James P. Lantolf

• Professor at Pennsylvania State University

Ali Panahi and Hassan Mohebbi review James P. Lantolf’s 50-years of research in Sociocultural Theory and language-related issues. They read through his whole research works spanning a period of almost 50 years. To accomplish the systematic review, varying procedures were operationalized. All of his research works were first browsed and attempted to...

Sociocultural Theory (SCT), as formulated by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky nearly a century ago, is distinct among traditions in the field of second language (L2) studies in its commitment to praxis. According to this view, theory and research provide the orienting basis for practice, which in turn serves as a testing ground for theory (Vygot...

This article provides a theoretical and empirical argument in support of explicit language instruction. It proposes on theoretical grounds that certain features of a language are sufficiently complex and subtle that learners are unlikely to be able to decipher their full conceptual meaning on the basis of exposure alone. It further proposes that th...

The article reviews Digital Language Learning (DLL) research that has used principles and concepts of Sociocultural Theory (SCT) to support the research. We explain several key principles of the theory and shows how they have been misused or used in a superficial way in the DLL research. These include the assumption that SCT is a social rather than...

In this introduction to the special issue, we first present a brief historical overview of sociocultural theory (SCT) as it has been extended to the process of second language (L2) development and instruction, beginning with two significant publications that appeared in 1994. In the early years, the theory was used as a lens to understand various a...

This introduction to the special issue, L2 Dynamic Assessment Research in China, examines the theoretical foundations of Dynamic Assessment (DA) in the writings of L. S. Vygotsky, with particular attention to the concepts of praxis, mediation, and zone of proximal development, while also recognizing contributions from notable DA researchers such as...

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) held “great practical significance” for education as it identified how instruction can optimally impact learner development: by aligning mediation not to abilities that have already fully formed but to those that are emerging or “ripening” [30]. Despite being one of the most well-known and influential features...

Sociocultural Theory (SCT) originated in the writings of Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky (1896–1934).

James P. Lantolf is George and Jane Greer Professor Emeritus of Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics and former director of the Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics in the same academic unit at Xi’an Jiaotong Univer...

For nearly four decades, a variety of social science disciplines have assumed that the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and the metaphor of scaffolding reflect more or less the same process. However, we will argue that any similarity is at best partial and at worst superficial. Equating the processes adds nothing to Vygotsky's general theory and...

In the initial sociocultural theory (SCT) timeline, Lantolf and Beckett (2009) surveyed a broad spectrum of research informed by sociocultural psychology as it was extended into the field of second language acquisition and language teaching. Since that time, the amount of research that has been published within the SCT framework has grown exponenti...

This book examines the role of interlocutors and their individual differences (IDs) in second language (L2) development from four theoretical lenses: the cognitive-interactionist approach, sociocultural theory, the variationist approach, and complex dynamic systems theory. A theoretical overview to each approach is written by a preeminent scholar i...

Evidence-Based Second Language Pedagogy is a cutting-edge collection of empirical research conducted by top scholars focusing on instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) and offering a direct contribution to second language pedagogy by closing the gap between research and practice. Building on the conceptual, state-of-the-art chapters in The R...

The September 2018 issue of this journal included an article by Newman, (2018) that challenges research carried out on second language acquisition (henceforth, SCT‐L2) informed by the psychological theory proposed by L. S. Vygotsky. We would like to respond to Newman's critique, which he problematizes as three “knots” that he then undertakes to unt...

This article considers the pedagogical research informed by the writings of L. S. Vygotsky concerned with the teaching and learning of languages beyond the first (L2). Following a brief overview of developments in the application of Vygotskian theory to explicating processes of L2 development in instructional settings, we consider more recent schol...

This article reports on a pedagogical project aimed at helping second language (L2) learners of English develop the ability to detect and appropriately interpret spoken sarcasm. The study used a pre- and posttest procedure to assess the development of learners’ ability to both detect sarcasm and impute appropriate speaker intentions and attitudes c...

This book presents a set of compelling essays collectively making a persuasive case for why a usage-based perspective on language is fast becoming a leading theoretical framework for investigating second language (L2) learning and the foundation for effective, innovative, engaging pedagogy. Drawing on 20 years of research in psychology, psycholingu...

This is an ambitious work, covering the whole breadth of the field from its theoretical underpinnings to research and teaching methodology. The Editors have managed to recruit a stellar panel of contributors, resulting in the kind of 'all you ever wanted to know about instructed SLA' collection that should be found on the shelves of every good libr...

The Zone of Proximal Development has been one of the most misunderstood features of Sociocultural Theory. It has been inappropriately equated with Krashen’s i+1 and with the concept of ‘scaffolding’. Based on an empirical study where learners seemed to require the same degree of explicit mediation at two different points in time, Erlam, et al. (201...

Dynamic assessment, or DA, departs from the traditional distinction between formative and summative assessment, as it understands teaching to be an inherent part of all assessment regardless of purpose or context. This position follows from the theoretical basis of DA in the writings of Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky and in particular his prop...

Dynamic assessment, or DA, departs from the traditional distinction between formative and summative assessment, as it understands teaching to be an inherent part of all assessment regardless of purpose or context. This position follows from the theoretical basis of DA in the writings of Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky and in particular his prop...

We respond here to Pienemann's critique of our study that appeared earlier this year in the Language Learning Special Issue entitled “Orders and Sequences in the Acquisition of L2 Morphosyntax, 40 Years On” and guest edited by Jan Hulstijn, Rod Ellis, and Søren Eskildsen. Pienemann objected to our claim that the Teachability Hypothesis is a corolla...

The current study was designed to assess the central claim of the Teachability Hypothesis (TH), a corollary of general Processability Theory (PT), which predicts instruction cannot alter posited universal, hierarchically organized psycholinguistic constraints behind PT's developmental sequences. We employed an interventional design, which adhered t...

For some, research in learning and teaching of a second language (L2) runs the risk of disintegrating into irreconcilable approaches to L2 learning and use. On the one side, we find researchers investigating linguistic-cognitive issues, often using quantitative research methods including inferential statistics; on the other side, we find researcher...

Explicating clearly and concisely the full implication of a praxis-oriented language pedagogy, this book argues for an approach to language teaching grounded in a significant scientific theory of human learning—a stance that rejects the consumer approach to theory and the dichotomy between theory and practice that dominates SLA and language teachin...

In this article we argue that figurative language, specifically realized as metaphor, must become an essential aspect of any pedagogical program. The ability to understand and produce appropriate metaphors in a second language can no longer remain on the margins of linguistic proficiency; on the contrary, without such ability a speaker cannot effec...

Dynamic Assessment (DA) derives from Vygotsky’s (1987) insight that the use of mediation, attuned to learner needs, enables learners to perform beyond their current level of functioning, thereby providing insights into emerging capabilities. The instructional quality of mediation means that this process simultaneously creates possibilities for deve...

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the mediational function of the gesture–speech interface in the instructional conversation that emerged as teachers attempted to explain the meaning of English words to their students in two EFL classrooms in the Ukraine. Its analytical framework is provided by Vygotsky's sociocultural psychology (...

This paper considers dynamic assessment (DA) as it relates to second language (L2) development. DA is grounded in Vygotsky's (1987) sociocultural theory of mind, which holds that human consciousness emerges as a result of participation in culturally organized social activities where mediation plays a key role in guiding development. In DA, the evid...

The focus of the present entry is on educational praxis in second language development. Praxis, in this case, is defined as the necessary integration of theoretical knowledge of features of a language and concrete goal-directed communicative activity. The integration is understood from the perspective of dialectics, as will become clear throughout...

Vygotsky's (1926/2004) monograph The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology is his foundational work in which he lays out the theoretical basis of his theory of culturally mediated mind, which is eventually expanded into his much better known publication Thinking and Speech (Vygotsky, 1987).

This paper examines multimodal conceptual metaphors in a corpus of 32 American and Ukrainian beer commercials. The dominant metaphor in both cultures is HAPPINESS IS DRINKING BEER, with a secondary metaphor BEER IS A PERSON. The Ukrainian commercials exhibit a third metaphor that appears in a very subtle way in the American commercials: LOVE FOR TH...

The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.

This article reports the efforts of an elementary school teacher of Spanish as a second language to implement principles of dynamic assessment (DA) in her daily interactions with learners. DA is neither an assessment instrument nor a method of assessing but a framework for conceptualizing teaching and assessment as an integrated activity of underst...

This article concerns a particular application of Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) wherein conventional assessment situations are reorganized to allow for cooperation between assessor and learner as they jointly complete assessment tasks and work through difficulties that arise. This approach, known as Dynamic Assessment...

This article focuses on the idea of sociocultural theory and the pedagogical imperative. Sociocultural theory has long been used as a lens to explain the processes involved in second language learning and instruction. This article extensively refers to some of the major theorists in the field of linguistics. It then presents selected data and findi...

The volume contains seventeen chapters (plus a foreword and brief introduction) selected from presentations delivered at an interdisciplinary conference on the social making of minds held in Irsee, Germany, in 2004. The chapters focus on the psychological mechanisms that arise in and through social interaction (verbal and non-verbal) that underlie...

Second language acquisition (SLA) research informed by sociocultural theory (henceforth, SCT) began in earnest with the publication of Frawley & Lantolf's (1985) article on L2 (second language) discourse (described in the timeline proper). Since then, well over 300 journal articles, book chapters and doctoral dissertations have appeared in the rese...

This presentation is situated within the general framework of Vygotsky's educational theory, which argues that development in formal educational activity is a fundamentally different process from development that occurs in the everyday world. A cornerstone of Vygotsky's theory is that to be successful education must be sensitive to learners' zone o...

DIALOGUE AT THE MARGINS: WHORF, BAKHTIN, AND LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY. SchultzEmily A.. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990. Pp. xii + 178. - Volume 14 Issue 4 - James P. Lantolf

This study investigates the interface between speech and gesture in second language (L2) narration within Slobin's (2003) thinking-for-speaking (TFS) framework as well as with respect to McNeill's (1992, 2005) growth point (GP) hypothesis. Specifically, our interest is in whether speakers shift from a first language (L1) to a L2 TFS pattern as mani...

Dynamic assessment is a rapidly expanding area of interest for psychologists and other clinicians who assess clients with learning difficulties. In this article, a critical review is undertaken of the work of three major dynamic assessment theorists - Budoff, Vygotsky, Feurstein - and their followers. Research studies are synthesized and theories a...

The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.

In this article, we extend Firth and Wagner's (1997) call for an ontological perspective that (re)unites the individual and the social by proposing some fundamental implications that this call has for second language (L2) classroom praxis and teacher education. We propose that the (re)unification of language and culture (re)establishes the unity be...

Second language acquisition research is coming to recognize the influence of the sociocultural environment in the L2 learning. For example, beginning with the early work of Frawley and Lantolf (1985), a group of L2 researchers have been exploring the implications of L. S. Vygotsky's (1978, 1986) sociocultural theory of mind (henceforth, SCT) for th...

The chapter examines the pedagogical implications for English language teaching of the fundamental theoretical tenet of sociocultural theory: higher forms of human consciousness are semiotically mediated. In the first part of the chapter, I will discuss the specifics of what it means to make such a claim regarding human thinking. I will consider th...

This article presents a postmodernist critical analysis of the SLA theory building-literature as primarily represented in the writings of Beretta, Crookes, Eubank, Gregg, Long, and to some extent Schumann. I argue that there is no foundational reason to grant privileged status to the modernist view of SLA theory these scholars espouse. Scientific t...

This article considers the implications of two central constructs of sociocultural theory (SCT) for second language (L2) development: mediation and internalization. It first discusses Vygotsky's general theoretical claim that human mental activity arises as a consequence of the functional system formed by our biologically specified mental capa...

The rekindling of interest in teaching grammar in foreign language classrooms is arguably the result of concern about the lack of control over the grammatical features of the L2 (secondary language) observed among learners who have passed through pedagogical programs in which opportunities to communicate are given greater emphasis than are the form...

The focus of this paper is on the implementation of Dynamic Assessment (henceforth, DA) in the L2 classroom setting. DA is an approach to assessment and instruction derived from Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development (henceforth, ZPD). In what follows, we will first discuss briefly the concept of the ZPD and its realization in DA pro...

The present paper outlines a theoretical framework for the application of dynamic assessment procedures to second language assessment and pedagogy. Dynamic assessment (DA) is grounded in Vygotsky’s writings on the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and has been widely researched in psychology and education. DA distinguishes itself from other appr...

This article examines Slobin's concept of thinking for speaking (TFS) in the gesture/speech interface of advanced L2 speakers of English and Spanish. The focus is on the use of motion verbs in the respective languages. English, a satellite-framed language, encodes manner of motion in the verb and indicates path of motion on satellite phrases (e.g....

This chapter considers an aspect of sociocultural research that has not been fully explored with regard to second language learning – the process through which learners develop the repertoire of symbolic artifacts they use when engaging in communicative activities (verbal and visual) in the second language. I will argue that the key to this develop...

An empirically-supported theoretical argument is made for the relevance of private speech, or intrapersonal communication, in the internalization of an L2. We propose that the process is parallel to that attested in children learning their L1. In internalization learners imitate the linguistic affordances made available by the classroom community....

Second language scholars, in public research and in public discussions,have suggested that Krashen's construct of i+1is similar to Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and that it might therefore befeasible to integrate the two constructs in a way that would be productive for second languageacquisition (SLA) research. After surveying public...