THE RELEVANCE AND IMPLICATIONS OF VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Sociocultural theory has made a great impact on the learning and teaching profession. The theory advocates learning, including L2 acquisition, as a semiotic process where participation in socially mediated activities is essential. It regards instruction as crucial to L2 development and should be geared to the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) that is beyond the learner s actual development level. It believes that learning in an L2 context should be a collaborative achievement and not an isolated individual s effort where the learner works unassisted and unmediated. This literature review discusses the relevance and implications of this theory to L2 teaching.