Sociocultural Approaches to Teaching to the Advanced Level: The Pedagogical

Imperative

James P. LantolfPenn State University

June 20, 2012UCLA Heritage Language Institute

jpl7@psu.educalper.la.psu.edu

Plan of Action

• 1. Background: SLA & SCT• 2. Bridging a GAP• 3. What GAP?• 4. Principles of SCT Developmental Education• 5. Concept-Based Instruction• 6. Examples: English, Spanish, Chinese• 7. Optional: Metaphor & Figurative Language• 8. Conclusion• 9. Sources & Resources

Knowledge & SLA

• The expectation that SLA research should somehow have immediate consequences for the classroom is predicated on certain assumptions and misunderstandings. SLA research should not be expected to improve instruction but it should inform so that teachers understand and gain insight into what the processes are that guide learning. (VanPatten 2010)

• “the imperative command that knowledge shall serve purpose, and learning be applied to the problem of human life” (Carl Becker 1912)

Theory/Research ***** Practice• van Lier (1994: 30)

– There has occurred a sort of ‘double split’ -- linguistics

(and SLA) with theory in one direction, and education

with practice in another -- and this split needs to be

resolved before we can once again speak of a healthy

AL (applied linguistics)

A dichotomy

• Bygate (2005)

– SLA by the 1980s had ‘declared itself a distinct

area from language pedagogy research, with the

principle aim of researching all aspects of second

language acquisition as an academic discipline in

its own right’

• Gass & Mackey (2007)

– ‘The interaction approach, like most other

accounts of second language acquisition, is

primarily focused on how languages are

learned. Thus, direct application to the

classroom may be premature’

• The fundamental psycholinguistic process of second language acquisition is the same whether learners enter classrooms or acquire language outside of them. (Gass 1989),

Bridging the Theory **** Practice Gap Erlam (2008) Ellis (2009)

• Convert technical knowledge into practical knowledge– Summaries of literature that are accessible to

teachers

• Make technical knowledge relevant– Ten Principles of effective instructed L2 learning

based on findings of SLA research

Sample Principles

• Ensure that learners focus primarily on meaning

• Ensure that learners also focus on form

• Instruction mainly directed at developing implicit

knowledge BUT not neglect explicit knowledge

• Instruction needs to take into account learner’s built-in

syllabus

An Alternative Approach: SCT• Overcome dualistic thinking of SLA

– Implicit vs. Explicit– Learning vs. Acquisition– Performance vs. Competence– Teaching vs. Learning

• Human as subject OR object > human as Subject & Object – humans shape the world they live in and AT THE

SAME TIME the world shapes humans

Education as Artificial Development of the Person

• Education: grounded in explicit mediation is

‘artificial development’ of the individual.

– ‘restructures all functions of behavior in a most essential manner’

(Vygotsky 1997)

Teaching/Learning Dialectic (Cole 2009)

• Obuchenie: double-sided process

– Learning (change in psychological process & knowledge)

– Organization of environment by adults

• everyday world as when adults mediate children into a

culture

• formal educational setting

– instruction

Comparing SLA and SCT

• SLA grounded in the ontology of the autonomous individual

• Development occurs inside of the head• Cognitive Perspective• Social provides support for development

• SCT grounded in the ontology of the social individual

• Development occurs at the nexus of the person and the other

• Also cognitive but cognition is not exclusively in the head

• Social is the source of (cultural) development

SLA-SCT

• SLA

– focuses on and privileges learning over teaching

– all developmental mechanisms are inside the learner

[the container]

• SCT

– focuses on dialectical unity of teaching/learning

– obuchenie is a central mechanism in development

The Vygotskian Project

The challenge:

Create rather than observe psychological

processes [including through education] that set

individuals free (AGENCY through language)

(Stetsenko & Arievitch 2004)

Defining Agency in SCTMiller (2012)

• Agency: competent planned self-regulation. The Zone of Proximal Development (effective educational practice) is a process in which an actor following instructions becomes transformed into an agent issuing instructions. – Internal mediation whereby the actions of the agent

are experienced as happenings to the agent.

Agency: Pre-Understanding > Understanding

• Intentionality—understanding in action mediated by reason or purpose– Determines direction or course of action

• Agent relies on (pre) understanding to produce action– Child wishing to obtain candy on high shelf

• Sees chair and stick in area but doesn’t think of using either as tool

–Pre-understanding of chair is as object for sitting– Adult mediates shift in understanding

• Chair can be used for standing– How?

Preunderstanding > Understanding

• In acquiring new understanding, learner must suspend existing understanding, or pre-understanding that may block learning process. – Being told to stand on chair may work – Being told that height and width of container must

be taken into account in judgments about quantity of liquid in container may not.

– No amount of staring at liquid in container will produce understanding about conversion. This will entrench pre-understanding. Action that challenges pre-understanding is needed to shed it.

Mediation

• Mediation as a form of other-regulation is a means of penetrating the circle of understanding by furnishing the mediatee not with ready-made understanding but with alternative pre-understandings that facilitate rather than obstruct engagement with a task.

• Mediation in the ZPD—dislodges existing pre-understanding of the mediatee that leads to new understanding.

Education as Mediated Activity(Miller 20102)

• Zone of Proximal Development– Performing without competence– Under guidance of other– NOT a DIALOGUE

• Mediator and mediatee do not share common understanding of situation.

• Not subject to same dynamics that govern conversation

Mediation vs. Dialogue(Miller 2012)

• Mediation -- Dialogue different kinds of communication – Dialogue: meanings/understandings exchanged When mutual

understanding does not exist, dialogue breaks down. Different form of communicated need to restore dialogue

– Mediation in ZPD: new understanding in situations where pre-understanding is inadequate

• Mediator: entrench tradition that informs her/his understanding through monologue because instruction does not invite exchange of ideas

• Mediatee: appropriate new understanding that dislodges current pre-understanding

Scientific Concept as Unit of Instruction

• Scientific Concept

– Coherent. Systematic & Abstract

– Generative & Recontextualizable

• Everyday Concept

– Lack generality, abstractness, & independence

– Limited contexts of applicability

• Valsiner (2001) & Kozulin (1998)

The Argument

• Scientific Knowledge of L2

– Primary unit of classroom instruction & development

– Conscious awareness and control

– Speeded-up Processing (Paradis, 2009)

– Grounded in systematic linguistic research

– From the outset of an instructional program

– Not an argument against CLT

• Dialectical Unity of Explicit Knowledge & Communicative Performance

Michel Paradis (2009). Declarative and procedural determinants of second languages

• While L1 is not like learning to draw Mickey Mouse, L2 for most adults, especially in non-immersion experiences is.

– Learning and performance guided by declarative knowledge

– Knowledge of L2 is equivalent to L1 lexical knowledge—declarative

– Declarative knowledge cannot become proceduralized or implicit as L1 is.

– Declarative knowledge can become speeded up or accelerated

– Declarative knowledge performance can serve as input to implicit learning system in some cases

Language as Object – Language as Subject(Widdowson 2002)

• Object: what users actually do– Relevant for linguistic theorizing to uncover nature

of language• Subject: a language we teach

– Pedagogically treated language– Essential and salient aspects of grammar, semantic

potential, pragmatics• Conceptual knowledge = explanation• Contextual knowledge = exemplification

Receptivity vs. Passivity

• Active Construction Passive Reception

Active Reception

Systemic-Theoretical Instruction: P. Galperin

• Explanation– Presentation of Scientific Concept

• Materialization/Visualization– Concretize as SCOBA [Schema for Orienting Basis

of Action]• Communication

– Goal-directed oral and written performance• Strategic Interaction [Di Pietro 1987]

• Verbalization [social and private languaging]– Of Concept using SCOBA – Use SCOBA to explain performance

• Internalization & Speeded-up Processing

Rule-of-ThumbReductiveEmpirically basedHighly Context DependentGives impression that language is about using right

forms and avoiding wrong forms--language controls the person– Rather than that language is a cultural artifact to

construct the meanings they need for communicative and cognitive activity

Example of Rule-of-Thumb• Spanish Aspect (Preterit vs. Imperfect)

– Preterit: “reports, records, narrates, and in the case of certain verbs (e.g., saber, querer, poder) causes a change of meaning

– Imperfect: “tells what was happening, recalls what used to happen describes a physical or mental emotion, tells time in the past, describes the background and sets the stage upon which another action occurred” • (Whitely 1986)

Negueruela 2003 on Rule of Thumb

• A concrete understanding of a linguistic concept, such as a rule of thumb, lack generality, abstractness, coherence, independence, functionality, and significance, since it can only be applied with difficulty to one context: namely the fill-in the blank activity or the constrained sentence level translation exercise.

Negueruela (2003) on Concept

• A theoretical concept is a coherent systematic general meaning that can be recontextualized for a variety of tasks. Its regulatory power comes from abstract generalization and conceptual specification (Valsiner 2001).

• Psychological – Linguistic Theories– Meaning is Primary

• Structure is Secondary and Derived– Connect Language to the World– Meaning is Flexible and Context Dependent– Language not modular

• Connected to other cognitive capacities

SCT & Cognitive

• Participants: 23 graduate students in ESL course– 21 in Ph.D. programs. 2 in MA programs

• Math, statistics, chemistry, entomology, engineering (chemical, mechanical, civil), computer science, forestry, economics

– L1• Chinese = 15 (12 China; 3 Taiwan)• Korea = 6• Thailand = 2

– Residency in US• 19 < one year• 3 between 1.5 & 3 years

Lee (2011). Concept-based approach to second language teaching and learning

Verb Particle

I took the mug out of the box Literal Literal

We fished out the ring Metaphorical Literal

We handed out the brochures

Literal Metaphorical

We picked out a name for the baby

Metaphorical Metaphorical

Verb-Particles Constructions (Lee 2011)

1. Out of Container

SCOBA for Particle OUT

2. Move out of group or set

3. Move out of container

4. Container increase in size

Performance Score Non-Guessing Score

Overall + Improved+ Transfer

+ Improved+ Transfer

Out + Improved- Transfer

+ Improved- Transfer

Up - Improved + Improved- Transfer

Over + Improved+ Transfer

+ Improve+ Transfer

Literal + Improved+ Transfer

+ Improved+ Transfer

Metaphorical + Improved+ Transfer

+Improved + Transfer

Summary of Quantitative Analysis

Verbal Aspect (Yañez-Prieto 2008)General Concept

• Stage I– Lexical Aspect

• Inherent in verbs reflecting nature of events in world

– Perfective: beginning and end of event coincide» Jump, throw, shoot, hit, etc.

– Imperfective: once initiated continues indefinitely

» Run, walk, talk, look, read, resemble, etc.

Verbal AspectRefining the Concept

• Stage II– Dynamicity: distinguish events from states

• Events– Activities: no specific end point--run, walk, talk, swim– Accomplishments: extended in time with end point--run a race,

paint a picture, build a chair– Achievements: inherent end point--jump, throw, shoot

– Telicity: clear end point• Achievements & Accomplishments• Activities & States are atelic--no clear end point

– Durativity: extend over time• Accomplishment and activities• Achievements are non-durative or punctual

Lexical Aspect

Dynamicity Durativity Telicity Punctual

Activities + + - -

Accomplishments + + + -

Achievements + - + +

States - + - -

Verbal Aspect & Grammar

• Stage III– Grammar allows user to override lexical aspect in order to bring

a specific temporal perspective into linguistic discourse-- NEW PROFILE TEMPORAL FEATURES OF EVENT OR SITUATION

• Morphological Endings of Verbs– Estar ‘to be’ (stative verb and therefore inherently, non-

dynamic, durative and atelic) can be brought into discourse as TELIC

– Estuvo en Madrid una semana ‘He/she was in Madrid for a week.

SCOBA: Verbal Aspect (Yañez-Prieto 2008)

SCOBA: Verbal Aspect (Yañez-Prieto 2008)

SCOBA: Verbal Aspect (Yañez-Prieto 2008)

SCOBA: Verbal Aspect (Yañez-Prieto 2008)

SCOBA: Verbal Aspect (Yañez-Prieto 2008)

Link to Practice: Literature

• Cognitive Dissonance• Activity 1: Julio Cortázar--Continuidad de los parques

• “Primero entraba la mujer, recelosa; ahora llegaba el amante, lastimada la cara por el chicotazo de una rama” [“First, the woman entered-imperfect fearfully; now, the lover arrived-imperfect with his face slashed from an encounter with a branch”]

• Activity 2: compare with aspect in a Spanish soap-opera• Activity 3: students write about an emotional event in their life

Aspect: Making Meaning• Emma:• Pero esa noche, mi papá no nos molestaba con sus preguntas y mi mama ni siquiera

levantaba la vista de su plato. Esa noche, el silencio no era cómodo; era pesado y fuerte. Llenaba el cuarto, hundiendo a mi familia, y mis hermanas y yo cruzábamos miradas preocupadas. Algo no estaba bien.

• [But that night, my dad did-imperfect not bother us with his questions and my mom did-imperfect not even raise her eyes from her plate. That night silence was-imperfect not comfortable; it was-imperfect heavy and strong. It filled-imperfect the room, sinking my family, and my sisters and I crossed-imperfect worried glances. Something was-imperfect not right.]

Aspect: Making her own meaning

• Emma:• Descendí la escalera lentamente, sin sentir los escalones bajo los pies. Con

cada paso hacia su cuarto mi corazón latió más alto. Cuando llegué a su

cuarto, era oscuro y callado y mi mamá estaba en la cama, los ojos cerrados. • [I went-preterit down the stairs slowly, without

feeling the treads under my feet. With each footstep towards her room my heart beat-preterit louder. When I arrived-preterit at her room, it was-imperfect dark and quiet and my mom was-imperfect in bed, with her eyes closed.] (Yáñez Prieto 2008)

Emma Understanding

• Although a lot of my paper could have been written in either imperfect or preterit, I tried to use each tense strategically to convey different meanings. For example, when I was talking about the moments when we were in the dining room in silence, I used imperfect to depict everything as if the reader was there in the middle of the action, seeing everything as it was happening

Emma Understanding

• “When I went to my mom’s room to see her after I found out that she was sick, I used preterit for all the verbs. This time I wanted to show each action as a complete act”

Struggle: Pre-Understanding > UnderstandingNegueruela (2003)

• Participant 6 (time 1):[preterit] “is used a lot to report a story and to present completed events that have happened. Imperfect is used for description and to open a scene. It is like to say in English: ‘I was something’ when….”

• Participant 6 (time 2): “there is no real time that you cannot use either or … pretérito is used for definite actions in the past when you are giving emphasis to the fact that it is over or that it just began. Imperfect is used when talking about the middle or giving background, it sets the scene and shows that the action is in progress in the past.”

Learner Reflections on STIVisualization--SCOBA

• Participant 4: “the charts are a grammar-figuring-out-guide that work better than the rules (like the rules for preterit and imperfect) that we had learned in Spanish 100. It was very helpful to see the concepts in a visual structure because the concept of grammar is a very structural concept, and being able to visualize it made it make much more sense.”

Learner Reflections on STIVerbalizations

• Participant 7 : “Although sometimes recording myself speak was a bit awkward, I think it was overall extremely helpful. It made me more comfortable speaking and improvising, and it forced me to truly think about the grammar.”

• Participant 3: “the activities that have helped me the most are the verbalization ones with the cassette tape player. I feel as thought with verbalization exercises I not only improved my speaking, but also learned a lot of information about the indicative and subjunctive.”

• Participant 1: “In all honesty, I never really consciously silently explained anything to myself. I think when I am studying that is basically what I am doing, and when I am trying to learn a concept, I do the same thing. But I never really sat down and thought to myself, “hey, now I’m going to explain this concept to myself. I think that these techniques have taught me a different way of studying and learning.”

Pre-understanding > Understanding

• Dulcinea:– “This week we learned about aspect and perspective. I

feel that I am starting to understand that there are many more uses for the preterit and imperfect than those introduced in textbooks. It is confusing however to grasp the idea that the preterit can be used to describe something in the past, when we have been taught the “rules” that the imperfect is used for description in the past.” (Yáñez Prieto 2008)

Effects of Verbalization

• Time 2: Although sometimes recording myself speak was a bit awkward, I think it was overall extremely helpful. It made me more comfortable speaking and improvising, and it forced me to truly think about the grammar.

• Time 2: the activities that have helped me the most are the verbalization ones with the cassette tape player. I feel as though with verbalization exercises I not only improved my speaking, but also learned a lot of information about the indicative and subjunctive.– Negueruela (2003)

Pre-Understanding > Understanding• Dulcinea

– “I feel that this assignment [Cortázar’s jumbled text] was a good start to training our brains to think about the Spanish language in a different light rather than simply forming the different conjugations of verbs or working on writing sentences. Putting together a “puzzle” of words forces our brain to recall information that you already know and put it to use.”

– “My knowledge of the Spanish language, so far this semester, has increased a great deal. I have moved beyond learning simple grammatical rules and how to form verbs, now I have a better understanding of how to use the language in writing and speaking. “

Pre-understanding > Understanding

• Gulliver– “It’s kind of funny how you can have a

grammar st … the gram … grammatical structure actually tell a story. I’d not really noticed that or seen that before. I mean, the words are telling the story and the grammar is telling the story, which is kind of weird. Yeah, I’d never seen that before. Interesting.”

“Lo siento” vs. “I’m sorry” and related

expressions

APLNG 597Julieta Fernandez

Data analysis Learners of Spanish as a foreign

language in the local high school (English L1)

Learners used (frequencies):

• “lo siento” 532 times• “perdon(a/me)” 5 times• “disculpa(me)” 1 time

Rules of thumb set expressions

Rule of thumb: Set expressions + some contextualization

Gracias thanks, thank you

Muchas gracias thank you very muchDe nada, no hay de que you’re welcome

Perdónpardon me, excuse me (to ask forgiveness or to get someone’s attention)

Con permisopardon me, excuse me (to request permission to pass by or through a group of people)

Apologizing or expressing forgiveness• Apologies are much less common in

Spanish than English. • For example, bumping into someone

accidentally in the street does not always meet with an apology in Spanish and this is not regarded as rude

• “Expression for granting forgiveness seem to be used less frequently in Spanish”

Spanish vs. English Interlocutor Orientation

Spanish: Hearer-focused: Perdóname English: Speaker-focused: I’m sorry

Personal Space

Personal space

Personal Space in Spanish Personal Space in English

Hearer-focused Pre-events

• Entering physical space• Disculpe• Permiso

• Entering mental space: • Name/ oiga• Disculpe/ Perdone • When channel is open – annoyance, emotion,

etc.

Speaker-focused

1) Evaluation of the situation • A: bien, todo bien, yo disfruto de no hacer nada; aparte

tengo las patas tan hinchadas que no podria hacer otra cosa

• B: ah, que macana eh; hace mucho calor?• A: si, bastante pesadito. y alla, cuanto frio hace?

2) Offering condolences/ breaking bad news

• A: Cuando recién había chocado lo único que pude hacer fue sentarme en el cordón a llorar. Así que me dieron una multa, porque ni siquiera pude explicar que paso y obviamente la otra mujer aprovecho para decir que ella no había hecho nada mal.

• B: lo siento mucho. me siento mal porque debería haber estado ahí. que puede hacer para ayudar?

•  A: oh, no no por que? No te hagas problema, ya estoy mucho mejor.

Speaker-focused3) Expressing power relationsA: No se como hacer para terminar esto a tiempoB: Lo siento pero lo vas a tener que hacer sola

4) Sarcasm (meaning “put up with it)

si no te gusta la banda lola nena bancatela FUERA….tenes menos coherencia que un texto sin palabras!!!!……

Teachability Project

• Xian Zhang: Chinese• Adam van Compernolle: French

He ate the rice

他 吃了 饭

In Chinese, if we want to emphasize what has been eaten, you can also do this:

He ate rice

他 在家 饭at two

两点at home

吃了

In Chinese, we can put almost everything (except the verb) at the beginning of a sentence.

Why don’t we put the verb at the beginning ? Well, in that case, the sentence becomes “ate sb.…” that’ll be a problem, right? We can put time at topWe can put place at top

Profiling

The waiter served the food to the lady.

The lady was served the food by the waiter

The lady was served the food

The food was served (Se sirvió la comida)

SCT & Pedagogical Imperative

• 1. SCT is a dialectical approach to mind and mental

development

• 2. Educational activity, including language education, is a

special kind of development

• 3. The more complex something is the more systematic

explicit instruction is called for

• 4. Teaching is mediation through systematic unit of

instruction and social interaction

• 5. Development = understanding and performance

Some References

• Ferreria, M. (2005). An application of the concept-based approach to academic writing instruction. Ph.D. dissertation.

• Lee, H. (2011). Concept-based approach to second language teaching and learning: Cognitive linguistics-inspired instruction of English phrasal verbs. Ph.D. dissertation.

• Lai, W. (in progress). Concept-based foreign language pedagogy: Teaching the Chinese temporal System. Ph.D. dissertation.

• Negueruela, E. (2003). A sociocultural approach to the teaching-learning of second languages : Systemic-theoretical instruction and L2 development. Ph. D. dissertation

• Yañez-Prieto, C. (2008). On literature and the secret art of invisible words : Teaching literature through language. Ph.D. dissertation.

• Lantolf, J. P. & Poehner, M. E. (eds.) (2008). Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages. London: Equinox.

• Lantolf, J. P. & Poehner, M. E. (forthcoming). Sociocultural theory and the pedagogical imperative: Vygotskian praxis in L2 education. Routledge.

• http://language.la.psu.edu/SCTBIB/