Manuscript accepted for publication in Review of Educational Research “Vygotskys Neglected Legacy”: Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Wolff-Michael Roth1, Yew-Jin Lee2 1University of Victoria, 2National Institute of Education, Singapore All correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Wolff-Michael Roth, Lansdowne Professor, Applied Cognitive Science, MacLaurin Building A548, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 3N4. E-mail:
[email protected]. Tel: 1-250-721-7885 FAX: 1-250-721-7767 Running Head: Cultural-historical activity theory Cultural-historical activity theory 2 “Vygotskys Neglected Legacy”: Cultural-Historical Activity Theory ABSTRACT: We describe an evolving theoretical framework that has been called one of the best-kept secrets of academia: cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) is the result of proposals Lev Vygotsky first articulated, but which his students and followers substantially developed to constitute much expanded forms in its second and third generation. Besides showing that activity theory transforms how research should proceed regarding language, language learning, and literacy in particular, we demonstrate how it is a theory for praxis, thereby offering the potential to overcome some of the most profound problems that has plagued both educational theorizing and practice. Cultural-historical activity theory 3 Introduction More than seven decades ago, the Russian psychologist Lev S. Vygotsky noted that (educational) psychology was in a state of crisis because of the “atomistic and functional modes of analysis . [that] treated psychic processes in isolation” (Vygotsky, 1986, p. 1). Specifically, he pointed out that the separation of intellect and affect “as subjects of study [was] a major weakness of traditional psychology, since it [made] the thought process appear as an autonomous flow of ‘thoughts thinking themselves,’ segregated from the fullness of life, from the personal need and interests, the inclinations and impulses of the thinker” (p.