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? 
OR
Out 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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Definition
Vygotsky’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 examples
6- Vygotsky gives a meaning to the term “word”.
Discuss (- Meaning and Sense are related to each
other. Discuss)
S Eldaly
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S Eldaly
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? 
OR
Out of your study of SLA, state at least four of its
main features in details.
S.Eldaly
13