Sociocultural Theory and the Teaching of Second Languages - James P. Lantolf
7 Revolutionary Pedagogies: Learning that Leads (to) Second Language Development
Sociocultural Theory and the Teaching of Second Languages - James P. Lantolf
Eduardo Negueruela-Azarola [+]
University of Navarra
Description
The initial chapter, authored by Negueruela and entitled ‘Revolutionary Pedagogies: Learning that Leads (to) Second Language Development’ serves to introduce this set of chapters as it outlines many of the principles of concept-based instruction as described in one of the two most important pedagogical interpreters of Vygotsky’s theory, Piotr Gal’perin. Because it also questions some of the traditional assumptions associated with the ZPD, the chapter also bridges to the initial section. Negueruela argues for what the author calls a ‘revolutionary pedagogy’ based on the principle that in the ZPD learning and development form a dialectic unity in which each process promotes the other, unlike in a more traditional approach to instruction where it is assumed that effective learning depends on developmental readiness. Negueruela proposes that because neither the path nor the outcome of development is predictable (indeed, it is revolutionary) it is perhaps more appropriate to change the term Zone of Proximal Development, which the author argue carries implications of inevitability, to Zone of ‘Potential’ Development, which is more openended. The chapter then moves to a discussion of a portion of the datafrom a pedagogical study conducted by the author based on Gal’perin’s concept-based approach to education. Drawing on his dissertation research (Negueruela 2003), Negueruela documents the process that one learner went through as she attempted to appropriate the concept of mood in Spanish through CBI principles. Here the author considers three sources of data: learner performance, verbalization of the concept and her reactions to the new pedagogical approach.