Schools of Thought of First Language Acquisition

Sociocultural Theory Key Ideas


Presented by: Lina Roncallo

Sociocultural Theory

Key Ideas


1. The theory emphasizes meaning as the central aspect of any teaching and
holds that skills or knowledge must be taught in all its complex forms, rather
than presented as isolated, discrete concepts


2. Ellis (2000) argues that sociocultural theory is based on the assumption that
learning emerges not through interaction but in interaction. 


3. The primary constructs of this theory are mediation and regulation,

internalization, and the zone of proximal development or ZPD.


4. ZPD is not only a model of developmental processes but also a conceptual

and pedagogical tool that educators can use to better understand aspects of
students’ emerging capacities that are in early stages of maturation.


5. In this theory, for an individual to become a competent speaker of a

language, the mere personal effort would not result in the mastery of the
language unless he benefits from other people‘s participation to negotiate
through the ZPD.


6. According to Cook (2008) the distinctive aspect of Vygotsky‘s ZPD lies in the
fact that ―the gap between the learner‘s current state and their future
knowledge is bridged by assistance from others; learning demands social
interaction so that the learner can internalize knowledge out of external
action.


7. It is vital that teachers realize that the role of the expert in this theory is not
limited to that of a teacher, but it can also be applied to those learners who
have internalized an aspect of the language.


8. The sociocultural theory suggests that thinking and speaking as independent

units are closely connected.


9. Vygotsky perceives language development as a process which begins

through social contact with others and then gradually moves inwards through
a series of transitional stages towards the development of inner speech.


10. Learning, in Vygotsky‘s view (1978), can be defined as what an individual is

able to do with assistance of another person or an artifact created by others.
References

Cook, V.(2008). Second language learning and language teaching (4th,

edn.).London: Hodder Education.

Ellis, R. (2000). Task-based research and language pedagogy. Language

teaching research 4.3, 193-220.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological

processes. Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press.