VIGOTSKY

CONSTRUCTIVISM:

This pedagogical approach is based on helping students with the tools they need in order for them to construct their own knowledge, this way; they can solve problems and take decisions. The constructivism is focused in two branches, the social and the cognitive.

According to Jean Piaget, the cognitive constructivism explains that human beings not only receive and use information; they also construct their own knowledge. It is important to understand what the person needs for acquiring knowledge and how they learn at their own speed.

The social constructivism, according to Lev Vigotsky, is centered in the big influence the social interactions have in the individuals, this means, the role the teacher has in a classroom. Vigotsky considered that every student can learn by their own means and development, but there are some things they learn with the help of others that already know or has information. This distance between what they learn by themselves and what they learn with the help from others is what he called ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development).

Social interaction is key in the learning process when studying a second language. Students can read all the meanings of the words and the use of grammar and produce some reading, writing and speaking abilities, but their knowledge in the new language can be improved by the interaction with other students, people and also the teacher, not only for practicing, but for clearing the doubts or problems they have when using the language.

If make reference of Vigotsky’s theory of the ZPD, we can considered the teacher very important in the classroom, because is the one that can help students construct more complex knowledge.

Teaching English, teachers can use activities like role-play with the students where they pretend to be facing real life situations, that way, the students can learn what to say and how to say something related to that situation in English.

They can also use a lot of group work, that way, the students can interchange ideas and concepts.

When teaching English, the teacher can also invite native speakers to the classroom, and ask the students to ask them questions. The students usually ask about personal information and about their country.

This interaction helps the student to practice what they already learned in class and also, helps them understand more about the native speaker’s culture and pronunciation. This also makes students to be less shy when they have to speak to an English speaker.

Vygotsky manages five fundamental concepts, which are the Mental Functions, Psychological Skills, Zones of Proximal Development, Psychological Tools and Mediation. Referring to Mental Functions necessary to mention the lower and upper; the lower mental functions are ones that are born, and therefore are natural, are genetically determined and are limited, i.e., is conditional on what we can do (behavior to a reaction or response); Higher mental functions are acquired and developed through social interaction, determining the way of being of that society and culturally these measures, which these aspects lead to the knowledge development. For Vygotsky, the more social interaction, more knowledge, more opportunities to act, are more mental functions. When carrying or apply this to our classrooms, students are more competent, risky and analytical thinking.

Another important concept to consider is the Psychological Skills, these are much related to higher mental functions and manifest in the social and individual levels; attention, memory and the development of concepts are first a social phenomenon (interpsychological) which then becomes the property of the individual or personal (intrapsychological) as an example of this in our classrooms is when the student does not understand a subject, making gesture and question being asked or should be done, this is a function interpsychological metal top, this is because it communicates something. In a second stage, making gestures and ask the student uses them as tools to communicate, and this is when it becomes a self or pesonal higher mental function: intrapsychological.

Within this theory concepts to handle this the Zones of Proximal Development provides the possibility that people learn in a social environment, interaction with others. Our knowledge and experience of others is what makes possible the  learning, therefore, the more rich and frequent the interaction with others, our knowledge is broader and richer. And the sequence of example raised in the submission of the second concept, so that gestures and ask more meaningful and meaning teachers must pay attention and clarifies the doubt or situation, and it is here where exemplified and disclosed that will learn is with the help and guidance of others in the field of social interaction as possible next learning the zone of proximal development.

The psychological tool is another fundamental concept in the study of this theory, these are the bridge between the lower mental functions and higher mental functions, and within these, the bridge between the (social) interpsychological skills and intrapsychological (personal). This tool will measure our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Our ability to think, feel and act, and for this the most important tool is language, which becomes the first form of interaction, and how we appropriate knowledge.

Finally, the concept of Mediation is presented, according to Vygotsky, the central fact of his psychology is the fact that mediation holds that learning is mediated, and it says that culture is the primary determinant of individual development, this says to think and how to think, gives us the knowledge and way of constructing knowledge.