Holy Name University

City of Tagbilaran
Graduate Studies

Subject: Educ 342: Theory Development

Name: ALVIE ANN L. AYING Date: 02/24/2023

Course & year: Ph.D. ELT -I Score:_________

1. Theory of Constructivism
This theory of English Language Teaching (ELT) was established by Piaget. This
explains that their linguistic knowledge increases as people mature and are exposed
to the world and its languages. According to this view, the initial method of learning is
through experiences and social interaction. It indicates that through assimilation and
accommodation based on personal experience, learners develop the meaning of a
given thing, so as to improve their learning of language.

2. The different concepts in Constructivism theory:

a. Constructivism is the theory that says learners construct knowledge rather than just
passively take in information. Piaget is a Swiss psychologist who describes
knowledge development from a holistic and cognitive perspective, emphasizing that
there are many channels that are used to construct understanding e.g reading,
listening, exploring, and experiencing. This idea manifests that learners need to be
active inside the classes or even outside the four walls of the classroom in order to
learn. They are not just receivers of knowledge; they create their own learning
through engagement and the usual practice of the actions learned.
b. Vygotsky, the expert on constructivism in socio-cultural perspectives, assumed that
the theory came from the theory of language, thought, and mediation in a social
environment. According to Lowenthal & Muth (2008), pure social constructivists
believe that learning occurs via the construction of meaning in social interaction
within cultures and through language. This concept gives us the impression of our
students being dynamic in the setting they are in. They need to be involved in the
real arena of life and be part of every activity in society as much as possible, so that
learning will occur and develop.
 c. The theoretical framework of Bruner is that learning is an active process in which
learners construct new ideas or concepts based on their current or past knowledge.
Moreover, the focus of Jerome Bruner in cognitivist constructivism is on instruction.
So, in this case, the role of the instructor should try and encourage students to
discover principles by themselves. The instructor and the students should engage in
active activities.

3. Constructivism theory is a phenomenon. In a scientific setting, a phenomenon is something

that has been seen to happen or exists. It is merely an observational fact or occurrence that can
be made with the senses, either directly or with the use of tools. Knowing constructivism theory,
learners here are active people in the school and even in the society that they are in. Their
actions are observable, and the product of their actions is vivid to the eyes of the observers. I
can even say that I belong to this theory. During elementary days, I was criticized by my Grade
5 teacher for not being good in the language – specifically English. So, I strive hard and I even
chose English as my major in college because I want to explore and unravel my weakness.
Now, I host every event in our school, I even hosted weddings and activities in our municipality.
Thus, I can say that I learned all of these from my experiences and interactions with the people
around me.

4. According to Asian university (2012:146)” Constructivism is a part of the cognitive

revolution”. The cognitive revolution is the name of an intellectual movement in the 1950s that
began with what is known collectively as the cognitive sciences and was increasingly
deliberated in the late 1960s. The term” cognitive revolution” began to be used to take
advantage of an analysis of the scientific revolution in general that was developed by Thomas
Kuhn (Royer, 2005 in the Asian university, 2012: 146). The cognitive revolution was the
response to behaviorism (asiaeuniversity,2012:106). As we know, behaviorism was a theory that
was based on observable changes in behavior. Moreover, behaviorism was the theory in which
central attention was in the teacher’s role. It means that the character of the students in the
teaching-learning process was passive while the teacher was the opposite. The students just
absorbed the information from the teacher rather than constructing the meaning by their own
selves. While, constructivism was a theory to learning in which learners were provided the
opportunity to construct their own sense of what was being learned by building internal
connections or relationships among ideas and facts being taught( Brich & Tombari, 1997 as
cited in asiaeuniversity,2012: 144).  It means that the character of the students in which the
constructivism theory was applied was active. The teacher as the facilitator (give little guidance
to the students). So, this is the reason why constructivism is a part of a cognitive revolution that
it becomes the response to behaviorism.

Constructivism primarily is a synthesis of the ideas from philosophy, sociology, psychology and
education (Lowenthal & Muth, 2008). According to Kanselaar (2002)”Constructivism is not a
single concept but it can involve the following three aspects”. They are epistemological,
psychological and educational beliefs. Constructivism as a set of epistemological beliefs that is
beliefs about the nature of reality, and whether there is an independent reality. Constructivism as
a set of psychological beliefs about learningandcognition (e.g that learning involves constructing
one’s own knowledge). Constructivismas a set of educational beliefs about  pedagogy (e.g that
one should allow the learners to define their own learning objective that knowledge emerges
from constructive interaction between the teacher and the students or between collaborating
students).  Based on the history of constructivism comes from experts, I can infer that  in the
beginning  constructivism was derived from some aspects that were philosophy, sociology,
psychology, education and epistemological beliefs. All of the aspects united into a general sense
of constructivism that it was a theory  of learning or making meaning that individuals created
their own new understanding on the basis of an interaction between what they already know,
beliefs, ideas, and knowledge with which they come into contact (Resnick, 1989 in Richardson,
2003).

Reference:

Constructivism Theory of Language Teaching and Learning

https://mydreamarea.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/constructivism-theory-of-language-teaching-
and-learning/

5. Constructivism Theory has criticisms as well; these are as follows:

- It may not work for all students. Depending on the group, some people may not be motivated
enough to actively engage in the learning process.

- It's viewed by critics as being too idealistic.