Some Reflections On Social-Cultural Theorys Constructs, Its Influence On Second

Language Acquisition And The Pedagogical Implications For Foreign Language

Teaching.
By Jhonny Llins Torres
I have been a foreign language student and professor for almost 25 years, and over the
course of my experience, I have grown and learned more than I thought possible. I like to
learn and I also like to apply what I know to my pedagogical labor. That is the reason why I
am taking undergraduate studies in education and languages, challenging myself to dig into
new knowledge that can help me to understand how we learn, how to improve teaching,
how to become a better person.
I know that my taste, intellectual relish or discernment about language and education has
grown stronger each moment I had new experiences. One of the most interesting encounters
with new perspectives was the relations between the Socio-Cultural Theorys constructs
(SCT), its influence on Second Language Acquisition (SLA), and the pedagogical
implications for my foreign language teaching.
The Socio-Cultural Theory, based on Vygotskian thought, is a theory about the
development of human cognitive and higher mental function. The theory emphasizes the
integration of social, cultural and biological elements in learning processes and stresses the
socio-cultural circumstancescentral role in humans cognitive development. Second
Language Acquisition has to do with the process of how a new language other than the
native language is acquired and how much this is affected by other disciplines, among
which is Socio-Cultural Theory.
SCT focuses on children cognitive development and specially emphasizes the integration of
social, cultural and biological elements and believes that socio-cultural circumstances play
a central role in humans cognitive development and that the process of the development
higher mental functionioning is the one by which people internalize or regulate what they
learn from social activities through the mediation of symbolic tools (languages) and by
going through the zone of proximal development, and during this period, language develops
from social speech to private speech and then finally to inner speech or verbal thought.
Therefore, the central constructs of the theory are mediation, regulation, internalization, the
zone of proximal development, verbal thought and activity theory.
Second Language Acquisition, one of my main concerns, has undergone major changes.
Many theorists have developed a series of assumptions on how language learners should
learn a second language. I learned that SCT facilitates reflection on some of the problems
on second language acquisition from a new perspective: According to Theory of ZPD, the
further development in the zone of proximal development is achieved through the
cooperation of experts and novices or the cooperation of peers. Therefore, in second
language learning, I need to focus on how to supply students with appropriate scaffoldings
and supports.

Lantolf and Thorne (2006) define internalization as the means of developing the capacity
to perform complex cognitive and motor functions with increasingly less reliance on
externally provided mediation. In second language classrooms, it suggests the
enhancement of interactions among the learners and it is also vital that we, teachers, realize
that the role of expert is not limited to that of a teacher, but it can also be applied to those
learners who have internalized an aspect of the language. We cannot be experts all time
SCT also claims that the process of language acquisition is the process in which an
individuals external speech is gradually internalized and combined with thought by means
of communicative activities. The final results of second language acquisition are that
people are able to think about things with the target language and then language and
thought are combined together finally becoming verbal thought. As a need for language
acquisition, a higher level inner speech development should come from social
communication and social activities.
The aforementioned is just part of the enormous potential this theory has for use. In
considering what my experience has taught me and how it has changed me as a student and
person, I would like to mention the transition from a high school student to a researcher.
Remembrances about my professor saying repeat, a trainee teacher speaking slowly to be
understood and me standing in front of my mates explaining how to relate research works
with a new perspective on language acquisition, mean that something has changed.
Although more information is needed in order to provide a satisfactory comprehension of
all the concepts I referred to, knowledge and experiences gained will be very useful in
future classes, my jobs, relationships and other aspects of my life. Many skills, responses
and actions have been strengthened by this experience. Just to mention one: how do I
evaluate my students performance if they should interact to learn?.
Finally, I need to move into a discussion of areas that need work. What am I doing well and
what needs to be changed as a result of this experience? SCT facilitates reflection on some
of the problems on second language acquisition from a new perspective: the culture; but it
is the same sociocultural that multicultural, or intercultural? Do not we feel like if SCT
were not new and that all you are discovering is just what you have been doing along
your life? I need more responses.