The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning
Leo van Lier
UNTELE 2004
Compiègne, March 17-20
Overview
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Perception and action in semiotic contexts
The emergence of language abilities in meaningful activity
The dynamics of social interaction
The quality of educational experience
Affordance
An affordance refers to the fit between an animal's capabilities and the environmental supports
and opportunities (both good and bad) that make possible a given activity (Gibson & Pick, 2000,
p. 15).
Emergence
Emergence happens when relatively simple organisms or elements reorganize themselves into
more complex, more intelligent systems. In addition, these systems appear to be able to adapt to
changing conditions whereas the simpler forms that compose them have no such adaptive abilities
(van Lier, in press; Johnson, 2001).
In the emergentist perspective, grammar is not a prerequisite of communication, rather it is a
byproduct of communication (Hopper, 1998). Regularity and systematicity are “produced by the
partial settling or sedimentation of frequently used forms into temporary subsystems” (Hopper,
ibid, p. 158).
Dynamics
From dyadic to triadic (dynamic) interaction: joint attention.
Scaffolding (Bruner & Sherwood's peekaboo game):
The game consists of an initial contact, the establishment of joint attention, disappearance,
reappearance, and acknowledgement of renewed contact. These obligatory features or the
“syntax” of the game occur together with optional features, such as vocalizations to sustain
the infant’s interest, responses to the infant’s attempts to uncover the mother’s face, etc. These
“non-rule bound” parts of the game are an instance of the mother providing a “scaffold” for
the child (1975, p. 280).
Prolepsis (Bakhtin, Rommetveit, Bakhurst):
the mind projects its mature psychological capacities onto the earlier stages of its
development: We see the higher mental functions in the infant’s behaviour even when they
are not yet present….. treating children as if they had abilities they do not yet possess is a
necessary condition of the development of those abilities (Bakhurst, 1991, p.67).
Quality
The outcomes of effective functioning in proximal contexts:
a)
differentiated perception and response
b)
directing and controlling one’s own behavior
c)
coping successfully under stress
d)
acquiring new knowledge and skill
e)
establishing and maintaining mutually rewarding relationships
f)
modifying and constructing one’s own physical, social, and symbolic environment.
(Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994, p. 569).
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