SAINT MICHAEL COLLEGE HINDANG, LEYTE INC.

Bonifacio St. Pob. II, Hindang, Leyte

MAJOR 4A
PRINCIPLES AND THEORIES OF
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND
LEARNING

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE FIVE STAGES

OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

II.

"The distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem
solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under
adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers." (Vygotsky, 1935)

What is Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?

 The difference between what a child can do independently and what the child
needs help from a more knowledgeable person
 Distance between Actual and Potential knowledge
 Distance between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do
with help.
 The range between a child’s level of independent performance and the level of
performance a child can reach with expert guidance.

ZPD is a concept that is used in classrooms to help students with skill development. The
main core idea of the ZPD is those students become more knowledgeable person by enhancing
the student’s learning by guiding them through a task slightly above their level of ability. As the
student becomes more competent, the expert gradually stops helping until the student can
perform the skill by themselves.

This is a model that shows the three stages that can be seen in zone of proximal development
which are:

 Tasks the learner can do without assistance. This category includes everything a

person can do without help from a more experienced individual.

 Tasks the learner can do with assistance. This category includes tasks a person can’t
work through by themselves but can work through with help, also known as their ZPD.
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  Tasks the learner can’t do with assistance. The final category includes tasks that are
too difficult to perform even with an instructor’s help. For example, a young child might
be able to spell out their own name by themselves but might need help from someone else
to write the complete alphabet. The task is above their skill level and outside their ZPD.

What is second Language Acquisition?

A language learned after the first language in a context where the language is used widely
in the speech community (in a narrower sense).
Second language acquisition is learning a second language after a first language is
already been acquired.
Second language acquisition or SLA is the process of learning other languages in
addition to the native language. For instance, a child who speaks Hindi as the mother tongue
starts learning English when he starts going to school. English is learned by the process of
second language acquisition. In fact, a young child can learn a second language faster than an
adult can learn the same language. (Singhal)

Second language acquisition has five stages. These are:

Stage 1: Preproduction or the Silent period Seen at the start of exposure to a new language,
this stage is characterized by minimal comprehension with little to no verbal production and may
last from a couple of days to several months
Stage 2: Early Production Defined by limited comprehension and one/two word responses and
may last up to 6 months.
Stage 3: Speech emergence Identified by increased comprehension, an accumulated vocabulary
of about 3000 words and the use of longer but simple sentences, which may or may not be
grammatically correct.
Stage 4: Intermediate Proficiency The Intermediate proficiency of this stage is characterized
by good comprehension, more complex sentences and fewer errors in speech and make take up
to another year after the speech emergence stage.
Stage 5: Advanced fluency Advanced proficiency in a second language can typically take from
5-7 years by which time students have developed specialized vocabulary and can participate
fully in classroom activities with occasional extra support.

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III. Implications in the Classroom

Learning environment is very important. Learning environment or the settings inside a classroom
must be formal and disciplined. Students should feel that they are safe and the classroom where
they are at, is friendly. The teacher should motivate the students to learn the language.
Motivation really could help boost students learning capabilities. He/she should create a fun and
interesting games or activities that introduce language and at the same time they are learning.
Allow students to create mistakes because making errors it doesn’t mean that you fail but it
reflects your learner creativity.
The language teacher should have a learner friendly attitude towards language to
help learners to learn second language and use it efficiently. The teacher must expose their
learners to different situations where they can apply the language in different styles. The teacher
must be flexible and allow adopting herself the different strategies to deal with language.
The teacher should teach her/his learners” ing”, plurals, irregular and regular verbs
and morphemes. Teachers should give exercises or asks of varying difficulties to determine the
level of which to begin instruction. Teaching should begin at lower limit, so that the child can
reach the goal with help. Teachers offer help only when needed. Give support and motivation for
the children to try and apply the skills to achieve the goals. Guide the children to apply their

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ideas in self-talking to the appropriate situation that needs a solution. When the student gets
stuck, the teacher provides hints. When teaching, first thing you do is plan out your lesson to be
discussed. Make sure to prepare the instructional materials for your lesson. With regards to the
lesson proper, keep your instructions and information clearly. Focus on your students need to
know and what they need to do. As a teacher you must create a good environment among your
students so they will not hesitate to do their tasks. As much as possible be a facilitator to your
students. Teach them to be independent when it comes to their learning but with proper
communication to them.

IV. Reflection:

Teaching is not about simply standing in front of an audience and reciting a topic like students
do during classroom reporting’s. It involves various procedures and processes aiming to unlock
the learner's maximum and true potential. Knowledge should always be conveyed and passed on
to the learners effectively, but it is actually easier said than done. Different learners have
different levels of ability, knowledge, understanding, pre-exposure and background. Because of
these, learners have varying pace and speed of learning. That would mean incorporating different
ways to teach learners. One of these ways is known as the Zone of Proximal Development.

According to Lev Vygotsky (1935), the influential Russian psychologist who created the concept
of ZPD, the zone of proximal development is the distance between the actual development level
as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as
determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable
peers. In other words, it is the range of abilities that an individual can perform with assistance
but cannot yet perform independently. These skills are called "proximal" because the individual
is close to mastering them but needs more guidance and practice in order to perform these
actions independently.

There are a few essential factors that are critical to the success of the ZPD learning process. One
of them involves the presence of a mentor or someone with the knowledge and skills to guide the
learner, since the learner might not yet be capable of doing something on their own and are in
need of assistance by the mentor in order to perform their task. Another essential factor is called
scaffolding or supportive activities provided by the mentor that help guide the learner through
the ZPD. Last, but not the least, is the social interactions that allow the learner to observe and
practice their skills, such as pairing more competent learners with less skilled ones (Cherry,
2020).

Aside from ZPD, the learners also move through the five stages of second language. These five
stages are known as the preproduction, early production, speech emergence, intermediate
fluency, and advanced fluency (Krashen & Terrell, 1983). During these stages, the learner will
start at being understanding or receptive to the surroundings, then move to uttering one word,
then two-word phrases, and so forth. That being said, it is a process which requires the learner to
spend time, effort and commitment, as well as practicing.

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 Each one of the five stages of second language showcases different characteristics of the learner.
During the preproduction stage, the learner has minimal comprehension of the language. They do
not verbalize words, and usually draw, point, nod "yes" and shakes their head "no". The learners
during the early production stage has limited comprehension, produces one-word or two-word
responses, uses key words, familiar phrases and present-tense verbs. During the speech
emergence stage, the learner has good comprehension and can produce simple sentences,
although they still make grammar and pronunciation errors, and frequently misunderstands jokes.
The learner during the intermediate fluency stage has excellent comprehension of the language
and makes only a few grammatical errors. Lastly, when the learners have a near-native level of
speech, they have finally reached the advanced fluency stage (Hill and Björk, 2008).

V.

MEMBERS:

GROUP 5
AILA MARIE CERLOS
CINDY SUGETARIOS
FLORECOR N. FEVIDAL
KYLE ANDREW BALUGO

SUBMITTED TO: MR. MICHAEL T. BULAWAN

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