James P. Lantolf

SLA/ Teaching Methodology. From Penn State University. Location: SAC 305.

Concept-based Language Pedagogy

In their meta-analysis of the effects of instruction of learning, Norris and Ortega (2000) conclude that explicit form-focused and forms-focused instruction have substantial positive effects on learning and are more effective than implicit instruction. On the other hand, they note that in studies where rules are explicitly taught, the impact on learning was not significant. One problem with these studies, however, is that grammar presentation was not carried out in a consistent manner. In some studies rules were presented paradigmatically, while in others, the rules were presented in stages. However, most of the grammar-based research has not concerned itself with the quality of the grammatical information presented to learners, nor with the functionality of this knowledge --i.e., how instruction promotes the appropriation of grammatical knowledge to make it accessible to learners when they use the language.

In this presentation I consider an approach to grammar instruction predicated on the Vygotskyan principle that schooled instruction is about developing control over theoretical concepts that are explicitly and coherently presented to learners as they are guided through a sequence of activities designed to prompt the necessary internalization of the relevant concepts. The primary value of theoretical concepts is that unlike spontaneous, everyday concepts, they are not connected to an individual’s personal experience; rather they represent the generalized experience of a community (Karpov 2003, 66). Control of theoretical concepts enables learners to operate independently of a specific context as it allows them to transfer the concept to all relevant contexts as needed. According to Karpov (2003, 70), “rote skills are meaningless and nontransferable, and pure verbal knowledge is inert”; true control over theoretical concepts entails conceptual as well as procedural knowledge. I propose that the key to the development of conceptual understanding of grammar is the construction of appropriate didactic models that learners can use to guide their performance and ultimately internalize as a means of regulating their meaning-making ability in the L2.

Research within the Vygotskyan (1986) tradition has been generally grounded in the dialectical concept of praxis, which draws instruction and development into an organic unity that arises in concrete practical activity. Accordingly, the true test of a theory resides in its ability to promote development in the very sites where ordinary activity transpires and this includes pedagogical activity in the school setting (see Cole 1996; Scribner 1997) . In Vygotsky’s praxis-based framework, instruction is understood as “any directive which elicits new activity” and development is conceived of as “the reorganization of consciousness through this activity” (Axel 1997, 131). This means is that from a sociocultural perspective, pedagogical research is part and parcel of SLA research.

References:

• Axel, E. 1997. One developmental line in European activity theories. In M. Cole, Y. Engeström, & O. Vasquez (eds.) Mind, Culture, and Activity. Seminal Papers from the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, pp. 128-146. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Cole, M. 1996. Cultural Psychology. A Once and Future Discipline. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
• Karpov, Y. V. 2003. Vygotsky’s doctrine of scientific concepts. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V. S. Ageyev, & S. M. Miller (eds.) Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Contex, pp. 138-155. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Norris, J. M. and R. Ortega. 2000. Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning 50: 417-528.
• Scribner, S. 1997. Mind in action: A functional approach to thinking. In M. Cole, Y. Engeström & O. Vasquez (eds.) Mind, Culture and Activity. Seminal Papers from the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, pp. 354-368. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Vygotsky, L. S. 1986. Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.