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Mind, Culture, and Activity

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Special Issue on Second and Foreign Language Learning and Teaching: An Introduction
Ana Christina DaSilva Iddings & Luis C. Moll
a a a

College of Education, University of Arizona Published online: 13 Oct 2010.

To cite this article: Ana Christina DaSilva Iddings & Luis C. Moll (2010): Special Issue on Second and Foreign Language Learning and Teaching: An Introduction, Mind, Culture, and Activity, 17:4, 308-311 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10749030903434308

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Mind, Culture, and Activity, 17: 308311, 2010 Copyright Regents of the University of California on behalf of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition ISSN 1074-9039 print / 1532-7884 online DOI: 10.1080/10749030903434308

INTRODUCTION

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Special Issue on Second and Foreign Language Learning and Teaching: An Introduction

As the site of conuence of several disciplines interested in language acquisition and use, the eld of applied linguistics is the overarching domain of research dedicated to the study of second and foreign language (L2) theory and practice (Kramsch, 2000). Traditionally, much of the applied linguistics research has been aligned with psycholinguistics, and more specically with information processing theory and with dominant varieties of formal linguistics (e.g., inspired by Chomskian traditions). Chomskian formal linguistics, as a eld of inquiry, envisions the development of language as facilitated by an innate biological endowment (i.e., Language Acquisition Device) located in the human brain. In addition, it postulates that a general underlying linguistic structure shared by all languages (i.e., Universal Grammar) governs language acquisition processes. Similarly, from the point of view of information processing theory, language development is most often understood as an internally driven phenomenon, largely independent from the social, historical, and cultural context where it takes place. This theoretical stance treats the human mind as an apparatus analogous to computers and generally regards language as a code that enables the processing of information. From these perspectives, L2 acquisition is often associated with discreet grammatical parameters (e.g., whether or not linguistic production approximates native speaker norms), with measurable behaviors (e.g., quality and quantity of linguistic input/output), or with xed traits (e.g., personality, linguistic aptitude). A shift from psycholinguistic models for studying L2 acquisition began to occur in the mid1980s when researchers in applied linguistics (e.g. Lantolf & Frawley, 1984) began to explore the potential applications of sociocultural theory (SCT)1 to the study of second and foreign language acquisition and use.2 Herein, the inextricable connections between language, the development
1 Semiotics and cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) are, of course, also a part of the L2 research, but publishers in applied linguistics have not wanted the designation to change from SCT. 2 Language acquisition and language use are viewed as distinct linguistic processes in some of the applied linguistics literature concerned with the study of L2. However, for the purposes of this proposal, both of these processes are encompassed under the umbrella term L2 learning.

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of mental concepts, and the social, cultural, and historical context of human activity are wholly considered. Thus, within an SCT viewpoint, learning another language is not understood as an individuals process of acquisition and assimilation of linguistic structures as a result of proper stimuli. Rather, from this perspective, L2 learning is seen as a goal-directed activity involving dynamic social, cultural, historical, and ontological processes, as well as complex kinds of reorganization of ways of thinking and being in the world. That is, from this perspective, the L2 learner is regarded fully as a social and cultural being and understood in interaction with others, contexts, and materials. Hence, in the last 20 years or so, the relevance of sociocultural theoretical principles to the learning and teaching of L2 students has gained prominence in applied linguistics research. At this point, L2 work from an SCT perspective includes edited volumes, special issues in Applied Linguistics journals, and monographs. In addition, numerous SCT-inspired journal articles, doctoral dissertations, chapters in scholarly books, handbook chapters, and considerable portions of second and foreign language textbook publications in the eld of applied linguistics have offered theoretical contributions and insights into L2 learning/teaching (see Lantolf & Thorne, 2006, for a review of many of these studies). Moreover, for the past 16 consecutive years, a growing number of scholars interested in the interconnections between SCT and L2, have come together at the annual Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning Research Working Group Gathering to present, discuss, and further their work. Yet, outside of the applied linguistics literature, there has been relatively little accounting of how this corpus of L2/SCT research has contributed to the development of the theory itself, or how this particular branch of SCT research has contributed to the understanding of education as a whole (see Moll, 1990, however). Thus, the guest editors for this special issue believe that interrelationships signaled by the masterhead of Mind, Culture, and Activity (MCA) make this journal an ideal venue for the unearthing of processes related to L2 learning and teaching. Accordingly, of the manuscripts obtained in response to an open call for submissions, we selected ve articles, all stemming from empirical studies, for inclusion in this issue. This collection not only brings together some of the most recent developments in the study of L2 teaching and learning, but also sheds light on important methodological and theoretical contributions of this research to SCT itself and to the understanding of education as a whole. The rst article, Vygotskys Teaching-Assessment Dialectic and L2 Education: The Case for Dynamic Assessment by Poehner and Lantolf, introduces Dynamic Assessment (DA), a framework that integrates teaching and assessment into a seamless, development-focused activity. The authors rst provide a revealing contrast between mainstream or in-put approaches to L2, which emphasize learning structures that are xed in the head, and an SCT approach to the topic, which underscores how sociocultural mediation constitutes learning and development. From an SCT perspective, Poehner and Lantolf argue that an interactionist DA needs to become more than simply a notion of providing useful and strategic assistance to facilitate learning a particular task, to include what they call transcendence, understood as how the learner, as an active agent, appropriates such assistance to address new and more complex problems. In the article Gesture and Identity in the Teaching and Learning of Italian, Peltier and McCafferty examine the use of specically Italian forms of gesture and gesturing in college classrooms in the United States as found for instructors who claim an Italian identity that is a part of their classroom presentation of self in teaching the language and culture. The study also includes students who have spent years living in Italy and their initiation of gestures when addressing

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INTRODUCTION

teachers as well as mirroring teachers gestures. It is argued that gestures are an affordance in the ecosocial environment in both the classroom and in the wild and that they can become part of a learners communicative repertoire through actuation, that is, rst being exposed to a form of communication, next engaging in its use, and nally conforming to the communicative conventions that surround it. Moreover, it is argued that this is a nonlinear process that can take place on different timescales and across time and space. In the article The Social Genesis of Self-Regulation: The Case of Two Korean Adolescents Learning English as a Second Language, Jang and DaSilva Iddings apply genetic analysis as a lens to provide an in-depth examination of how two newly arrived immigrant Korean students were beginning to learn English while enrolled in a middle school in the United States. The authors focus, in particular, on the ways the two students made use of different semiotic systems (i.e., native and target languages) to (re)gain and maintain self-regulation in a new cultural and linguistic context. The study also demonstrates that identities are inuenced by the purposeful use of language for self-expression and self-regulation and by the social positions individuals occupy and that individuals assume agency in taking up, resisting, and re-elaborating their subjectivities. Liu and Vadeboncoeurs article Bilingual Intertextuality: The Joint Construction of Bi-Literacy Practices Between Parent and Child presents an in-depth discourse analysis of parentchild dyad activities in Chinese and English. Bilingual intertextuality refers to two related, mediating processes in learning to read and write in the two languages: (a) the switching of languages by the participants in support of learning, with the dominant language providing a scaffold for the development of the second one, and (b) the reciprocal relationship established between the two codes. The authors analysis reveals the childs initial development of a dual competency: separating Chinese and English at the level of speech production while beginning to unify these languages at the level of meaning and thought. This interdependency signals the genesis of a common underlying prociency in this budding bilingual.3 In the nal article in this issue, Opportunities for Foreign Language Learning and Use within a Learners Informal Social Networks, Kurata investigates the language use of a student learning Japanese in Australia through informal conversations with native speakers of the target language who were part of his social network. Using activity theory and conversational analysis as tools, Kurata carefully demonstrates that L2 learning where the target language is not dominant in the environment can be both facilitated or inhibited according to learners access to opportunities for interactions with native speakers. Kurata also points out that learners use of L2 for language acquisition and for socialization within social networks can be contradictory activities, especially in the beginning stages of prociency when students may nd it difcult to participate in meaningful conversations in order to establish relationships. Ultimately, the author makes the case that opportunities for L2 use and learning are often socially constructed within language learners social network contexts, and therefore attention must be paid to these processes. The guest editors for this special issue hope that through the articles included in this collection, the readers nd a window into contemporary issues related to the teaching and learning of L2. In addition, we call attention to the fact that the studies presented in this issue relate to fundamental aspects of learning and development, considering that most people in the world are speakers
3 In this special issue, the terms bilingual, L2 learner, and English language learner (ELL) are used interchangeably to designate individuals whose dominant language is one other than English.

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of more than one language. Finally, being sensitive to the variety of interests of MCA readers, we have attempted to ensure that each article is accessible to a wide range of scholarly backgrounds and not to just those who are interested in applied linguistics. In this way, we anticipate that readers will see the relevance of SCT frameworks to the study and advancement of applied linguistics as well as of other disciplines of study involving language. Ana Christina DaSilva Iddings and Luis C. Moll College of Education, University of Arizona

REFERENCES

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Kramsch, C. (2000). Second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and the teaching of foreign languages. Modern Language Journal, 86, 311326. Lantolf, J. P., & Frawley, W. (1984). Second language performance and Vygotskyan psycholinguistics: Implications for L2 instruction. In A. Manning, P. Martin, & K. McCalla (Eds.), The tenth LACUS forum 1983 (pp. 425440). Columbia, SC: Hornbeam. Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Moll, L. C. (Ed.). (1990). Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.