14. Constructivist Issues in Language Learning and Teaching

Constructivism has emerged in recent years as a dominant paradigm in education and has had a major intellectual impact on the development of pedagogy, especially in mathematics and science. Rooted in the cognitive developmental theory of Piaget and in the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky, constructivist notions have had an impact on the development and application of technologically enhanced microworlds and on linguistic investigation into literacy and narrative development. To date, constructivism has had little impact on language pedagogy; however, the advent of content-based pedagogical paradigms as an anchor of language education has opened new opportunities for integration of interdisciplinary collaborative approaches for language teaching and learning. Furthermore, the current emphasis on standardsbased accreditation and reconceptualization of teacher education programs will likely expand the horizons of language pedagogy, bringing constructivist approaches to the foreground in language teacher education and opening new avenues for linguistic and interdisciplinary classroom-based research.