Foreign Language Explanations Within the Zone of Proximal Development
- 1 April 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) in The Canadian Modern Language Review / La revue canadienne des langues vivantes
- Vol. 50 (3) , 532-557
- https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.50.3.532
Abstract
Recently, L.S. Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) has received considerable attention from foreign and second language specialists (Richard-Amato, 1988; Galloway & Labarca, 1990; Scarcella & Oxford, 1992; Schrum & Glisan, 1994). For Vygotsky, the ZPD is the instructional nexus where the expert (teacher) enters into a ''dialogue with the novice (learner) to focus on emerging skills and abilities'' (Richard-Amato, 1988, p. 33). Unfortunately, we have little research concerning the discourse strategies that occur in the ZPD, or the interactional features that the expert uses while instructing in the ZPD. This article, therefore, reports on a study that analyzes the communicative dynamics during explicit instruction of a grammatical concept (specifically the function of present tense first conjugation -er French verbs) instructed within the ZPD.This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Discourse perspectives on formal instructionLanguage Awareness, 1992
- The Least a Second Language Acquisition Theory Needs to ExplainTESOL Quarterly, 1990
- COGNITIVE CONSEQUENCES OF TRADITIONAL APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING IN WEST AFRICAAnthropology & Education Quarterly, 1977