THE UNBEARABLE

INELUCTABILITY OF THE SOCIAL

CONTEXT

Capturing L2 proficiency is in many ways similar to painting a chameleon. Because the animal’s colors depend on its physical surroundings, any one representation

becomes inaccurate as soon as that background changes.”Adapted from Tucker (1999, pp. 208-209)

The metaphor can be applied to the study of not only L2 proficiency but the entirety of L2 learning.

COGNITION IS SOCIAL:

VYGOTSKIANSOCIOCULTURALTHEORY IN SLA

Did NOT focus on theindividual child but on thechild as a product of socialinteraction, especially withadults (parents, teachers).

Focus on DYADICINTERACTIONS (e.g., childbeing taught by a parenthow to perform someculturally specific action),rather than child byhimself.

Social world mediates children'scognitive development.Cognitive development occursas child's thinking is molded bysociety in the form of parents,teachers, and peers. This leadsto peer tutoring as a strategy inclassrooms.

People's thinking differsdramatically betweencultures becausedifferent cultures stressdifferent things.

• James, age 5, comes into the kitchen just as his mother has taken some cakes out of the oven. There is a loud, metallic ”Crack.” (extract from Wells 1999, xi)

James: Who did that?Mother: I expect it was that tin contractingJames: Which tin?Mother: The one with your pastery inJames : Why did it make that noise?Mother: Well, When it was in the oven, it got very

hot and stretched a bit. I’ve just taken it out of theoven, and it’s cooling down very quickly, you see,and that noise happens when it gets smaller againand goes back to its ordinary shape

James: Oh! Was it a different shape in the oven?Mother: Not very different. Just a little biggerJames: Naughty little tin. You might get smacked – if you do it again

• Theory’s Principles and Concepts– Children construct their knowledge.

Knowledge is not transferred passively, but is personally constructed.