Power point

2. Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky
Sociocultural Theory
Abigail Cruz Silva
Prof. Diaz

3. Biography
 Born in Western Russia in 1896.
 Graduated with law degree at the Institute of
Psychology in Moscow.
 He studied there from (1924-34).
 There he expanded his ideas on cognitive
development,particularly the relation between
language and thinking.

4. Biography
 His writings emphasized the roles of
historical, cultural, and social factors in
cognition and argued that language was the
most important symbolic tool provided by
society.
 His thought and language is a classic text in
psycholinguistics.
 He died of tuberculosis in 1934 at the age of
37.

5. Sociocultural Theory
 Culture is the prime determinant of individual
development.
 Every function in the child's cultural
development appears twice: first, on the
social level, and later, on the individual level.
 Development depends on interaction with
people and the tools that the culture provides
to help form their own view of the world.

6. Sociocultural Theory
 Cognitive skills and patterns of thinking are
not primarily determined by innate factors, but
are the products of the activities practiced in
the social institutions of the culture in which
the individual grows up.
 In this process of cognitive development,
language is a crucial tool for determining how
the child will learn how to think because
advanced modes of though are transmitted to
the child by means of words.

7. Sociocultural Theory
 Cognitive development results from a
dialectical process whereby a child learns
through problem-solving experiences shared
with someone else.
 As learning progresses, the child’s own
language comes to serve as her primary tool
of intellectual adaptation. Eventually,
children can use internal language to direct
their own behavior.

8. Three underlying themes that unify
Vygotsky’s complex and far-reaching
theory
The importance of culture.
The central role of language
The Zone of Proximal
Development

9. The importance of culture
Our cultures grow and change as we
develop, and employ extremely powerful
influences on all of us. They dictate what he
calls “elementary mental functions” and
“higher mental functions” .

10. Elementary Mental Functions
What children had when they were born.
Natural/lower or elementary abilities make it
possible for people to do new things that are
different from higher abilities.

11. Higher “cultural” Mental
Functions
 Our higher mental functions develop through social
interaction, being socially or culturally mediated.It’s the
abstract reasoning, logical memory, language,
voluntary attention, planning, decision-making, etc. It
origin in human interaction and appears gradually
during the process of radical transformation of the
lower functions. These are specific human functions
which are formed and shaped gradually in a course of
transformation of the lower functions, according to
specific goals, practices, and beliefs of the persons
culture and social group.

12. Three ways that culture tool can pass
from one individual to another
 Imitative learning
Where one person imitate or copy another.
 Instructed learning
Involves remembering the instructions of the
teacher and then using these instructions to self-
regulate.
 Collaborative learning
Involves a group of peers who strive to
understand each other and work together to learn a
specific skill.

13. The central role of language
“The child begin to perceive the world not only
through its eyes but also through its speech. And later
it is not just seeing but acting tat becomes informed by
words”
“Thought is not merely expressed in words; it
comes into existence through them.”
“A word devoid of thought is a dead thing, and a
thought unembodied in words remains a shadow.”

14. The central role of language
Words play a central part not only in the
development of thought but in the historical growth of
consciousness as a whole. A word is a microcosm of
human consciousness.
Thought undergoes many changes as it turns into
speech. It does not merely find expression in speech;
it finds its reality and form.
Thought is not merely expressed in words; it
comes into existence through them.
…the speech structures mastered by the child become
the basic structures of this thinking.

15. The central role of language
 Language is made possible because of our
culture. The learning of language is brought
about by social processes, and language
ultimately make thought possible.
 Therefore, when a child is and infant, at the
preverbal stage of development, his
intelligence is a purely natural, useful
capacity.
 As a child begins to develop so does his
language.

16. The central role of language
 As a child begins to speak, his thought
processes also begin to develop. In
essence, it is language which direct behavior.
 Vygotsky describes three stages in the
development of speech. Each of these three
stages of speech has its own function.
Stages

17. Stages
Social Speech (external speech)
Egocentric Speech
Inner Speech

18. Social Speech (external speech)
In this stage a child uses speech to
control the behavior of others. A child uses
speech to express simple thoughts and
emotions such as crying, laughter and
shouting.

19. Egocentric Speech
In this stage, children often talk to
themselves, regardless of someone listening
to them. They think out loud in an attempt to
guide their own behavior. They may speak
about what they are doing as they do it. They
reason that language must be spoken if it is
to direct their behavior.

20. Inner Speech
Is a soundless speech used by older
children and adults. It allows us to direct our
thinking and behavior. Here we are able to
engage in all forms of higher mental
functions. In this stage one is able to “count
in one’s head, use logical memory-inherent
relationships, and inner signs.

21. The Zone of Proximal
Development
 It is the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of
potential as determined through problem
solving under adult guidance or in
collaboration with more capable peers.
 It represents the amount of learning possible
by a student given the proper instructional
conditions.

22. The Zone of Proximal
Development
 Refers to what children can do in their own as
the level of actual development that a
standard IQ test measure.
 Vygotsky says that two children might have
the same level of actual development, in the
sense of being able to solve the same
number of problems on some standardized
test.

23. The Zone of Proximal
Development
 Given appropriate help from an adult, still,
one child might be able to solve an additional
dozen problems while the other child might be
able to solve only two or three.
(example)

24. Example
 Two students, both of 8 years old. The
examiner provide guided assistance to each
of the two students in order to solve some
given ill-defined problem. The first students
can deal with ill-defined problems up to the
level of a 12 year old. The second student
can deal with ill-defined problems up to the
level of a 9 year old.

25. How Vygotsky Impacts Learning
 Curriculum
Since children learn much through interaction,
curricula should be design to emphasize interaction
between learners and learning tasks.
 Instruction
With appropriate adult help, children can often
perform tasks that they are incapable of completing on
their own. With this in mind, scaffolding is an effective
form of teaching.

26. How Vygotsky Impacts Learning
 Assessment
Assessment methods must take into account the
ZPD . What children can do on their own is their level
of actual development and what they can do with help
is their level of potential development.Assessment
methods must target both the level of actual
development and the level of potential development.