilingual acquisition, including issues relating to biliteracy, most SCT research within the field of SLA has concentrated on adult learners. Therefore the focus of the present chapter is on SCT-L2 research relating to adult SLA. Overview The central thread that runs through most SCT-L2 research since its inception (Frawley & Lantolf, 1985), and which marks it off from other SLA approaches, is its focus on if and how learners develop the ability to use the new language to mediate (i.e., regulate or control) their mental and communicative activity. To be sure, research concerning the Zone of Proximal Development (see below) has directly addressed acquisition, but even there development is understood not only in terms of target-like performance but also in terms of the quality and quantity of external mediation required. Seen as a whole, then, SCT-L2 research is distinguished from other SLA approaches by the fact that it places mediation, either by other or self, at the core of development and use.

Sociocultural theory (hereafter 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, 2002). 1 Within this framework, humans are understood to utilize existing, and to create new, cultural artifacts that allow them to regulate, or more fully monitor and control, their material and symbolic activity. Practically speaking, developmental processes take place through participation in cultural, linguistic, and historically formed settings such as family life, peer group interaction, public spaces (e.g., restaurants, banks, leisure-time activities, etc.), work places, and above all, for our purposes, formal educational contexts. SCT argues that while human neurobiology is a necessary condition for higher mental processes, the most important forms of human cognitive activity develop through interaction within social and material environments, including conditions found in instructional settings (Engeström, 1987). Importantly, SCT and its sibling approaches, such as cultural-historical activity theory, emphasize not only research and understanding of human developmental processes but also praxis-based research, which entails intervening and creating conditions for development (see Lantolf & Poehner, 2014). Second language (L2) SCT researchers are increasingly emphasizing a praxis orientation to understand processes of language development through active engagement with teachers and learners, as illustrated in the Exemplary Study and other sections of this chapter. Despite an untimely death from tuberculosis at the age of 38 in 1934, Vygotsky had an extremely productive career profoundly influenced by the social conditions produced by the Russian Revolution. While SCT is most strongly associated with the research of Vygotsky and his colleagues, Luria

2023

In this article, we first discuss the rationale behind opening up a dialogic space between sociocultural theory and other compatible theories. In the second section, a brief sketch of sociocultural theory in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) is provided. In the third section, exploring the constitutive relationality that ineluctably holds between a given SLA theory and its putative worldview, we enunciate implications and categorical influence of worldviews on day-today research inquiries and scientific practices of the SLA scientific community. Then, we set out to delineate scientific development in SLA invoking a Kuhnian perspective with a honed focus on the theory-laden nature of empirical evidence as well as the key notions of paradigm, disciplinary matrix, and incommensurability of competing theories. In the fourth section, we specifically settle our attention on the issue of incommensurability of, and inter-theory dialogues between, SLA theories with a view to the articles which are included in the special issue and discuss their theoretical and practical implications. We conclude with some remarks on the importance of adopting a weltanschauung-centered perspective on doing research activities, theory choice, and scientific development in SLA for advancing a principally unified and scientifically coherent understanding and explanation of second language developmental processes.

The Modern Language Journal, 1994

the findings of studies on various aspects of second language learning informed by the sociocultural theory of mind developed by the Russian psychologist and psycholinguist Lev S. Vygotsky and his colleagues. Researchers working on educational problems in general, and those of us working on questions relating to second language learning, in particular, have found Vygotsky's ideas challenging, at times perplexing, but always stimulating and informative. Although the details of sociocultural theory are fleshed out in the six papers that follow, it is important to underscore from the outset that Vygotsky's fundamental theoretical insight is that higher forms of human mental activity are always, and everywhere, mediated by symbolic means. Vygotsky developed his proposals on symbolic mediation based on analogy with the processes through which humans mediate their interaction with the world of objects through the use of physical tools. Mediation, whether physical or symbolic, is understood to be the introduction of an auxiliary device into an activity that then links humans to the world of objects or to the world of mental behavior. Just as physical tools (e.g., hammers, bulldozers, computers, etc.) allow humans to organize and alter their physical world, Vygotsky reasoned that symbolic tools empower humans to organize and control such mental processes as voluntary attention, logical problem-solving, planning and evalua

This research explores the factors which may affect second language acquisition in the students of grade-8. In previous studies many factors like gender, medium of instruction, parental/guardian's SES (socioeconomic status), area of residence, and out of school coaching are reported to determine students' academic performance and language learning (e.g. Ali, Haider, Munir, Khan and Ahmed, 2013 and Graetz, 1995). The central English examination score for 120, 13 years old students (55 girls and 65 boys), was collected. The students were selected from four different public sector schools, (2 boys' schools and two girls' schools), from a district in the central Punjab, Pakistan. Relationship of different factors like gender, medium of instruction (Urdu or English), socioeconomic status (SES), residential area, and out of school coaching with Second language acquisition was estimated with the help of comparing L2 scores through t-tests. Results showed that scores in English examination were significantly different for gender, SES, and residential area (rural or Urban). Out of school coaching and medium of instruction could not make a significant difference in L2 learning. Unexpectedly, Urdu medium public sector schools' children performed a little better than English medium schools' children in English examination, like the children who were receiving out of school coaching for English. On the basis of the these results, the study concluded that the factors like gender, out of school coaching, and SES could be predictors to language learning. Therefore, government authorities and syllabus designers could work to reduce the differences of literacy skills by adopting better policies.

International Journal of Modern Language Teaching and Learning, 2016

The concept of Socio-cognitive Theory (SCT) dates back to Bandura (1982) which focuses on observational learning/modeling, outcome. It has not only addressed how people acquire cognitive, social, emotional and behavioral competencies, but also how they motivate and regulate their behavior and create social systems that organize and structure their real life. In SCT, the social portion of the title acknowledges the social origins of much human thought and action; the cognitive portion recognizes the influential contribution of cognitive processes to human motivation, affect, and action. This study provides a state of the art article in SCT and its role in education in general and language learning in particular.