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Features of SLA In this lecture , we are going to set the main

general concluding features of SLA under the question:

What are the main features of SLA?OROut of your study of SLA, state at least four of its main features in details.

S.Eldaly

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Introduction He proposed a theory of the development of higher

cognitive functions in children that saw the

emergence of the reasoning as emerging through

practical activity in a social environment. During the

earlier period of his career he argued that the

development of reasoning was mediated by signs and

therefore contingent on cultural practices and

language as well as on universal cognitive processes.

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Three major tenets:Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory can be

summarized in terms of three major tenets:

1 .the developmental analysis of mental

processes;

2 .the social origin of human mental processes;

and

3. the role of sign systems in the development

of human higher mental function

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DefinitionVygotsky’s sociocultural theory of human learning

describes learning as a social process and the

origination of human intelligence in society or

culture. The major theme of Vygotsky’s theoretical

framework is that social interaction plays a

fundamental role in the development of cognition.

Vygotsky believed everything is learned on two

levels; WHAT ARE THESE TWO LEVELS?

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First, through interaction with others, and then integrated

into the individual’s mental structure.

Every function in the child’s cultural development appears

twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual

level; first, between people (inter-psychological) and then

inside the child (intra-psychological). This applies equally

to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the

formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate

as actual relationships between individuals

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What is ZPD?A second aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is the idea that the

potential for cognitive development is limited to a "zone of

proximal development" (ZPD). This "zone" is the area of

exploration for which the student is cognitively prepared,

but requires help and social interaction to fully develop.

Collaborative learning, discourse, and modeling are

strategies for supporting the intellectual knowledge and

skills of learners and facilitating intentional learning.

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What are the major characteristics of inner speech?

In inner speech, the role of syntax and phonetics is

minimalized. The sentence-level subject (agent)

and other syntactic expressions associated with

it are deleted. This reduction may be explained

by the fact that the agent of the action expressed

in the subject of a sentence is well known to the

speaker; therefore, there is no need, to mention

it.

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Example :According to Vygotsky, inner speech exhibits

‘‘abbreviations’’ on both the syntactic and the

semantic level. As we may expect to hear a

single ‘‘No’’ in place of a complete answer,

‘‘No, I do not want to go to the movies,’’.

Vygotsky calls this abbreviation of the syntax

of inner speech ‘‘predicativity’’.

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Vygotsky’s meaning of “word”He found that words play an important role in inner

speech. Any word carries two meanings, according to Vygotsky: one is stable, ‘‘fixed’ across different contexts, just as one may find it in a dictionary; the other “sense” has less to do with its recognizable external meaning than with its many psychological associations, acquired during the process of internalizing the many words and utterances one has encountered in many different sociocultural contexts in the course of his or her life. The latter feature of inner speech is ‘‘sense” of a word over its meaning.

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Meaning &Sense Vygotsky distinguishes between meaning and

sense. The former has a referential function

and is constant across different contexts, like

a dictionary definition, and the latter differs

depending on a context. For example, the

meaning of the word green indicates a color;

its sense, however, may indicate either a

color or the name of a

political party (the Green Party).

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Questions on the lecture:1- what are the three major tenets of

Vygotsky’s theory?2- Define Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory?3- what are the two levels for learning?4-( ZPD ) Define the term.5- What are the major characteristics of inner

speech? Give examples6- Vygotsky gives a meaning to the term

“word”. Discuss (- Meaning and Sense are related to each other. Discuss)

S Eldaly

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Features of SLA In this lecture , we are going to set the main

general concluding features of SLA under the question:

What are the main features of SLA?OROut of your study of SLA, state at least four of its main features in details.

S.Eldaly