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The Effects of Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory on Second Language View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Revistas Universidad Santo Tomás - Seccional Bucaramanga The effects of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory on second language acquisition and language Input Efectos de la teoría sociocultural de Vygotsky en el aprendizaje de una segunda lengua y aporte lingüístico Leidy Johanna Villamizar Castrillón Master in Education from University of Alabama, USA. Currently teaching English and member of the Foreign Language Proficiency Team & Internationalization Department at Universidad Santo Tomas de Aquino, Floridablanca, Colombia Correo electrónico: [email protected] Recibido 20 de octubre de 2016; aceptado 17 de noviembre de 2016 Cómo citar este artículo: Villamizar, L.J. (2017). Efectos de la teoría sociocultural de Vygotsky en el aprendizaje de una segunda lengua y aporte lingüístico. Espiral, Revista de Docencia e Investigación, 7(1), 91 - 102. Abstract input that is highly beyond students’ level of competence Objective. The present reflection article derives and multiple interactions at all levels throughout the lesson from a Diploma Course on Updating Teaching English from the preparation and delivery to the assessment stage. Practices with Emphasis on Designing Learning Experien- ces, which took place at Universidad Industrial de San- Keywords: Higher order thinking skills, Input, tander, Colombia. It is aimed at reflecting upon the key Scaffolding, second language acquisition, interaction, role of comprehensible input and social interactions SIOP. between second language learners, teachers, peers and a meaningful learning environment. In addition, a revo- Resumen lutionary teaching model called SIOP for English learners Objetivo. El presente artículo de reflexión se deriva will be described in terms of definition, justification and del Diplomado en Actualización de Prácticas de Ense- application to the classroom. ñanza del Inglés con énfasis en el Diseño de Experien- Methodology. This paper is framed within a docu- cias de Aprendizaje, el cual tuvo lugar en la Universidad mentary research that, from a hermeneutic perspective, Industrial de Santander, Colombia. Tiene como objeti- makes reference not only to the methodology, assign- vo suscitar una reflexión acerca del papel fundamental ments and resources used for second language acquisi- del input comprensible y las interacciones sociales en- tion in a formal academic setting, but also to the suitable tre los estudiantes de una segunda lengua, docentes y language input students should be encountered with to compañeros en un espacio de aprendizaje significativo. reach higher order thinking processes and develop outs- Adicionalmente, un modelo de enseñanza revoluciona- tanding communicative skills. The results of this concep- rio llamado SIOP para estudiantes de inglés será descrito tual analysis, focused on the Sociocultural Theory elabo- en términos de su definición, justificación y aplicación al rated by the psychologist Lev Vygotsky, have allowed us aula de clase. to examine how a second language is learned successfu- Metodología. El enfoque está enmarcado en la in- lly if teachers are able to manipulate input through effec- vestigación documental que desde una visión herme- tive scaffolding techniques which are thought to offer néutica hace referencia no solo a la metodología, tareas support to each student throughout the learning pro- y recursos utilizados para la adquisición de una segunda cess until they can progressively get rid of it. lengua en un escenario académico formal, sino también Results. The impact of the Socio-cultural Theory by al aporte lingüístico apropiado con el cual los aprendi- Vygotsky on second language acquisition leads us to ces deben interactuar con el fin de alcanzar procesos de suggest the SIOP as a new approach towards English pensamiento complejos y desarrollar habilidades comu- teaching. This emphasizes the use of comprehensible nicativas sobresalientes. Los resultados de esta profun- ESPIRAL, Revista de Docencia e Investigación Vol. 7 Número 1 • pp. 91 - 102 • enero - junio 2017 • ISSN 2256-151X • ISSN Digital 2389-9719 • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15332/erdi.v7i1.1780 92 The effects of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory on second language acquisition and language Input dización conceptual, enfocada en la teoría sociocultural states the ZPD contains two basic components: elaborada por el sicólogo Lev Vygotsky, han permitido first, there is always a task or a problem that examinar cómo se aprende una segunda lengua exi- needs to be solved with the help of someone tosamente, si los docentes intentan manipular el input adecuadamente por medio de estrategias de soporte o else who is considered the expert on the mat- andamiaje, las cuales están diseñadas para ofrecer apoyo ter; and second, there is also a person, often ca- a los estudiantes a lo largo de su proceso de aprendizaje lled novice, who can do better if well-assisted. hasta que puedan progresivamente deshacerse de ellas. Although there have been a number of contro- Resultados. Los aportes de la Teoría Sociocultural versies about what type of participant can be de Vygotsky en el aprendizaje de una segunda lengua llevan a sugerir el SIOP como un nuevo enfoque hacia la named as the “expert”, more and more resear- enseñanza del inglés. Esta estrategia se enfoca en el uso chers believe that experts can be not only tea- del input comprensible que está significativamente por chers or high achiever students, but also other encima del nivel de competencia de los estudiantes, así peers, parents or administrators. como en las múltiples interacciones a diferente nivel a lo largo de la clase, desde la preparación y la instrucción The Role of Input in SLA hasta la etapa de evaluación. Vygotsky assures that for learning to hap- Palabras clave: Adquisición de una segunda len- pen, both suitable input and output should be gua, estrategias de soporte, input, procesos de pensa- miento, interacción, SIOP. facilitated in explicit instruction. At this point, several discrepancies have arisen. Benati (2016) calls for a reflection upon the role of instruction Introduction in SLA and wonders if explicit teaching does re- ally make a difference. He lists educators such Humans are essentially social beings. Since as Krashen, author of the Natural Approach the time we are born, a variety of social inte- (1985) and the Input Hypothesis, who states that ractions start to take place within our families, humans, whether they are embedded in a for- schools, communities and definitely, our own mal or non-formal educational setting, acquire learning situations. As a natural process, lear- a language by understanding messages that ning is a complex and dynamic experience in contain structures slightly beyond their level of which learners, teachers, peers and a specific competence. In other words, the more compre- environment interact between each other in hensible input through listening and reading order to gain higher mental functioning. opportunities students face, the closer they are to SLA. Similarly, White insists on the irrelevan- Multiple researchers on language learning ce of direct language instruction, due to the have attempted to study how those social fact that some language aspects are universal interactions can actually lead to successful so there is no need for teacher directed lessons Second Language Acquisition (hereinafter for SLA to happen. Pienemann & Lenzing go referred to as SLA). According to Vygotsky’s beyond the idea of explicit instruction and as- Sociocultural Theory (1978) learning should sure that if used, it needs to consider the level always be closely related to what students al- of readiness students’ show. ready know (prior knowledge) and from there; teachers should start elaborating suitable ex- On the other hand, there have been other periences to achieve higher mental processes authors such as Van Patten who certainly have (Turuk, 2008). This is known as the Zone of Pro- faith in direct instruction because they have ximal Development (hereinafter referred to as examined the way second language learners ZPD) in which memorizing, thinking, paying process information and found out that they attention, problem-solving and concept forma- first focus on meaning (words) and later on tion skills should be fostered. As Nguyen (2013) forms (grammar). What this means is that tea- ÍTACA: ARTÍCULOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN E INNOVACIÓN 93 chers need to attempt to provide more explicit As mentioned above by Vygotsky (1978), exposure to grammar aspects systematically, input and output are mutually dependant. Tea- since these are not really acquired by solely con- chers cannot provide appropriate input if they tact with comprehensible input. Consequently, have not analyzed their students’ output first; instruction is seen as an effective facilitator and likewise, students cannot generate effecti- to reach native-like linguistic competence by ve output if they have not received meaningful trying to match the explicit knowledge sugges- input. As a result, both are equally important in ted and the implicit mental representations order to reach students’ ZPD successfully. As a shaped in students’ minds. Among the techni- matter of fact, Navracsics (2014) declares that ques to manipulate a second language in order both the quality and quantity of comprehensi- to make it more accessible to new learners, the ble input configures students’ second langua- input flood and the textual enhancement are ge proficiency levels and
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