Sociocultural Theory in Second Language Education : An Introduction through Narratives

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of mind (1978) highlights the interdependence of the individual, social community and interactions in the construction of knowledge. The theory has been widely adopted in the area of applied linguistics research, and it has been employed to explain second language learning processes (Storch, 2013). The stated aim of this 192-page book is to introduce the key concepts of sociocultural theory (SCT), including mediation, zone of proximal development, collaborative dialogue, private speech, everyday and scientific concepts, the interrelatedness of cognition and emotion, activity theory and assessments. As is posed on the cover of the book, these key notions of SCT are illuminated within the narratives to which the authors, contexts of second language learning, teaching, testing, and research. Although major concepts discussed in the book originate from its first publication, this second edition provides the readers with more recent studies on Vygotskian SCT in second language education. The authors have also completed the book with references from all of Vygotsky's collected works that appear in the bibliography. Sociocultural theory in second language education: An introduction through narratives, comprises eight chapters which follow a brief introduction from the authors. The book, in some respects, may be regarded as a narrative because the authors occupy all the eight chapters with stories related to language teaching and learning. In total, there are ten stories presented within the eight chapters. The authors purposefully employed these ten stories to illustrate one or more concepts of SCT and to create engagement between the theory and its classroom practice. The characteristics and context of the story are also presented by the authors to help readers follow the discussion and build a connection between SCT concepts and language learning practice. At the beginning of each story, the key principles of SCT and the working terminologies are briefly introduced to maintain the readers' focus