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 research literature. Although the term ‘sociocultural’ is often applied to a wide array of approaches to research that seeks to understand what it means to be a human being, in the present timeline, we restrict its interpretation to refer to the specific theory of psychological development proposed by Vygotsky (Reference Vygotsky1986). Other approaches that have appropriated the term, such as those emanating from the writings of Bakhtin (Reference Bakhtin1981), while compatible in many respects with Vygotskian theory, have a different focus and are not strictly speaking psychological or psycholinguistic theories. To be sure, Vygotsky rarely used the term ‘sociocultural’, preferring instead ‘cultural psychology’ or ‘cultural-historical psychology’ to refer to his theory. Wertsch (Reference Wertsch1985) is generally credited with having coined the term ‘sociocultural’ as a way of capturing the notion that human mental functioning results from participation in, and appropriation of, the forms of cultural mediation integrated into social activities.
The timeline that follows comprises forty-eight notable publications, all of which in some way implicate the basic claim of the theory that all mental activity is symbolically mediated. Within the general mediational framework, four additional themes characterize the literature: the theory as a lens for interpreting data (naturally occurring as well as elicited), the theory as an educational framework for promoting L2 development (i.e., developmental education), a concern with specific concepts with which the theory operates, including the zone of proximal development and dynamic assessment, private speech, internalization, regulation, activity theory, and the genetic method, and a concern with explicating a concept or theoretical issue. Publications quite often address more than one concept and, on occasion, more than one theoretical orientation.
Most of the first two decades of empirical SCT research falls within the first of the above themes. Beginning in 2003, however, with the appearance of Negueruela's (2003) doctoral dissertation (described in the timeline proper), the theory-as-educational-framework emerged as an important theme. This orientation reflects Vygotsky's (1926/1997) commitment to praxis; that is, the dialectical unity of theory and practical activity as an instrument of change.
The selection presents a number of recurring themes and concepts, each of which is marked by capital letters in the annotations to each publication.
General themes
- A
= using the theory as a lens through which data is analyzed and interpreted. This approach follows procedures through which most research deploys theories.
- P
= praxis, in which theory and practical activity are integrated for the purpose of promoting development through direct instruction. This approach adheres to Vygotsky's original goal for psychology.
Specific concepts included under the third theme
- ZPD
= zone of proximal development: all forms of development begin as external social activity, which are then appropriated by the individual as a result of this activity. This occurs in the ZPD, which is generally defined as the difference between what someone can do alone and what he or she can do with mediation.
- DA
= dynamic assessment: a sub-theme of ZPD in which instruction and assessment are unified as components of the same educational process.
- I
= internalization: the process through which individuals appropriate social forms of mediation, including cultural artifacts such as language, and use it to regulate their own mental activity.
- PS
= private speech (also inner speech): speech that is social in origin but which is cognitive in function. That is, it is used by individuals to organize and regular their own mental behavior.
- R
= self-, other- object- regulation (concern with where the locus of mediation is situated, either in the individual, as in expert speakers of a language, in other individuals, as when teachers or expert users provide support and assistance for a learner, or in objects, as when learners have problems with difficult tasks or complex linguistic concepts).
- ACT
= activity theory: a sub-theory of SCT, originally proposed by Vygotsky's colleague, A. N. Leontiev (Reference Leontiev1978), which argues that socially-organized and goal-directed actions play a central role in human development.
- G
= genetic method: the research methodology proposed by Vygotsky to uncover the origins and path of development over time.
- T
= a publication that focuses on a theoretical issue or concept rather than on data analysis.
James P. Lantolf is the Greer Professor in Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics in the Department of Applied Linguistics at Penn State University, Director of the Center for Language Acquisition, and co-Director of CALPER (Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research). He was president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (2004–05) and co-editor of Applied Linguistics (1995–2000). He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and (co-)edited volumes, the most recent being Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages (with M. Poehner; Equinox Publishing, 2008). He is co-author (with Steven Thorne) of Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development (Oxford University Press, 2006).
Tracy G. Beckett received her B.A., H.D.E. and M.Phil. degrees from the University of Cape Town. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Applied Linguistics at The Pennsylvania State University. Her recent awards include the Gil Watz Outstanding Graduate Student in Applied Linguistics and the Africana Research Center Dissertation Fellowship and Grant from Penn State. Her main research areas include second language learning, language and health, language planning, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. She is an active member of several professional societies and organizations.
1 Bahktin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination. Austin, TX: The University of Texas Press.
2 Apel, K-O. (1981). Charles S. Peirce: From pragmatism to pragmaticism. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
3 Haenen, J. (1996). Piotr Gal’perin: Psychologist in Vygotsky's footsteps. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
4 Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
5 McNeill, D. (2005). Gesture and thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
