Social Interaction and Language Development at a Vygotskian-Based Preschool

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Vygotskian-Inspired Pedagogical Practice: Creating Transformative Spaces for Learning and Development

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between preschool educators’ use of a Vygotskian-inspired pedagogical practice termed Instructional Conversation (IC) and students’ language development. Using an observational rubric and video data, educators were categorized as high or low enactors of IC. The effects of IC enactment and multilingual status on language outcomes were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models after partialling out preschoolers’ age. The results indicated that high enactment of IC facilitated the language development of multilingual learners and girls. The gender differences in the results brings up questions related to the effects of culture and biology on learning and Vygotsky’s perspective that cultural factors supersede biological factors in higher order psychological functions.

Authors

• Elizabeth Brook Chapman de Sousa, University of Hawaii

• Seongah Im, University of Hawaii at Manoa