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Language and Language Development

Assignment

Incorporating Vygotskys Vision

Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet developmental psychologist who accomplished much in his short,
thirty-eight years on earth. He is known as the Mozart of Psychology, but sadly his work was
not recognized until decades after his death. He is well known in the fields of developmental
psychology, education and child development. Vygotskys well-known concept of Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding theories are successfully used in classrooms
today, relying on language and the social interaction between students, peers and teachers to
educate one another, especially helpful with the English Language Learner.
ZPD has been defined as, the distance between the actual developmental level as determined
by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through
problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers".
I implement Vygotskys strategies when I create lesson plans. I always start the lesson with a
motivator. Usually that motivation is by way of a journal entry; Ill have a prompt on the board
and students are expected to spend the first few minutes of class responding in their journals.
This serves several purposes; it helps them to get focused on the task at hand; it is always a
question they can answer so they start the day feeling successful; and the journal entry will
always relate to the lesson topic for that day. The agenda is always written on the board as well
so all students know what is expected of them every day.
As journal entries are not graded on grammar (though I will correct grammatical mistakes), ELL
students can freely write for a few minutes about a topic they already know something about.
This allows creativity to flow and their sense of inhibiting language barriers to be removed for a
few minutes. It allows me to get to know my students and I can also recognize any language
issues that I need to address in a 1:1.
I like to incorporate collaborative groups in many of my lessons. Each student is assigned a
specific responsibility. For example, you may be a recorder or a reporter, a leader or a runner.
Every student is assigned a new task with each, new collaboration so that everyone has the
opportunity to teach a peer(s). I also assign groups by level or by language proficiency so that I
may manipulate the teams. This enables me to mix lower level learners with higher achievers or
native English language speakers with ELLs, etc. based on the activity.
Often times the assignment will be a puzzle where the students become the experts on a
particular piece. Once the first group has had time to learn their particular section, the groups
change and sections of the puzzle are put together as peers teach each other their valuable
information. Each student takes a role in learning and in teaching. They learn to rely on each
other, so they do not allow anyone to fail. It is a great group effort! This is especially helpful with

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ELL students who may be more tentative, depending on their native culture. It is important to
create a trustworthy environment and set ground rules before beginning.
Another way in which I incorporate some of Vygotskys scaffolding is through graphic
organizers. By saying to scaffold, Lev Vygotsky meant to structure participation in learning
encounters in order to foster a child's emerging capabilities. Scaffolds can be provided in a few
ways: By a mentor, by the objects or experiences of a certain culture, or by a child's past
learning. Vygotsky wrote that the only good instruction is that which marches ahead of
development and leads it. It must be aimed not so much at the matured, as at the maturation,
functions. It remains necessary to determine the lowest threshold at which instruction may
begin, since a certain maturity of functions is required. But the upper threshold as well must be
considered as well: Instruction must be oriented toward the future, not the past.
One way in which this may be accomplished is through a KWL chart. Before beginning a lesson,
I often times have students fill out the K section telling me what they already know about a
particular topic. By doing this, I will avoid re-teaching something everyone already knows. In
addition, it allows me to build off of the content already known. As I start to teach to that
particular topic, students can fill out the W section where they will tell me what they want to
know about the topic. This engages students in their own learning and will also make them
responsible for answering their own questions. Finally, the L allows students to report out what
theyve learned from the lesson. Again, this method helps with ELLs as gaps in learning become
obvious and can be addressed accordingly (either as a whole class, or individually).
Other effective graphic organizers I use regularly are brainstorming and Venn Diagrams. During
brainstorming I encourage students to shout out words that pertain to the topic so that we can
get our creativity flowing. Another version of this is to have students walk up to the board and
have each of them write their own idea(s). There are no wrong answers, which I stress
continuously. This method also allows me the opportunity to see what is already known and
what we need to cover. Venn Diagrams are awesome to use in literature when comparing two
characters. This can also indicate the depth to which a student understood a character in a
novel and how they are able to make connections with another character. The visual aspect of
graphic organizers is a wonderful tool for ELL students. It reinforces the language.
Although born in a different time, Lev Vygotskys theories work well in todays classroom.
Though we may not live in his Socialists world, we live in a diverse world and we must work
together to accomplish goals. His scaffolding strategies are so important, not only for
mainstream students, but also for the English Language Learner. We must be ready to motivate

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students, to break tasks into manageable steps, and to model the expectations of the lesson.
Providing this scaffold will enable students to rely on language and social interactions to
educate one another.

Works Cited
Education Place. Graphic Organizers. Retrieved March 6, 2016 from
https://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/
McCafferty, Steven G. (January 2008). Gesture and Creating Zones of Proximal Development
for Second Language Learning. Retrieved on March 6, 2016 from
http://ucsdextension.blackboard.com/courses/1/112701_WI16_OL/content/_1823120_1/McCaffe
rty%20article%20Vygotsky.pdf
McLeod, Saul. Simply Psychology. Zone of Proximal Development. Retrieved March 6, 2016
from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html
New World Encyclopedia. Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved March 6, 2016 from
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Lev_Vygotsky