A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition PDF

# A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition ## Marysia Johnson - Arizona State University - Department of English - Linguistics/TESL Program ## A Dialogical Approach to SLA ### Principles of Vygotsky's Theory * The first tenet of Vygotsky's SCT, states that a thorough analysis of human menta...

# A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition ## Marysia Johnson - Arizona State University - Department of English - Linguistics/TESL Program ## A Dialogical Approach to SLA ### Principles of Vygotsky's Theory * The first tenet of Vygotsky's SCT, states that a thorough analysis of human mental functions at all levels (phylogenesis, sociocultural history, ontogenesis, and microgenesis) is necessary to fully understand human mental functioning. * The second tenet of Vygotsky's SCT claims that higher mental functions (rational thought and learning) are a result of social activity. This is based on the "general genetic law of cultural development:" Any function in the child’s cultural development appears twice, or on two planes. First it appears on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane. First it appears between people as an interpsychological category, and then within the child as an intrapsychological category. * The third tenet of Vygotsky's SCT maintains that higher mental functions develop by means of a process of internalization of many patterns observed on the social plane. This internalization, though originated on the interpersonal plane, does not represent a replica of the interpersonal plane because internalization transforms the process itself and changes its structure and functions. The individual internalizes the patterns of social activities on the interpersonal plane, moving from being solely controlled by the environment to being regulated by others to eventually becoming self-regulated. **Vygotsky's SCT undermined Piage's claim that higher mental functions unfold independent of social contexts and they are not influenced by external processes** claiming instead that the natural or biological line of development is "raw material" that is transformed by learning available to a child on the sociocultural plane. The sociocultural plane provides the necessary foundation for the development of higher mental functions. ### Zone of Proximal Development To explain the relation between the interpersonal and the intrapersonal plane, Vygotsky developed **the zone of proximal development (ZPD)** which he defined as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers." The zone of proximal development illustrates two crucial levels of development: actual and potential. The actual represents a child's ability to perform mental activities without help from a more capable peer and indicates that the functions associated with the independently performed activities have been stabilized. The potential level of development indicates that certain mental functions have not been stabilized and require intervention. ### The Mediated Role of Language in the Development of Human Higher Mental Functions Vygotsky's fundamental theoretical insight is that language, in addition to fulfilling its communicative function, serves as a means of organizing mental activities. Language regulates and facilitates not only a child's manipulation of objects but also his or her behavior. The main function of speech is to serve as a mediator between two planes: the interpersonal (between people) and the intrapersonal (within the individual). At the age of seven, the child distinguishes between two functions of speech: speech for oneself and speech for the other. ### Egocentric Speech Egocentric speech signals the beginning of the transition from the interpersonal plane to the intrapersonal plane. When this transition is completed, egocentric speech becomes inner speech, "speech for oneself." Egocentric speech appears when a child is confronted with a task that exceeds his or her current level of development. The child develops a method of behavior, egocentric speech, that, combined with appeals for help from an adult, guides the child through the problem-solving activity. This is one way he or she can move beyond his or her actual development. Egocentric speech resembles interpersonal patterns of speech but lacks all grammatical features of social speech. It is important because it reveals some insights about the structure of human higher mental functions. **Vygotsky did not accept the notion that egocentric speech simply disappears with the child's cognitive development** claiming that egocentric speech turns inward and becomes verbal thought-inner speech-a silent and inaudible dialogue in the mind of the individual. Inner speech provides us with invaluable insights as to the nature and structure of verbal thoughts. "Speech without words." ### Inner Speech One observes a close link between the inner speech of the adult and the egocentric speech of the child, revealing that inner speech is not an antecedent nor reproduction of external speech, but the opposite. Instead, it is the process is reversed, going from outside to inside. The reduced nature of phonetics is also typical of inner speech. Inner speech is not fully vocalized and works with semantics not phonetics. Vygotsky considers inner speech to be the main vehicle of higher mental functions that involve planning and monitoring of activity. Verbal thought, "thinking in pure meanings," is a dynamic, shifting, unstable thing, fluttering between words and thought, the two more or less stable, more or less firmly delineated components of verbal thought. ### Activity Theory The relation between sociocultural theory and activity theory is still the object of debate among Russian psychologists and scientists. Western psychologists and scientists have a tendency to merge activity and sociocultural theories into one framework. The two theories were interconnected through the life and work of Leont’ev, who worked with Vygotsky and was one of his closest students and collaborators. ### The Role of Private Speech and Inner Speech in SLA Private speech (egocentric speech), according to Vygotsky, plays a crucial role in human cognitive development. It represents the learner's attempt to self-regulate to take control of their cognitive growth, but has not been given much attention in the field of SLA. McCafferty (1998) conducted an empirical study to examine the relation between the use of private speech and L2 proficiency level. The assumption was that with increased L2 proficiency the use of private speech would diminish in a similar fashion to the child's decreasing use of private speech when the child's cognitive development increases. The researcher expected that ESL learners at the low proficiency level would employ private speech more often than ESL students at the higher level of L2 proficiency. Greater difficulty in expressing themselves in English as a second language is a potential reason for the anticipated difference. ### A Second Language Inner Speech Model The internalized knowledge of language, in the form of inner speech, serves as a conduit for L2 thoughts and L2 external realizations of those thoughts. The second language inner speech model includes the integration of L1 knowledge and graphic symbols. ### The Appropriation of Gestures of the Abstract by L2 Learners Gestures, according to Vygotsky, are conventional substitutes for words that precede the 'discovery of language' and appear long before the child is capable of logical operations. The study examined the appropriation of gestures in the same fashion by learners acquiring the L2 under two different conditions: the naturalistic condition and the instruction-only condition. The naturalistic condition in the study was defined as residing in a country where the L2 is the everyday language of use (McCafferty and Ahmed, 2000). The instruction-only condition was defined as the acquisition of a second language primarily through instruction. Naturalistic learners of English seemed to have acquired the type of gestures that traditionally tend to be associated with western cultures: bounded container gestures. When exposed to American culture, the naturalistic learners then appropriated those American nonverbal cultural heritage types of gestures, which they employed in conversations with their Japanese interlocutors. The study found that naturalistic learners of English in naturalistic contexts provide ample opportunities to appropriate not only verbal but also nonverbal signs. ### Second Language Learning as Participation and the (Re)Construction of Selves Pavlenko and Lantolf (2000) proposed a new metaphor for language learning- the participation metaphor (PM)- not as a replacement for, but as a complement to the prevailing acquisition metaphor (AM). The participation metaphor entails learning the linguistic rules and vocabulary of the target language and focuses on an individual's cognitive processes, processes that lead to the accumulation of linguistic knowledge which is commonly associated with the computer, the container, and the information processor metaphors. The participation metaphor emphasizes language acquisition as a process of becoming a member of the community, engaging in the language and acting according to its particular norms. It focuses on the individual’s ability to actively participate in the target culture. It is indispensible for the authors' ability to analyze first-person narratives produced by biculturals and bilinguals, who shared their personal stories of becoming active participants in a new L2 society. First-person narratives have not been widely accepted by members of the SLA community who favor quantitative and experimental types of methodologies. ### Dialogic Approach to Second Language Learning The dialogic approach to SLA is based on Vygotsky’s SCT and Bakhtin’s literary theory. The dialogic approach unifies cognitive and social perspectives. This new approach provides a unified basis for all SLA theories, models, and practices and promotes true cooperation between all parties involved in investigating and understanding the complex processes of second language acquisition. **The dialogic approach empowers all who are involved in second language acquisition processes by acknowledging the importance of all different voices and by promoting local independence, active participation, and self-reliance.**