vygotsky: child developement

Sociocultural Theory

Lev Vygotsky's theory that emphasizes the importance of social interaction and culture in cognitive development.

Cultural Tools

Both implicit and explicit rules or norms in a culture that aid cognitive development.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The difference between a child's independent performance and what they can achieve with guidance from a more knowledgeable other.

Scaffolding

A process that provides support to a child to help them achieve tasks slightly beyond their current abilities.

More Knowledgeable Other

An individual, such as a parent or teacher, who has a better understanding or higher ability than the learner.

Private Speech

Onself-directed speech that children use to plan activities and problem-solving strategies.

Autonomous Speech

Speech wherein a child begins to invent words for objects to communicate with adults, typically starting around 12 months.

Naïve Psychology

A stage in which a child uses adult words and forms connections between words and objects, occurring from 18 to 24 months.

Communicative Speech

Speech used to convey meaning to others, emerging around the age of 3.

Egocentric Speech

Self-talk that guides a child through tasks without intent to communicate with others.

Inner Speech

A silent form of verbal thinking that develops from egocentric speech during the preschool period.

Emergent Literacy

The process through which children begin to understand language and reading through social interaction.

Collaborative Group Learning

A learning method where students work together, which Vygotsky believed enhances development through social interaction.

Preintellectual Speech

The initial stage of language where communication is primarily through non-verbal cues like crying and gesturing.

Challenge to Vygotsky's Theory

Empirical studies, like Prior and Welling (2001), challenge aspects of Vygotsky's claims regarding the relationship between speech and comprehension.

Nichols (1996) Study

Research showing that students in collaborative learning settings performed better than those in traditional instruction.

Deb Roy's Study

A modern example of tracking language development in children, illustrating Vygotsky's theories.

Evaluation of Vygotsky's Theory

The practical application of his theory in education through scaffolding, though it faces challenges in empirical support.