Wacana,and
MAHZAN ARSHAD Vol.
WU11HSUEH
No. 2 (Oktober 2009): 319—334
CHEN, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory 319
Vygotsky’s socio-cultural
theory of literacy
Scaffolding children to read and write at an early age
MAHZAN ARSHAD AND WU HSUEH CHEN
Abstract
In the article the concept of semiotic mediation, appropriation, internalization,
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding in particular were
reviewed to provide understanding of the process. Under the concept of
semiotic mediation, the issue of how children learn through imitating adults was
examined with inputs from second language acquisition theories. Vygotsky’s
concept of appropriation provides the springboard for a discussion on how
children may appropriate the psychological tool of language through modeling
and text meditation in the context of second language learning. It is hoped
that the understanding of these concepts could lead to more insights in order
to understand the various changes observable in children at early age as they
nudge to achieve their potential in their literacy development. The information
gathered in the paper may be used by parents or teachers in preschool as the
foundation to help children acquire literacy skills at early age.
Keywords
Socio-cultural theory, scaffolding, early literacy, literacy acquistion
This paper examines the contributions of Vygotsky’s theories and concepts
towards the multi-faceted opportunities for literacy acquisition of children at
an early age. For this purpose Vygotsky’s (1978, 1981) Socio-cultural theory
and his concepts of semiotic mediation, appropriation, internalization, Zone
of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding in particular are reviewed
to provide an understanding of the process of literacy learning in a second
MAHZAN ARSHAD is a lecturer at the Department of Language and Literacy, Faculty of
Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; his research interest is in language
and literature education, early childhood education, and multicultural education. E-mail:
.
WU HSUEH CHEN is a teacher in a public school in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia; a specialist in
the teaching of English as a second language; her research interest is in early childhood second
language acquisition.
© 2009 Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya, Universitas Indonesia
,320 Wacana, Vol. 11 No. 2 (Oktober 2009)
language (L2) environment. Under the concept of semiotic mediation, the issue
of how children learn through imitating adults is examined with inputs from
second language acquisition theories. Vygotsky’s concept of appropriation
provides the springboard for a discussion on how children may appropriate
the psychological tool of language through modeling and text mediation in
the context of L2 learning. With this, the concept of internalization allows an
understanding of how novice literacy learners internalize reading and writing
activities based on both models of literacy acquisition processes.
This paper also examines Vygostky’s (1978) concept of ZPD that provides
more insights for understanding the various changes observable in children at
an early age as they struggle to achieve their potential in literacy development.
In relation to that, an examination of the concept of scaffolding and its
characteristics provides the much needed clue on the question of what adults
could do to support children to achieve ZPD while in the process of learning.
The information gathered in the paper can be used by parents or teachers in
preschool as the foundation to help children to acquire both literacy skills at
an early age.
Socio-cultural theory
Before we can observe and describe the changes in young children’s second
language (L2) reading and writing development after scaffolding, we must
first understand how children in general learn from social interaction. There
are two prevailing socio-constructive theories that can provide us with such
an understanding. The first, Piaget’s (1985) socio-cognitive conflict theory
argues that the cognitive conflict resulting from social exchange leads to
higher levels of reasoning and learning. However, this theory of Piaget seems
to apply mainly to social interaction among equal peers rather than between
adult-child dyads (Palmer, Bresler, and Cooper 2001), which are in fact the
focus of this paper.
To resolve this, there have been suggestions that development involving
a transformation of perspective might best be achieved among peers; while
the learning of a new skill like reading and writing can be attained with more
skillful adults (Damon, 1984). But most of all, because Piaget’s theory fails to
describe how the process of resolving inter-individual conflicts may lead to the
resolution of intra-individual imbalance (Doise and Mugny 1984), this paper
looks into the second socio-constructive theory to provide for the framework
needed to examine young children’s L2 reading and writing development
after adult’s scaffolding.
In contrast to Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky’s (1978, 1981) socio-cultural
approach is capable of providing a much more powerful theoretical framework
to understand L2 literacy acquisition. To begin with, by stressing that, “the
social dimension of consciousness is primary in time and fact. The individual
dimension of consciousness is derivative and secondary” (Vygotsky 1978: 30,
cited in Wertsch and Bivens 1992) this theory supports the importance of the
social processes between adult and child for the latter’s learning, including
, MAHZAN ARSHAD and WU HSUEH CHEN, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory 321
learning to read and write in a L2 environment (Gupta 2006).
More specifically, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory argues that “any
function in the child’s cultural development appears twice, or on two planes.
First it appears on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane
[...] Social relations or relations among people genetically underlie all high
functions and their relationship” (Vygotsky 1981:163). This seems to suggest
that the children at early age may learn and internalize higher psychological
functions including L2 reading and writing from engaging in relations with
others including adults.
Semiotic mediation
Before we can come up with the type of adult-children relations that allow us
to observe changes in young children’s L2 literacy development, we need to
know exactly how the above social relations are mediated in reality. To start
with, according to Sriagarji (personal communication), mediation should
be seen more as “exchange and interchange” rather than as unidirectional
“transmission” of socio-cultural patterns and knowledge by the society to the
members (especially, new members like small children) through symbols like
language. Many studies have found that learner’s social and cultural milieus
are closely link to language learning outcomes (Mohammad Lotfie 2007)
According to Wertsch and Stone (1985) such semiotic mediation, which
connects the external and the internal, the social and the individual, is achieved
through semiotic mechanisms, including psychological tools like “language;
various systems of counting; mnemonic techniques; algebraic symbol systems;
works of art; writing; schemes; diagrams; maps and mechanical drawing; all
sorts of conventional signs”. This means that while scaffolding for reading and
writing, the adults’ use of language signs and other tools, even others’ actions –
during their explanation, elaboration, and discussion with the children, would
be of paramount importance and thus worthy of more rigorous treatment for
the L2 literacy learners.
Psychological tools
Just like our physical tools of hammer, knife, and chain saw could have
effects on our external environment, psychological tools have the power to
affect the internal function of our children (John-Steiner and Mahn 1996).
Their importance lies in the fact that knowledge could never be internalized
directly but must be internalized through them (John-Steiner and Mahn 1996).
Though important, Leontiev (1981), however, warns that children cannot and
need not reinvent the artifacts that have taken millennia to evolve in order to
appropriate such objects into their own system of activity. The child has only
come to an understanding that is adequate for using the culturally elaborated
object in the novel life circumstances he encounters (as cited in Newman,
Griffin, and Cole 1989:63).
This understanding is vital because it was in a way saying that young
children could learn to read and write even if they had not fully mastered the
MAHZAN ARSHAD Vol.
WU11HSUEH
No. 2 (Oktober 2009): 319—334
CHEN, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory 319
Vygotsky’s socio-cultural
theory of literacy
Scaffolding children to read and write at an early age
MAHZAN ARSHAD AND WU HSUEH CHEN
Abstract
In the article the concept of semiotic mediation, appropriation, internalization,
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding in particular were
reviewed to provide understanding of the process. Under the concept of
semiotic mediation, the issue of how children learn through imitating adults was
examined with inputs from second language acquisition theories. Vygotsky’s
concept of appropriation provides the springboard for a discussion on how
children may appropriate the psychological tool of language through modeling
and text meditation in the context of second language learning. It is hoped
that the understanding of these concepts could lead to more insights in order
to understand the various changes observable in children at early age as they
nudge to achieve their potential in their literacy development. The information
gathered in the paper may be used by parents or teachers in preschool as the
foundation to help children acquire literacy skills at early age.
Keywords
Socio-cultural theory, scaffolding, early literacy, literacy acquistion
This paper examines the contributions of Vygotsky’s theories and concepts
towards the multi-faceted opportunities for literacy acquisition of children at
an early age. For this purpose Vygotsky’s (1978, 1981) Socio-cultural theory
and his concepts of semiotic mediation, appropriation, internalization, Zone
of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding in particular are reviewed
to provide an understanding of the process of literacy learning in a second
MAHZAN ARSHAD is a lecturer at the Department of Language and Literacy, Faculty of
Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; his research interest is in language
and literature education, early childhood education, and multicultural education. E-mail:
.
WU HSUEH CHEN is a teacher in a public school in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia; a specialist in
the teaching of English as a second language; her research interest is in early childhood second
language acquisition.
© 2009 Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya, Universitas Indonesia
,320 Wacana, Vol. 11 No. 2 (Oktober 2009)
language (L2) environment. Under the concept of semiotic mediation, the issue
of how children learn through imitating adults is examined with inputs from
second language acquisition theories. Vygotsky’s concept of appropriation
provides the springboard for a discussion on how children may appropriate
the psychological tool of language through modeling and text mediation in
the context of L2 learning. With this, the concept of internalization allows an
understanding of how novice literacy learners internalize reading and writing
activities based on both models of literacy acquisition processes.
This paper also examines Vygostky’s (1978) concept of ZPD that provides
more insights for understanding the various changes observable in children at
an early age as they struggle to achieve their potential in literacy development.
In relation to that, an examination of the concept of scaffolding and its
characteristics provides the much needed clue on the question of what adults
could do to support children to achieve ZPD while in the process of learning.
The information gathered in the paper can be used by parents or teachers in
preschool as the foundation to help children to acquire both literacy skills at
an early age.
Socio-cultural theory
Before we can observe and describe the changes in young children’s second
language (L2) reading and writing development after scaffolding, we must
first understand how children in general learn from social interaction. There
are two prevailing socio-constructive theories that can provide us with such
an understanding. The first, Piaget’s (1985) socio-cognitive conflict theory
argues that the cognitive conflict resulting from social exchange leads to
higher levels of reasoning and learning. However, this theory of Piaget seems
to apply mainly to social interaction among equal peers rather than between
adult-child dyads (Palmer, Bresler, and Cooper 2001), which are in fact the
focus of this paper.
To resolve this, there have been suggestions that development involving
a transformation of perspective might best be achieved among peers; while
the learning of a new skill like reading and writing can be attained with more
skillful adults (Damon, 1984). But most of all, because Piaget’s theory fails to
describe how the process of resolving inter-individual conflicts may lead to the
resolution of intra-individual imbalance (Doise and Mugny 1984), this paper
looks into the second socio-constructive theory to provide for the framework
needed to examine young children’s L2 reading and writing development
after adult’s scaffolding.
In contrast to Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky’s (1978, 1981) socio-cultural
approach is capable of providing a much more powerful theoretical framework
to understand L2 literacy acquisition. To begin with, by stressing that, “the
social dimension of consciousness is primary in time and fact. The individual
dimension of consciousness is derivative and secondary” (Vygotsky 1978: 30,
cited in Wertsch and Bivens 1992) this theory supports the importance of the
social processes between adult and child for the latter’s learning, including
, MAHZAN ARSHAD and WU HSUEH CHEN, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory 321
learning to read and write in a L2 environment (Gupta 2006).
More specifically, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory argues that “any
function in the child’s cultural development appears twice, or on two planes.
First it appears on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane
[...] Social relations or relations among people genetically underlie all high
functions and their relationship” (Vygotsky 1981:163). This seems to suggest
that the children at early age may learn and internalize higher psychological
functions including L2 reading and writing from engaging in relations with
others including adults.
Semiotic mediation
Before we can come up with the type of adult-children relations that allow us
to observe changes in young children’s L2 literacy development, we need to
know exactly how the above social relations are mediated in reality. To start
with, according to Sriagarji (personal communication), mediation should
be seen more as “exchange and interchange” rather than as unidirectional
“transmission” of socio-cultural patterns and knowledge by the society to the
members (especially, new members like small children) through symbols like
language. Many studies have found that learner’s social and cultural milieus
are closely link to language learning outcomes (Mohammad Lotfie 2007)
According to Wertsch and Stone (1985) such semiotic mediation, which
connects the external and the internal, the social and the individual, is achieved
through semiotic mechanisms, including psychological tools like “language;
various systems of counting; mnemonic techniques; algebraic symbol systems;
works of art; writing; schemes; diagrams; maps and mechanical drawing; all
sorts of conventional signs”. This means that while scaffolding for reading and
writing, the adults’ use of language signs and other tools, even others’ actions –
during their explanation, elaboration, and discussion with the children, would
be of paramount importance and thus worthy of more rigorous treatment for
the L2 literacy learners.
Psychological tools
Just like our physical tools of hammer, knife, and chain saw could have
effects on our external environment, psychological tools have the power to
affect the internal function of our children (John-Steiner and Mahn 1996).
Their importance lies in the fact that knowledge could never be internalized
directly but must be internalized through them (John-Steiner and Mahn 1996).
Though important, Leontiev (1981), however, warns that children cannot and
need not reinvent the artifacts that have taken millennia to evolve in order to
appropriate such objects into their own system of activity. The child has only
come to an understanding that is adequate for using the culturally elaborated
object in the novel life circumstances he encounters (as cited in Newman,
Griffin, and Cole 1989:63).
This understanding is vital because it was in a way saying that young
children could learn to read and write even if they had not fully mastered the
