 Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals. (Vygotsky, 1978, p.57) “the distance between the actual developmental 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.”

1. SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY AND
SECOND LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT
James P. Lantolf, Steven L. Thorne,
and Matthew E. Poehner
■ BY: Zahra Farajnezhad

2.  History
■ Lev S. Vygotsky, a psychologist in Russia who is most
closely identified with sociocultural theory.
■ He was known as the father of sociocultural thinking.
Interested in understanding how higher-order mental
processes developed during a time when behaviorists
dominated psychology. He stressed the importance of
reconstructing the social, environmental, and cultural
forms and conditions surrounding the emergence of
behavior and consciousness, and its subsequent
development. Also, he believed people are eager to
help children learn new skills that are needed to live in
their culture.

3. Four Basic Principles Underlying the Vygotskian Framework
 Consider private speech, where children
speak to themselves to plan or guide their own
behavior. This is most common among
preschoolers, who haven’t yet learned proper
social skills but rather explore the idea of it.
Children often use private speech when the task
becomes too difficult and the child doesn’t
know how to proceed. Private speech helps the
child accomplish a task. Vygotsky believed
private speech changes with age, by becoming
softer or being just a whisper.
Language plays a
central role in mental
development

4. Four Basic Principles Underlying the Vygotskian Framework
 This theory suggests that social
interaction leads to continuous step-by-
step changes in children’s thought and
behavior that can vary greatly from
culture to culture.
 Development depends on interaction
with people and the tools that the culture
provides to help form their own view of the
world. There are three ways a cultural tool
can be passed from one Individual to
another: imitative learning, instructed
learning, and self-regulated learning.
Development can not be
separated from its social
context

5. Four Basic Principles Underlying the Vygotskian Framework
 Vygotsky believed that any pedagogy creates
learning processes that lead to development and this
sequence results in zones of proximal development.
It's the concept that a child accomplishes a task that
he/she cannot do alone, with the help from a more
skilled person. He also described the ZPD as the
difference between the actual development level as
determined by individual problem solving and the
level of potential development as determined
through problem solving under adult guidance or
collaboration with more knowledgeable peers. The
result of this process is children become more
socialized in the dominant culture and it induces
cognitive development.
Learning can lead
development

6. Four Basic Principles Underlying the Vygotskian Framework
 Human behavior results from the
integration of socially and culturally
constructed forms of mediation into
human activity.
Children construct their
knowledge

7. An Introduction to Sociocultural Theory
■ Sociocultural theory grew from the work of a psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who
believed that parents, caregivers, peers, and the culture at large were
responsible for developing higher order functions.
■ Sociocultural theory focuses not only how adults and peers influence
individual learning, but also on how cultural beliefs and attitudes impact how
instruction and learning take place.
■ This theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture
in which they live.
■ also suggests that human learning is largely a social process.

8. An Introduction to Sociocultural Theory
 According to Vygotsky, children are born with basic biological constraints
on their minds. Each culture provides what he referred to as 'tools of
intellectual adaptation.' These tools allow children to use their basic mental
abilities in a way that is adaptive to the culture in which they live. For
example, while one culture might emphasize memory strategies such as
note-taking, other cultures might utilize tools like reminders or rote
memorization.

9.  How Sociocultural theory differs from
Constructivism
■ Both constructivism and sociocultural theory, when applied to learning,
are concerned with the activities that children engage in to learn.
However, constructivist theory suggests one should attend to the learning
and mental representations of the individual while the sociocultural
theory is more concerned with the ways in which learning is an act of
enculturation.

10. Educational Implications of Sociocultural Theory
 Given the comprehensive nature of sociocultural theory, its educational implications for
assessment, curriculum, and instruction are broad-ranging.
 Informed by a sociocultural perspective, learning is thought to occur through
interaction, negotiation, and collaboration. While these features are characteristic of
“cooperative learning,” what sets instruction that is informed by sociocultural theory apart
is that there is also attention to the discourse, norms, and practices associated with
particular discourse and practice communities. The goal of instruction is to support
students to engage in the activities, talk, and use tools in a manner that is consistent with
the practices of the community to which students are being introduced.
 With the proliferation of information and communication technologies in educational
and everyday settings, scholars, working from a sociocultural perspective, are working to
expand concepts, such as distributed cognition, to include not only people and artifacts but
also digital technologies.

11.  Sociocultural Theory Themes
1.) Cognitive Development occurs in Social Interaction.
– Vygotsky believed the outside environment shapes development
– Interaction with others has a profound effect on how children develop.
– Influenced by Caregivers, siblings, extended family members, teachers, and peers.
2.) Psychological functioning is mediated by language and other cultural tools.
 Technical tools are directed outward they change an external situation where psychological tools are
directed inward they change the mind and the process of thinking. Psychological Functioning - is the
ability to achieve his or her goals within themselves and the external environment. Includes an
individual’s behavior, emotion, social skills, and overall health.
■ Examples:
– Technical Tools - tools for acting on the environment. Examples: Silverware, tractors, hammers
– Psychological Tools - tools that influence the way we organize and remember information.
Examples: Language, Maps, Diagrams

12. 3.) Cultural norms and other people influence opportunities for learning. Cultural norms are what are
considered normal or typical within a group/country/ etc. Example: Tipping waitress in America
• Availability of education.
• Expectations about work, study or play.
• Sharing of values.
4.) Social and Cultural Learning requires particular cognitive abilities. Cognitive abilities - are skills
we need to carry out any task from simple to most complex. They have more to do with the mechanisms of
how we learn, remember, problem-solve, and pay attention rather than with any actual knowledge.
 Inter-subjectivity
– Shared understanding between people that emerges through the process of mutual attention and
communication.
 Three forms of Cultural Learning
– Imitative Learning - Reproducing another individual's behavior in order to achieve the same
goal.
– Instructional Learning - Involves direct, intentional transmission of information from one
individual to another with the learner attempting to understand the task or material.
– Collaborative Learning - Learning that occurs when multiple individuals engage in cooperative,
goal-directed problem-solving.

13. Piaget vs. Vygotsky: Key Differences
So how does Vygotsky's sociocultural theory differ from
Piaget's theory of cognitive development?
 First, Vygotsky placed a greater
emphasis on how social factors influence
development. While Piaget's theory
stressed how a child's interactions and
explorations influenced development,
Vygotsky stressed the essential role that
social interactions play in cognitive
development.
 Another important difference between
the two theories was that while Piaget's
theory suggests that development is largely
universal, Vygotsky suggested that
cognitive development can differ between
different cultures. The course of
development in a Western culture, for
example, might be different than it is in an
Eastern culture.

14. Piaget vs. Vygotsky: Key Differences
So how does Vygotsky's sociocultural theory differ from Piaget's
theory of cognitive development?
 Vygotsky and Piaget, according to both,
children construct knowledge by learning. But
there are many differences between the two
psychologists’ concept of the theory.
 Vygotsky says that language and culture are
more important than maturation. But,
according to Piaget, there are stages of
thinking based on natural maturation. Role of
teachers is central according to Vygotsky and
the opposite in Piaget.
 According to Vygotsky, children need
opportunities to develop skills in
various things. For this, scaffolding is
important.
 He states that language is a means to
achieve cognitive development while
Piaget regards language as a measure
of cognitive development.

16.  The concept of mediation: Human relations with the world
are not direct but “mediated” by physical and symbolic tools.
 The central and distinguishing concept of sociocultural theory is that higher forms of
human mental activity are mediated. Vygotsky argued that just as humans do not act
directly on the physical world but rely, instead, on tools and labor activity, we also use
symbolic tools, or signs, to mediate and regulate our relationships with others and with
ourselves. Physical and symbolic tools are artifacts created by human cultures over time
and are made available to succeeding generations, which often modify these artifacts
before passing them on to future generations. Included among symbolic tools are
numbers and arithmetic systems, music, art, and, above all, language. As with physical
tools, humans use symbolic artifacts to establish an indirect, or mediated, relationship
between ourselves and the world. The task for psychology, in Vygotsky’s view, is to
understand how human social and mental activity is organized through culturally
constructed artifacts and social relationships.

17.  The Zone of Proximal Development
 An important component of
the social learning process
 The zone of proximal
development (ZPD) is the range of
abilities that an individual can
perform with assistance, but
cannot yet perform independently.
Vygotsky's Definition of ZPD
 Zone of proximal development is a concept that
was created by influential psychologist Lev
Vygotsky. According to Vygotsky:
 "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, 1978)

18.  The Zone of Proximal Development
■ The ZPD draws attention to three important issues. First, it focuses attention on
children's mental functions that are currently going on, but are not yet complete.
Second, it recognized help from peers or adults as a method of learning. Third, it
helped to separate between actual and potential learning ability. The actual ability of
a child is what they can do without any help from others, while potential learning
ability is when a child needs help in order to complete a task. Three assumptions are
often discussed in relation to the ZPD. They include generality assumption,
assistance assumption and potential assumption.
■ Assistance assumption shows how someone helping a child should interact with
them.
■ Potential assumption centers around the ability and readiness of a child to learn.

19. Applications of ZPD in the Classroom
 The zone of proximal development is a moving target. As a learner gains new skills
and abilities, this zone moves progressively forward. Teachers and parents can take
advantage of this by continually providing educational opportunities that are a slight
stretch of a child's existing knowledge and skills. By giving children tasks that they
cannot quite do easily on their own and providing the guidance they need to accomplish
it, educators can progressively advance the learning process.
 For example, a teacher in an experimental psychology course might initially provide
scaffolding for students by coaching them step-by-step through their experiments. Next,
the teacher might slowly remove the scaffolding by only providing outlines or brief
descriptions of how to proceed. Finally, students would be expected to develop and carry
out their experiments independently.

20.  The Importance of
the "More Knowledgeable Other"
 The concept of the "more knowledgeable
other" is quite simple and fairly self-
explanatory. The more knowledgeable other
is someone who has a higher level of
knowledge than the learner. It is the more
knowledgeable other who provides the
critical guidance and instruction during the
sensitive learning period. While a child
might not yet be capable of doing something
on her own, she is able to perform the task
with the assistance of a skilled instructor.
 The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is refers to
someone who has a better understanding or a higher
ability level than the learner, with respect to a
particular task, process, or concept.
 Although the implication is that the MKO is a
teacher or an older adult, this is not necessarily the
case. Many times, a child's peers or an adult's
children may be the individuals with more
knowledge or experience.

23.  The Importance of Social Interaction
 This more knowledgeable other is often a parent, teacher, or another adult, but this
is not always the case. In many instances, peers provide valuable assistance and
instruction. During certain periods of a child's life, they may even look to peers more
than they look to adults. The teen years, when forming an identity and fitting in is so
critical, is just one example. Kids at this age often look to their peers for information
about how to act and how to dress.
 Vygotsky believed that peer interaction was an essential part of the learning
process. In order for children to learn new skills, he suggested pairing more
competent students with less skilled ones.

24.  Scaffolding
When children are in ZPD, providing
them with the appropriate assistance
and tools, which he referred to
as scaffolding, gives students what
they need to accomplish the new task
or skill.
Eventually, the scaffolding can be
removed and the student will be able
to complete the task independently.
 In the 1970s, Bruner, Wood and Ross created
the term "scaffolding" to add to sociocultural
theory. Scaffolding describes the interaction
between a child and an adult who helps them
finish a task that they could not do alone.
Scaffolding relates to Vygotsky's sociocultural
theory because it recognizes the role of social
interaction on learning and how other people
affect the development of children. It involves
changing the way a more skilled person helps a
child in doing a task based on their available
learning ability. scaffolding in sociocultural
theory helps support a child as their mental
processes develop.

25. Scaffolding
 There are three essential features of scaffolding that facilitate learning. The first
feature has to do with the interaction between the learner and the expert. This interaction
should be collaborative for it to be effective. The second, learning should take place in
the learner's Zone of Proximal Development. To do that the expert needs to be aware of
the learner's current level of knowledge and then work to a certain extent beyond that
level. The third feature of scaffolding is that the scaffold, the support, and guidance
provided by the expert, is gradually removed as the learner becomes more proficient. The
support and guidance provided to the learner is compared to the scaffolds in building
construction where the scaffolds provide both "adjustable and temporal" support to the
building under construction. The support and guidance provided to learners facilitate
internalization of the knowledge needed to complete the task. This support is removed
gradually until the learner is independent.

26. Scaffolding
■ Over the course of a teaching session, one can adjust the amount of guidance to fit the
child's potential level of performance. More support is offered when a child is having
difficulty with a particular task and, over time, less support is provided as the child
makes gains on the task. Ideally, scaffolding works to maintain the child's potential
level of development in the ZPD. An essential element to the ZPD and scaffolding is
the acquisition of language.
■ Examples of Scaffolding:
– Providing a rubric for a student paper
– Asking a student leading questions
– Providing sample work for students to look at

27. Summary: Vygotsky Scaffolding and
the Zone of Proximal Development
 Scaffolding is a teaching method that uses instructors and more advanced peers to help
students learn. It states that students will learn more when they receive guidance from
someone with more skills in the subject they’re learning than they would if they were
tackling the subject on their own.
 Scaffolding is part of the education theory the zone of proximal development. The ZPD
states that each student has three levels of learning: things the student can accomplish on her
own, things she can accomplish with help from someone else (ZPD) and things she can’t
accomplish no matter how much help she has. The ZPD and scaffolding theory is that
students learn the most when they’re in their ZPD.
 Vygotsky developed the ZPD, while Jerome Bruner developed scaffolding psychology
several decades later. Studies have shown that scaffolding can be a very effective teaching
method, as long as the teacher understands the concepts behind it and doesn’t provide too
much guidance.

28.  Private speech
 Private speech takes place when children talk to themselves. Vygotsky saw this as the
starting point for all mental developments. According to Lantolf, Vygotsky believed "it is
the process of privatizing speech that higher forms of consciousness arise on the inner
plane and in this way our biological capacities are organized into a culturally mediated
mind."
 Vygotsky thought that by using private speech that a child's biological instincts were
made into culturally acceptable ways of acting. Children spoke to themselves as a way of
guiding themselves through an action. Private speech changes as children age, beginning
as external (out loud) speech when they are younger but then becoming more internal
(within themselves) as they age. Through relationships with more capable people, children
get information and use that understanding in their private speech. Private speech showed
how children use the support given to them by others to assist their own way of thinking
and how they act.

29.  Make-believe play
 Vygotsky saw make-believe play as an important part of child development. It is one
of the main ways of developing during the preschool years. Children use make-believe
play to test multiple skills and achieve important cultural abilities. Vygotsky suggested
that as children take part in made up situations they learn how to act in agreement with
their internal ideas, not just external ideas.
 During play children put themselves into the adult roles of their culture and practice
how they will act in the future. Play takes place before development so children can start
to gain the motivation, abilities and attitudes needed for social participation, which can be
done only with the help of peers and adults. Make-believe play allows children to practice
how they would act in the real world. It provides them with a way to gain the basic skills
needed to function in their society before they become adults. However, learning these
roles and skills is only done with help from others in their culture.

30.  Observations About Social Learning
Theory
 "Social and Personality Development," author David R. Shaffer explains
that while Piaget believed that cognitive development was fairly universal,
Vygotsky believed that each culture presents unique differences. Because
cultures can vary so dramatically, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory suggests that
both the course and content of intellectual development are not as universal as
Piaget believed.

31.  Principles of Sociocultural Theory
■ Children construct their own knowledge: Knowledge is not transferable; it needs learning.
Acquiring knowledge is an individual ability. However, children might need help to do so.
■ Learning needs mediation: Other people interact with the child to use tools and facilitate the
learning process.
■ Language is used for mental development: People use language to develop higher
psychological functions.
■ Two levels of learning: It happens on social level at first and then on individual level.
■ Social context is important: If a person does not get the proper social environment to
develop, cognition does not develop.
■ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): It is how much a child develops with help from
society. It differs from that of the development that happens without help.

32.  Examples of Sociocultural Theory
■ A child can’t learn many things without society like language skills. They need to be with people
to learn how to use language.
■ People develop their own cognition by reading, interacting, using various tools. So, a person’s
cognitive level and another person can be different.
■ One child can be curious, exploring, eager to learn and hardworking, while another child might not
be. Someone might be better at indoor games while someone at outdoor games. People differ
according to their cognitive development and their interests.
■ Individual persistence can help the person acquire new skills and knowledge. The child has never
seen anyone play a Chinese game called Mahjong, the child will not be able to know how to play
it. But if someone shows him/her, the child will develop a skill to play the game. He/she can even
surpass the skills of the person who taught him/her with practice and cognitive development. When
a child is first taught to write, he/she might not be able to do it right away but can write well after
several days’ practice.

33. ■ Sociocultural is concerned with how
individual, social, and contextual issues
impact human activity, especially learning
and behavior.
■ Sociocultural Theory also takes into
account how learners are impacted by
their peers, and how social scenarios
impact their ability to acquire information.
As such, instructors who apply the
Sociocultural Theory in their instructional
design can also become aware of how
learners may directly impact one another,
as well as how cultural “norms” can
influence a learner's learning behavior.
■ The construction of knowledge is a
socioculturally mediated process affected by
the physical and psychological tools and
artifacts
1) Learning precedes development
2) Language is the main vehicle (tool) of
thought
3) Mediation is central to learning.
4) Social interaction is the basis of learning and
development. Learning is a process of
apprenticeship and internalization in which
skills and knowledge are transformed from
the social into the cognitive plane.