Vygotskys Sociocultural Theory and Hong Kong - 1024 Words

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory focused on the affect of the surroundings, namely the culture, peers, and adults, on the developing child. Vygotsky proposed the â€Å"zone of proximal development† (ZPD) to explain the influence of the cultural context. ZPD refers to the range of tasks which a child cannot finish alone since they are too difficult, but such tasks can be completed with guidance and aid from more-skilled individuals. The lower limit of ZPD is the level of skill that the children can reach alone, and the upper limit of ZPD is the level of skill that the children can reach with guidance from a more skilled individual, such as teachers, parents and more-skilled peers. Imagine a child is having difficulty writing book reports.†¦show more content†¦This results in schools focusing on instructing knowledge to students like feeding chickens in a farm and doesn’t really care whether the students understand the knowledge instructed or not. This exam -oriented style of education ignores the students’ development as a whole, and generates many graduates with good grades in school and struggled in workplace. The old educational style of Hong Kong seems not to fit with Vygotsky’s theory. Nowadays, the emphasis of education in Hong Kong seems to be starting to shift from instructing knowledge to assisting students to construct knowledge. As teachers will not only instruct knowledges, but also guides students in finishing tasks such as laboratory exercises and group projects. This implies the ZPD as teachers will now try to dig students’ potential and help students to reach them. Peer mentors are also very common in secondary schools nowadays. Senior form students will volunteer or be recruited by teachers to assist junior form students to finish assignments or group projects. Cross-age mentoring is more common than same-age mentoring. Same-age mentoring will only occur in class, as students with better understanding on the subject will help explain the concepts to other students and assist them in finishing in-class assignments. The peer mentors are suggested to adjust the amount of guidance according to the progress of the tutees. This implies the scaffoldin g concept and that culture isShow MoreRelatedTeaching English As A Second Language And Culture3962 Words   |  16 Pagesbecome bilingual, the person has to overpass different barriers. Becoming a bilingual person requires much effort and desire of learning because every single language is complex in its own way. Teaching English as a Second Language and the Sociocultural Theory While Teaching ESL, A Bilingualism Study I interviewed an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher currently employed at a High School in Texas. This teacher grew up in Virginia and graduated from a Christian University with a major in Political