About the Book
L. S. Vygotsky, the renowned Russian psychologist, argued that the true test of any scientific theory is not the contribution it makes to our understanding of the object of study but the extent to which it improves the concrete practical activities of people, including those that take place in educational settings. The fourteen original chapters included in the present volume document innovations in second and foreign language teaching that are rooted in Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development. Researchers and language teaching practitioners will find implementations at the classroom and programmatic levels of Vygotskyan principles and concepts, including cognitive mediation, the zone of proximal development, activity theory, internalization, verbalization, and materialization.
Table of Contents:
Introduction - Fundamental Concepts and Principles of Sociocultural Theory James P. Lantolf, Pennsylvania State University, & Matthew E. Poehner, Juniata College 1. Both Sides of the Conversation: The Interplay between Mediation and Learner Reciprocity in Dynamic Assessment, Matthew E. Poehner, Juniata College 2. The Effects of Dynamic Assessment on L2 Listening Comprehension, Ruima Ableeva, Pennsylvania State University 3. Changing Examination Structures within a College of Education: the Application of Dynamic Assessment in a Pre-service ESOL Endorsement Program, Tony Erben, Ruth Ban, Robert Summers, University of South Florida 4. Project-based Learning, Autonomy, and Identity, Leo van Lier, Monterey Institute for International Studies 5. Embodied Language Performance: The ZPD and Drama in the Second Language Classroom, Steve McCafferty, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and John Haught, Wright State University 6. A Dialogic Approach to Teaching L2 Writing, Holbrook Mahn, University of New Mexico 7. Revolutionary Pedagogy: Learning that Leads Development in the L2 Classroom, Eduardo Negueruela, University of Miami 8. Materializing Linguistic Concepts through 3-D Clay Modeling: A Tool-and-Result Approach to Mediating L2 Spanish Development, Maria Serrano-Lopez, The Palm Key Institute and Matthew E. Poehner, Juniata College 9. From the Abstract to the Concrete: Vygotsky meets Halliday in the L2 Writing Class, Marilia Ferreira and James P. Lantolf, Pennsylvania State University 10. Mediation as Objectification in the Development of Professional Discourse: The Case of International Teaching Assistants, Steven L. Thorne, Jonathan Reinhardt, & Paula Golombek, Pennsylvania State University 11. Languaging: An Essential Element of Second Language Learning, Merrill Swain and Sharon Lapkin, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto 12. Service-learning and Sociocultural Theory: The Impact of Active Contribution on Learner Development, Howard Grabois, Purdue University 13. The Unfulfilled Promise of Language Teaching for Communicative Competence, Sally Sieloff Magnan, University of Wisconsin, Madison 14. Redesigning a B.Ed. Practicum According to Vygotskyan Principles: Pre-service Immersion Student-teachers in Australia, Tony Erben, University of South Florida
About the Author :
James P. Lantolf: George and Jane Greer Professor in Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics, Director of Center for Language Acquisition, and Co-director of Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education Research at the Pennsylvania State University. Research interests include Sociocultural Theory, second language acquisition, and metaphor and conceptual knowledge. Co-author with S.L. Thorne of Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development (Oxford University Press, 2006). Matthew E. Poehner: PhD, Pennsylvania State University (2005), Coordinator of Intensive English Program at Juniata College. Research interests include Sociocultural Theory, Dynamic Assessment, and Concept-Based Language Instruction. Has published articles in Journal of Applied Linguistics, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, and Language Teaching Research. Forthcoming book Dynamic Assessment: A Vygotskyan Approach to Understanding and Promoting Second Language Development.
