Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
as a Unifying Approach Towards Teaching
L2 Grammar and Communication in Japan
日本における第 2 言語の文法とコミュニケーションの
一体教育の取り組みとヴィゴツキーの最近接発達領域
ArturoEscandón
ヴィゴツキーの最近接発達領域(ZDP)とポストヴィゴツキー学派アプローチ(社会文 化理論と活動理論)は、生活的概念と科学的概念の間の密接な関係についてより良い理解を もたらす。日本の高等教育の第 2 言語プログラムで、生活的概念の習得は主にコミュニケー ションクラスで、一方、科学的概念の習得は文法クラスで起こる。最近接発達領域を用いた 教育では、状況的な問題と科目領域の中心概念グループの生徒の取り組みの間で「両方向移
動」が必要とされる。この論文では、(生活的概念から科学的概念への)「ボトムアップ移動」
を強化するための、コミュニケーションと文法クラスの両方において「欠落した移動」と呼 ばれる活動を提案する。
Introduction
Vygotsky’szoneofproximaldevelopment(ZPD)andpost-Vygotskianapproachestoinstruction (socioculturaltheoryandactivitytheory,orAT),allowabetterunderstandingoftheclose relationshipbetweenspontaneousoreverydayconceptsandscientificconcepts.Inforeign languageprogrammesattertiarylevelinJapan,theacquisitionofeverydayconceptstakesplace
mainlyincommunicationclasses,whilstthemasteringofscientificconceptstakesplacein grammarclasses.Thiswidespreadbutarbitrarydivisionoflabourisbecominglessviabledueto the new demands exerted upon the educational system (education for practical mastery). InstructionwithintheZPDrequiresa ‘doublemove’betweenstudents’workwithsituated problemsandwithagroupofcentralconceptsofasubjectdomain.Inotherwords,development istheresultoftheconstantmovementbetweenthesetwotypesofconcepts.Inthispaper,the ZDPisusedasaframeworktoanalyseinstructionmethodsforteachingSpanishasaforeign
movement’,bothincommunicationandgrammarclasses.Finally,theuseoftheZDPinthe analysisofinstructionhelpstobringtodebateoncemorethreeofthemostimportantissuesin SLA(SecondLanguageAcquisition):theconnectionbetweenthelearner’snativelanguage(L1) and the target language (L2), the explicit-implicit instruction option, and the code-communicationdilemma(formal/academicorcommunicative/implicitinstruction).
Grammarandcommunication,anarbitrarydivision
ThefocusofthedebatesurroundingteachingSpanishasaforeignlanguage,aswellasmany otherL2satthetertiarylevelinJapan,hasbeenthedilemmaofinstructedlanguageversus naturalisticlanguageacquisition.Structuralreasonshavecontributedtoreproducethegrammar-communicationdivisionduringthelasttwodecadesalmostwithoutvariation,butimportant
developments, such as the demand from the political and economic fields for a language educationforpracticalmastery,havealreadybroughtsomechange.
ThedivisionoflabourintotwogroupsofpractitionersatthetertiarylevelinJapanhas enormouspedagogicalimplications.Thedichotomieslinguistic/communicativecompetence,in theabstract,andgrammar/communicationclass,intheconcrete,arebased,inthebestof cases,uponatwo-foldconceptofwhatproficiencyis(linguisticcompetenceandcommunicative competence),andintheworstofcases,uponauniqueconcept,suchastheoneforwardedby
Oller (1976) with his concept ofgrammar-based expectancies orexpectancy grammar. Accordingtothisconcept,bothreceptivelanguageuse(listening,reading)andproductiveuse (speaking,writing)areanticipatedandplannedfromthegrammar.Inotherwords,thesubtextual ideologyiseithertheexistenceoftwodifferentdisciplines,moreorlessindependentfromeach other,indeedalmostautonomous(toteachfortheacquisitionoflinguisticcompetence,orto teachfortheacquisitionofcommunicativecompetence),ortoframecommunicativecompetence
underthefieldoflinguistics.
Vygotsky’s dialectic of development, however, questions the validity of this type of theoreticalconstruction,especiallythearbitrarynatureofacategoricaldivisionbetweenabstract andconcreteconcepts.
Asubordinatedgrammar
theconceptofproficiency,pointedouttwodecadesagothat“proficiencyistodayemphatically expressed in communicative and not merely linguistic (i.e., grammatical) terms” (p.347). Nevertheless,Sternrecognisesthefactthatthegrammaticalcomponentofproficiencycannotbe ignored.Thisshiftinperspective,whichsetsthestudyofthegrammaticalsystemintheservice
ofcommunicativecompetence,hasbeenincludedinthemostrecentapproachestoL2teaching, includingEurope’sadoptionoftheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages (CEFR).TheCEFR(CouncilofEurope,2001)considersgrammar(languageasasystem)aspart ofthecommunicativecompetence,butalsoexpressesthenotionthatlinguisticknowledgeand skills have a domain independent of sociolinguistic variations and pragmatic functions of linguisticrealisations.Ofcourse“grammardefinesmeaningonlyverypartially”(Bourdieu,1991,
p.38)but,inthepedagogicaldomain,languageasasystemenjoysanautonomywhichcanbe usefultopedagogicalwork.
Furthermore,NegueruelaandLantolf(inpress),assertthatthelackofcontrolover grammaticalfeaturesoftheL2observedamongstudentswhohavegonethroughlanguage programmeswhereopportunitiestocommunicateweregivenpriorityoverformalperformance hasrekindledtheinterestinteachinggrammarintheforeignlanguageclassroom.Thisisnotthe casewheretertiaryeducationinJapanisconcerned,butreflectsatrendthatquestionscertain
pedagogicpracticespartlybased,butperhapsnotappropriatelygrounded,onthecommunicative approach.
Insum,therelationshipbetweengrammarandcommunicationisfarmorecomplexthan thehistoricparadigmsbasedonparticularconceptionsofproficiency.Theverynotionofnative speaker,justtomentiononeSLAconstructbaseduponaparticularconceptionofproficiency,is
beingrecontextualisedbynewL2theoreticalandresearchapproaches(Thorne,2005).
Scientificandeverydayconcepts
Thedivisionbetweengrammarandcommunication,can,nevertheless,behelpfulifpedagogic practiceisframedwithinwhatVygotskydenominatesthezoneofproximaldevelopment(ZPD). TheZPDisacomplexconceptwithinVygotsky’stheoreticalbody,onewhichIwillanalysefrom thepointofviewofthetwoconceptualsystemsonwhichgrammarandcommunicationarebased attheirmostfundamentallevel:scientificandeverydayorspontaneousconcepts,respectively. TheZPDisoneofthekeymetaphorsofVygotsky’scultural-historicalpsychology.Itisat
introducedthenotionoftheZPD“inanefforttodealwithtwopracticalproblemsineducational psychology:theassessmentofchildren’sintellectualabilitiesandtheevaluationofinstructional
practices”(p.67).Asatheoreticalconstruction,theZDPhasreceivedmultipleinterpretations alongtheyears.Onmanyoccasions,thetranslationfromoneconceptualsystemtoanotherhas
notbeenthemostappropriate(GriffinandCole,1984).Nevertheless,withthepurposeof situatingVygotsky’stheoreticalworkwithinpost-Vygotskiantheoreticaltrajectories,especially thosewhichlatelyhaveinspiredSLAresearch,IsubscribetogetherwithThorne(2005)and LantolfandThorne(2006)towhathasbeencalledsocioculturaltheory(SCT),and,ofmore recentdevelopment,toactivitytheory(AT).
AccordingtoWertsch(1995),“thegoalofsocioculturalresearchistounderstandthe
relationshipbetweenhumanmentalfunctioning,ontheonehand,andcultural,historical,and institutionalsetting,ontheother”(p.56).
VygotskydefinestheZPDas:
…thedistancebetweentheactualdevelopmentallevelasdeterminedbyindependent problemsolvingandthelevelofpotentialdevelopmentasdeterminedthroughproblem solvingunderadultguidanceorincollaborationwithmorecapablepeers.(Vygotsky,1978,
p.86)
Heclearlydistinguishesbetweenspontaneouslearningandthatwhichisdevelopedthrough schooling,whichfundamentallyimpliestheacquisitionofconceptualsystemswhichcannot otherwisebeacquiredspontaneously.Vygotsky(1987)pointsoutthat“inaprobleminvolving scientificconcepts,[thechild]mustbeabletodoincollaborationwiththeteachersomethinghe hasneverdonespontaneously”(p.216).
InlanguagepedagogyandSLAtheory,thedifferencebetweensolvingonetypeofproblem or another is part of the debate on pedagogic codes, which Stern (1983) calls ‘the code-communicationdilemma’.Learningmaybebaseduponformalinstructionanddependupon academicanalysis,oracquisitionmaynotdependuponformalinstructionatall,butonlyupon tacittransmission.Thiskindofdebateisnotexceptional.Inhistheoryofknowledgestructures andpedagogicdiscourse,Bernstein(1996,p.159)putstogetheracompleteframeworktoanalyse
Most5to6-year-oldchildrencanunderstandtherelationshipbetweenbrother,sister, mother,father,uncle,aunt.Thisunderstandingbuildsonconcreteexperienceswiththeir ownfamily.Incontrast,thesubject-matterexplanationbuildsontheexpositionofthe generaldefinitionoftheconcepts.Inclass,thechildlearnslogicalrelationshipsbetween
subject-matterconcepts,buttobecomefunctionalinthechild’sactivitythemovementof thesesubject-matterconceptsshouldgotowardstheimmediateandspontaneousbybeing combinedwiththeexperiencesthechildhaswithinthedomainthatthesubject-matter conceptscover.(Hedegaard,2002,p.41)
Daniels (2001) also warns against dualistic approaches that do not acknowledge the
interdependencebetweeneverydayandscientificconcepts.
Vygotsky argued that the systematic, organised and hierarchical thinking that he associatedwithscientificconceptsbecomesgraduallyembeddedineverydayreferents and thus achieves a general sense in the contextual richness of everyday thought. Vygotskythuspresentedaninterconnectedmodeloftherelationshipbetweenscientific andeverydayorspontaneousconcepts.
(Daniels,2001,p.53)
Hedegaard(2002)noticesthecloserelationshipbetweencontentandstructurebutshethinksit isnecessarytoredefineorrecontextualiseVygotsky’snotionsofscientificconceptsaccordingto “differentformsofsubject-matterconcepts(empirical,narrativeandtheoretical)”(p.40). AlthoughNegueruelaandLantolf(inpress)optfortheuseofthetermtheoreticalconceptto refertoVygotsky’sscientificconcepts,inafineattempttoavoidthemisinterpretationofthe
termscientific-oftenreferredtomeanconceptsexclusivelydevelopedbywhatisunderstoodas thefieldofscience-IprefertoclingtoVygotsky’soriginalterminology,sinceIwillbedrawing frommanyothersourceswhoalsoencounterthesameproblem.Iwillalsobeusingtheterm subject-matterconcepts,asHedeegarddoes,torefertoscientificconcepts.
Grammarandcommunicationforthethresholdlevel
FromtheapplicationofBernstein’s(1996,pp.3-24)pedagogiccodesandmodalitiesofpractice,
(Bernstein’smetaphorisaspatialone),whosetransmissiondevelopsandreproduceslegitimate anddifferentiatedformsofcommunication,i.e.,therearelegitimateformstoteachboth.To understandtheformationandreproductionofthisstrongclassification,aswellasitslimitsand modalitiesofpractice,adetailedstudyisrequiredthatrefersfundamentallytotheconcrete pedagogicpracticestakingplaceintheclassroom.Inthemeantime,Iwillanalyseinformallysome ofthetextbooksusedintheteachingofbothsubjectsatthethresholdlevel.Obviouslywhat followsisaninformalreviewoftheseeducationalmaterials,forthepurposeofanalysingthe
relationshipbetweenscientificandeverydayconceptswithintheZPDintheactivitiesthese materialspresupposeorpropose.
AtfirstglanceinJapantherearetwokindsoftextbooksforthethresholdlevel:(a) textbookspublishedinJapan,writtenmainlybyindividualJapanesefacultymembersorin collaborationwithotherpeers,includingforeigners,and(b)textbookspublishedinSpain, writtenmainlybyeditorialteams.Theformerareusedmainlyingrammarclasses,andthelatter, incommunicationclasses.
ThereisalsoanindeterminatezonecomposedofallworkspublishedinJapanbyJapanese orforeignauthorswhichareverydifficulttoclassifybecausetheyarebasedonavastarrayof approachesandmethods.Inanycase,thereseemstobeatacitconsensusonwhetheratextbook willbeselectedforagrammarcourseiftheauthorsareJapaneseandbelongtoacertain‘school’, orifitwillbeselectedforacommunicationclassiftheauthorsareforeigners.
TextbooksproducedinJapan
IttranspiresthatmostofthetextbookspublishedinJapanareorganisedaroundtheexposition
ofthelinguisticsystemanduse,forthatend,subject-matterconceptsintheL1.Thus,everyday conceptscontainedinL2linguisticrealisationsareorganisedaccordingtotheneedtoexplainthe grammaticalsystem.Thisimpliestheuseofmultiplesemanticfieldsatonce.Inmanycases,this amountstoafunctionaldouble-dip,i.e.twoormoregrammaticalorcommunicativefunctionsare taughtatthesametime,and,duetothelackofpositiveinput,tofocusingonteachingtheL2 using almost exclusively the L1. Wide semantic extension does not ensure lexic
comprehensivenessforcommunicationpurposes.
textbookcontainingcleardefinitionsandcomprehensiveexplanations.
Learningtasksarestructuralandplaytheroleofassessingthelearningofgrammatical rules. These tasks do not reflect a concern for linguistic verisimilitude or cling to actual communicationcontexts,i.e.theydonotseemtobeshapedbytheuseoflinguisticcorpus,
frequencyanalysis,oractuallinguisticrealisationsincommunicativecontexts.Individualwork dominatestasksanditisalmostimpossibletofindactivitiesthatinvolvepairorgroup-work. Auditorysamplescontainedintheseworkstendtobemonotonousreadingsofdialoguesor readingpassages,orsimplepronunciationguidelines.
Theorganisationandstructureofthesetextbooksseemstofitthecourselength(two semestersorannualcourses)andclassfrequency(one90-minuteclassperweek,12to14classes
persemester)oftheJapanesecollege.Textbookscontainbetween15to20lessonsanddonot runover100pages.
Becauseoftheaforementionedcharacteristics,thepredominantmovementwithinthe ZDP is ‘top down’. In his lucid analysis of Japanese textbooks, Civit (2006), using Ellis’ terminology, defines this movement as ‘deductive’ (p.35). The exposition of grammatical structuresandrulesiscarriedoutcrudelybyusingsubject-matterconcepts.Thedifficultyliesin the fact that learners are not sufficiently acquainted with linguistic realisations (positive
communicativeinput),whichallowthemtoassimilatemorphosyntacticstructures,northeyare abletodeducetherule.Theyaresituatedaspassiverecipientsofasetofrulestheycanhardly infer.
Asinanyotherpedagogicsituation,teachinginconceptsmakesgradationextremely difficult because each concept plays a role in a conceptual network or system (variable, invariable;signifiant,signified;masculine,feminine;voice,passive,active;tense,modality, aspect).Conceptspresupposeoneanotherandtheentrancepoints,accordingtoVygotsky,are
thespontaneousconcepts,whichactasmediatorsofthescientificconcepts.
Inthiscasetheentrancepointsarenecessarilythelinguisticrealisationsandthetacit instructiondoneintheL2,whichprovidetheconcretepartofthesystem,andthenatural contrastofL1-L2,supportedbythedevelopmentandexplicitlearningofconceptualsystems. Thedevelopmentofconceptualsystemsshouldbesupportedwhereverpossiblebyhighquality conceptualexplanationsanddescriptionsthatfacilitatelearners’adequatepractices.Inthis
regard,concept-basedpedagogies(CBP)andSystemic-TheoreticalInstruction(STI)(Lantolf andThorne,2006;Lantolf,2006;NegueruelaandLantolf,inpress)havealottosay,especiallyin thecaseofthe‘topdown’moveintheZPD.
concernedalmostexclusivelywiththeteachingofsubject-matterconcepts,lackinganadequate connectionwithgrammaticalstructuresandreasoningsthatexplaingrammaticalrules.According toNegueruela(2003)andNegueruelaandLantolf(inpress),theacquisitionandapplicationof heuristic(incompleteandunsystematic)systemssuchasrulesofthumb,arepotentiallyharmful.
Rulesofthumbdepictlanguageasafixedentityandoftenintersectandbecomeincompatible onewithanother,leadinglearnerstoconfusionandfrustration.
Ontheotherhand,learningoflinguisticandconceptualmodelsmustbebasedupon situatingproblemsappropriatelysoastoavoidinstructionbecominganexerciseinacademic verbalism,whichVygotsky(1987)dubbsthe‘learningofdeadandemptyverbalschemes’(p.170). AccordingtoNegueruelaandLantolf(inpress),oncetheminimumunitofinstructionhas
beendetermined(theseauthorsworkwiththenotionofaspectinteachingtheSpanishpreterit), thematerialisationoftheconceptsconstitutesacriticalstepintheirinternalisationbylearners. Theyarguethatlearners’understandingandinteriorisationofconceptsarethemosteffective waystohavelearnersregulatingtheirmeaning-makingabilityintheL2,allowingthemtoperform acrosscontexts.DrawingonGal’perin,NegueruelaandLantolf(inpress)pointoutthatitis fundamentaltogiveattentiontothetoolsthatplayamediatingroleofactivityandbehaviour because“didacticmodelssuchaschartsareoftentimesthebetteroptiontorepresentthe
propertiesofsophisticatedandcomplexobjectsofinstructionsuchasgrammaticalconcepts.” (p.11)
TextbookspublishedinSpain
TextbookspublishedinSpainareorganisedaroundpragmaticaimsandobjectives.Theyfocus
first on having learners handle certain linguistic models and acquire a baseline pragmatic competencebeforemovingontoteachinggrammaticalrules.Theseworksincludegrammatical objectives,andinfewcasestheyalsoincludephonologicalandlexicalobjectives.Nevertheless,a significantnumberoftextbookssetasidegrammaticalcontentsinappendicesasreference material.Grammaticalcontentstendtoincludeschemataofgrammaticalstructuresandvery concisegrammaticalrules.Thestartingpointislinguisticproductionandtheendpointisthe
heuristicsystems.
Itiscommonforlessonstostartwithfacilitatingactivities,avoidingtheuseofsubject-matterconcepts.RecenttextbooksusetheCEFRinthegradationofcontentsandfrequency analysistoselectvocabularyinaparticularsemanticfield.Gradationtendstobemoreandmore
cyclical,thatis,itemsarereintroducedthroughoutthetextbook.Thevarietyofobjectivesand thecyclicalgradationcontributetomakingthesetextbookstoothickfortheexpectativesof Japanesepractitioners.Theseworksare200pageslongandsurpassthesmallB5formatusedfor Japanesetextbooks.
Sometextbooksattempttointroducesituatedexamplesoflinguisticproduction,almostas iflearnerscouldlistentocolloquialspeechorhaveaccesstoeverydaydocuments,e.g.colloquial
formsofrequestingcoffeeorbeer,acopyofarealmenufromabar,etc.(seetheseriesPlaneta ELE,Cerrolazaetal,1998).Gradationinthiscaseisattainedthroughgoodcontentsequencing,
not through adaptation. Other textbooks are based on more idealised linguistic practices. Nevertheless, in most works, linguistic models play the role of facilitating communicative competence.
Theintroductionofconcretesituationsinspiredbyrealelementshasthecapacityto situatetheproblemstobesolvedbylearnersinsuchawaythattheycandrawonresourcesfrom
theirownexperiences.This,however,canbeanobstacle.Itisdifficulttopreparesituated problems that match all pedagogical contexts. Textbooks published in Spain are often Eurocentric.ToolittleattentionispaidtoAsiancontextsandneeds.Situatedactivitiesalsotend todatequickly.DoyoungJapaneseknowtheGermantennisplayerBorisBeckerortheformer PresidentoftheSpanishGovernmentFelipeGonzález?(Borobio,p.16).In12yearstheactivities havebecomestaleandperhapstheynevermatchedJapaneselearners’needsorcontextanyway. Except for those textbooks that do not displace the teaching of grammar to the
appendices,thefundamentalmoveintheseworksis‘bottomup’.Nevertheless,the‘bottomup’ movementintheZPDstopshalfway,beingtrulythe‘missingmove’.Thismaybeduetothe difficultyoffacilitatingthemovebetweentheconcreteandtheabstractotherthanthrough naturallearningandimplicitinstruction;andofdocumentingconceptualunderstanding,boosted bythetensionbetweenformalinstructionandnaturallearning;andlastlythesuspicionwith whichforeignteachersandcurriculumdevelopersregardtheteachingofgrammar.Furthermore,
Thedoublemove
Fromtheinformalanalysisandevaluationofthetextbooksusedintheteachingofgrammarand communicationinJapan,itcanbeconcludedthatbothgroupsofmaterialslackaninstructional design which integrates in coherent and fluid fashion both the ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’
movementsintheZPD.Thesemovementsrunshortofeithertheupperorlowerlimitsofthe ZPD.Therefore,theireffectivenessasawholeisquestioned.ForHedeegard(2002),instruction withintheZPDcanbecharacterisedas“adoublemovebetweenappreciatingthetraditionsof practicethathavecharacterisedstudents’everydaylifeandconceptsandprocedurescentralfor subject-mattertraditions”(p.78).ThelackofintegrationoftheJapanesecurriculumdoesnot seemtoservethebestinterestsofpedagogy.
Inthecommunicationclass,thetextbooksthatareusedprefertoignoreordisplace
teachingofsubject-matterconcepts,thusnotallowinglearnerstoknowwhatHedeegard(2002) callsthe‘conceptualsystemofcentralconceptualrelations’(p.78).Notunderstandingthe centralmodel,studentscannotevaluatewithprecisiontheirownlearning,letaloneformulate newcentralproblems.
DrawingonVygotsky,Hedegaard(2002)describessubject-matterandeverydayconcepts as:
…twodevelopmentallinesthatrunopposite,sincethespontaneousconceptsdevelop from‘bottomup’throughthechild’sspontaneousactivitiesandexperiencesandgradually becomereflectedexperiences.Countertothis,thescientificconceptsdevelopfrom‘top
down’,andthroughconsciousreflectiongraduallybecomeintegratedwithspontaneous conceptsandnon-reflectiveactivities(Hedegaard,2002,p.41).
CBPandSTIoffernewperspectivesinL2teachingandamounttoanewvaluationoftherole conceptsplayinexplicitteachinginformalschoolingcontexts.
Pedagogicimplicationsofthedoublemove
InteachinganL2toadolescentsandadultsatthethresholdlevel,theintroductionandpractice oflinguisticrealisationsimpliesastageofimplicitandnaturaltransferofeverydayconcepts
thatteachingthemamountstoanexerciseinpedagogiceconomy.AsEllis(1994)pointsout, ‘learnersfailtodevelopfullL2linguisticcompetencesimplybycommunicating’(p.658).Natural learning and communicative input do not necessarily equate with unsystematic practice. Furthermore, delegating to learners the process of deducing grammatical rules in an
unsystematicfashiondoesnotconstituteanexerciseinpedagogiceconomy,either.Thenecessity forformalandexplicitinstructioninSLAisclear(Ellis,1994).Whatisnotsocleariswhat preciselythatinstructionshouldconsistof.
Atthisstageisrecommendedtointroducesituatedproblemsbaseduponlinguisticmodels organisedinmeaningfulunits,contextualisedandalwaysaimingathavingstudentsacquire communicative competence. Instruction may imply learning a completely different L2
sociocultural background. Nevertheless, L2 everyday concepts with clear equivalents and acceptableuseintheL1socioculturalbackgroundshouldbeintroducedfirst,andlaterL2 conceptswithoutequivalentintheL1socioculturalbackground.Forinstance,urbandesign notions(e.g., ‘street’,‘avenue’,‘boulevard’,‘drive’,‘place’,‘footway’and‘groundfloor’)and systemsfororganisingaddressesmaydifferfromforeigncountriestoJapan,and,accordingly,are difficultorimpossibletograspwithoutactuallyteachingacompletelynewsystem.Inother words,itisstillpossibleandrecommendedtofine-tunecommunicativeinputwithinlearners’
ZPD.
A concept-based teaching of the linguistic system is also recommended, taking into accountconceptualclarity,learners’differentlearningstyles,theuseofavarietyofappropriate mediating tools, and instruction and evaluation methods which allow verbalisation and documentationofexplicitknowledge.NegueruelaandLantolf’s(inpress)workimpliesan importantchallengetoteachinggrammar,especiallyforJapanesepractitioners.Itisnecessaryto fully evaluate the feasibility of using methods or techniques of conceptual analysis and
descriptionsuchastheSchemaforCompleteOrientingBasisofAction(alsoknownasSCOBA) (NegueruelaandLantolf,inpress;LantolfandThorne,2006).
Themovefromtheconcretetotheabstract,which,asIalreadypointedout,isfully missingfromthetextbooksalreadyanalysed,canbeplannedthroughlearningactivitiescentred ontheanalysisofgrammaticalstructuresandtherelationshipbetweenconceptswithinthe linguisticsystem.Theelaborationofschemasofclassificationorrelationshipsbasedonconcrete
Pedagogy1
Idesignedcertainactivitieswiththepurposeoffosteringthe‘bottomup’moveintheZPD.They areallexperimentalactivitiescarriedoutincommunicationcourses.Atthisstage,theseactivities arefarfrombeingpartofaformalresearch.Nevertheless,Ibelieveitisnecessarytodocument themtoillustratethepedagogicalmethodsortechniqueswhichcanbedevelopedtofacilitatethe doublemovewithintheZPD.
Letussupposethatourinterest,fromthepointofviewofproficiency,isthatstudents learnascommunicativecompetenceto‘statetheirnationality’,‘saywheretheyarefrom’,‘askfor
otherpeople’snationality’,‘saywherethingsarefrom’and‘askwherethingsarefrom’,which,in turn,impliesasfaraslinguisticcompetenceisconcerned,anunderstandingmoreorlessimplicit or explicit of the present tense of the verbser, grammatical gender and number, and the adjectiveofnationality,aswellassomenotionofsyntax.
Based on linguistic realisations introduced in the communicative class using the communicativeapproach,someofthoserealisationswerecategorisedsoastohavelearners reflectingonthemorphologyofadjectivesofnationality.Categorieswerepresentedinaschema
drawnontheblackboardinnoparticularorder,withoutfollowinganysyntacticpattern(see Figure1).Inthisinitialphase,itwasnotnecessarytoestablishanyformalrelationshipwithinthe grammaticalconceptualsystem(article,adjective,gender,number,invariable,variable,etc.).A symbolicrepresentationofkeyconceptsonwhichtheschemawasbaseduponwassufficient, suchastheuseofdrawingstodepictsingularandpluralgenders.
Figure1.Conceptstobeschematised,adjectivesofnationality
InacourseofcommunicativeL2Spanishforthreshold-levellearnerstaughtbytheauthor of this paper, the aforementioned activity was introduced in the fourth class as the first evaluationactivityofthesemester.Afterseeingtheitemsinthecategories,learnershadtodraw aschemaappropriatelygroupingtheitems.Theactivitywastobecarriedoutindividuallyand
theschemahadtobedrawnonapieceofblankpaper.Thelearnershadreceivedequalnumber of grammar classes, having also one90-minute communication class per week. Out of33 participants,onlyonecouldcompletesatisfactorilytheschema(seeFigure2).Hisonlymistake wastocopythewordcerveza(“beer”)wrongly.Morethanhalfoftheparticipantscopedwell withtheactivity,eventhoughmanyconfoundedthegenderofthenounstulipanes(“tulips”)and ignoredcompletelythe“emptyset”symbolinthearticlescategory(seeFigure2).Thiswas
caused perhaps by the assumption that the items in the schema had to be symmetrically allocated.Thiswasnotthecase,sincetherewerenotanypluralfeminineitems(seeFigure3).It shouldalsobeaddedthatpriortotheevaluation,studentswentthroughasignificantnumberof
Figure2.Schemacorrectlyelaboratedbyastudent
activitiesthroughwhichtheycouldhavelearnedeachoneoftheproblemsposedintheschema, e.g.themorphologicalcontradictionbetweenthenountequilaandthearticle(inSpanish,nouns endingin“a”usuallyarefeminine)andseverallinguisticmodelswhereitcouldbeinferredthat articlesshouldnotbeusedbeforepropernouns.Afewpleasantsurprisesweredetected,suchas
thecorrectuseofthe‘emptyset’symbolbyonestudent(seeFigure3),eventhoughshefailedto seethemorphologicalrelationbetweenarticle,nounandadjectiveinthecaseoftulips.
Attheendoftheactivity,theresultswereanalysedinclassthroughtheexhibitionofthe schemaelaboratedbythelearners.Atthistime,keygrammaticalconceptswereused,suchas singularmasculine,pluralmasculine,etc.,whichpreviouslyhadonlybeendepictedthrough drawings,togetherwithawiderarrayofgrammaticalconceptssuchas“concord”.
Pedagogy2
Figures4and5showaschemaactivityonthedifferencebetweenreflexiveandnon-reflexive verbsandtheirrelationshipwithdirectandcircumstancialcomplements.Thisactivityishalfway
betweenthestructuralorganisationoflinguisticrealisationsandtheorganisationofsubject- matterconceptualsystems.Thisevaluationactivitywascarriedoutinacourseforthreshold- levellearnerstaughtbytheauthorofthispaperattheendofthesecondsemesterofatwo-semester programme. It was administered to33 participants throughExcel spreadsheets. Studentshadtoorganisetheinformationindividually.Duringthefirstsemester,learnershadhad 2890-minuteclassesofgrammarwithJapaneseteachersand14communicationclasseswitha foreignteacher.Linguisticandmetalinguisticitemswereplacedincategoriesintheoriginal matrix.Somekeygrammaticalconceptsweretranslatedtofacilitatetheactivity.Theseconcepts
hadbeenpreviouslyusedinSpanishandJapaneseduringthecourseinordertoexplainthe grammaticalruleofSpanishreflexiveverbsandthemorphosyntacticrelationships(seeFigure 4).
Theresultswerequitepromising.Morethan20participantscouldorganisetheitems correctly in the spreadsheet. Most of the problems came from the misplacement of direct complements,especiallywhenthesewereinconnectionwithreflexiveverbs.
themtoorganisefirstthelinguisticinformationtoformappropriatesentencesandthentouse metalinguistic/grammaticalconcepts.Ialsomonitoredtheactivity,givingpositivefeedbackwhen Isawstudentsmovingintherightdirectionandinquiringaboutthereasoningbehindwrong moves.Forthesamereason,morethananevaluationactivity,theexercisemustbeseenasan excusetohavelearnersreorganisepastactivities. Theworkonspreadsheetsseemedtofacilitatethedevelopmentoftheactivitymore
年 月 日( Date)
名前:(FullName) 学籍番号:( Studentnumber) 図表を書きなさい( Drawaschema)
levanto(“Igetup”),lavo(“Iwash”),ducho(“Itakeashower”), estudias(“youstudy”,singular),
acuestas(“yougotobed”,singular),trabajo(“Iwork”)
me,te(1stand2ndpersonreflexivepronouns,singular)
losmartes(“Tuesdays”),lossábados(“Saturdays”)
español(“Spanish”),inglés(“English”),lacara(“myface”), losdientes(“myteeth”)
alasocho(“ateight”),porlamañana(“inthemorning”),
porlanoche(“intheevening”),enunrestaurante(“attherestaurant”), enlauniversidad(“attheuniversity”)
reflexivo(再帰動詞)( “reflexive”),noreflexivo(“non-reflexive”) (yo)( “I”),(tú)( “you”)
sujeto(主語)( “subject”),
pronombrereflexivo(再帰代名詞)( “reflexivepronoun”), verbo(動詞)( “verb”),
complementodirecto(直接補語)( “directcomplement”),
complementocircunstancial(状況補語)( “circumstancialcomplement”)
primerapersona( 1 人称)( “1stperson”), segundapersona( 2 人称)( “2ndperson”)
Figure4.Conceptsforaschema,reflexiveandnon-reflexiveverbs
Figure5.Schemacorrectlydonebyastudent
SUJETO VERBO COMPLEMENTO PRONOMBRE REFLEXIVO REFLEXIVO NO REFLEXIVO DIRECTO CIRCUNSTANCIAL PRIMERA PERSONA
yo me levanto alasocho/porla mañana/porlanoche losmartes/lossábados lavo lacara losdientes ducho trabajo enunrestaurante SEGUNDA PERSONA
tú te acuestas alasocho/porla mañana/porlanoche estudias español enlauniversidad
smoothly.Itlimitedthekindofschemastudentshadtoproduce,incontrastwiththeactivity reportedabove,wherestudentsnotonlyhadtopayattentiontotheconcordoftheitems,but alsoinventawaytoorganisetheinformation.Theuseofspreadsheetsmeantthatthevariationof schematamodelsweresmall.Incontrast,thevariationofschematamodelsinthecasereported
inPedagogy1waslarger(seeFigures2and3).Thus,itisimportanttopayattentiontothe mediatingtoolsusedinthesekindsofactivities.
Finally,perhapsthehighestexampleofa‘bottomup’movemightbetheelaborationof conceptualschemasuchasSCOBA,notwiththepurposeofanalysinggrammaticalstructure,but aimingatdefininggrammaticalrules.Ofcoursethiskindoftaskcouldonlybeusefulafter learnersreceiveasignificantamountofpositiveinput.Nonetheless,itisnecessarytodoaformal
researchonthepedagogicalmethodsandtechniqueswhichmayfosterthe‘bottomup’movement withintheZPD.
Conclusion
TheuseofSCT,andVygotsky’snotionofZPDinparticular,inSLAresearchandpractice,andthe publicationin2001oftheCEFR,callsforare-evaluation,notonlyofthecurriculaofSpanishasa foreignlanguageprogrammesatthetertiaryeducationinJapan,butalsoforthetransformation ofthedivisionoflabour(grammarandcommunication)currentlybeingused.
Theshiftofapproach,fromonewhichhasemphasisedgrammaticalcompetence,toonein which grammar is still seen as a system, but only as a mediator in the acquisition of communicative competence, can be considered a paradigm shift in the Japanese context. Adaptingtothisparadigmconstitutesachallengeforteachersandtheirorganisations,for instructional designers, editors, curriculum designers, assessment experts and evaluation organisations.
It is necessary to reappraise the current role of learning grammar and the way it is facilitatedatthetertiarylevelinJapan,andalsohowappliedlinguisticandSLAapproachesto learningbasedonVygotsky’sworks,especiallySCTandAT,offernewpossibilitiestointegrate formalinstructionandnaturalisticapproaches.Grammarshouldbecentredonthelearnerand shouldnotconstitutetheunreflectivereproductionofadetachedknowledge,butshouldtake intoaccountlearners’differentlearningstylesandincorporatestrongpedagogicalprinciples. CBPandSTIseemtofulfillthoseexpectations.
reactionagainstit,practitionersandresearchersshouldnotignoreapproachesthatcanintegrate inacoherentwaythedialecticalmovementbetweentheupperandlowerendoftheZPD.From thisperspective,themethodortechniqueaimedatfosteringthe‘bottomup’moveproposedin thispaper,oncefullyevaluated,couldhelpdevelopVygotsky’sdialecticapproachtodevelopment
bothinthegrammarandinthecommunicationclass.
Insum,itisnotonlythe‘bottomup’movethatislackinginalltextbooksthatarecurrently beingusedintheteachingofL2Spanish,butalsoacomplete‘topdown’moveisabsent.Ifthere issomethingcommontoalltheseworks,itisthatitisalmostimpossibletointegratethem coherently.Thus,theinformeduseofVygotsky’sZPDcouldconstituteakeytransformation whenreformulatinganinadequatecurricularandlabourdivision.
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