ZPD
– Zone of Proximal Development
One of the most essential and well known terms associated with Vygotsky's theory is "zone of proximal development"(ZPD). The term refers to the difference between the level of independent performance of a child and the level of his performance with assistance (Vygotsky, 1978). In other words, ZPD is the gap between the tasks a child can do on his or her own and the tasks he or she can do with support.
One of the most essential and well known terms associated with Vygotsky's theory is "zone of proximal development"(ZPD). The term refers to the difference between the level of independent performance of a child and the level of his performance with assistance (Vygotsky, 1978). In other words, ZPD is the gap between the tasks a child can do on his or her own and the tasks he or she can do with support.
According
to Vygotsky is the kind that is aimed not at the child’s level of independent
performance but is instead aimed within the ZPD. This instruction does more
than increase a child’s repertoire of skills and understandings and it actually
produces gains in child development.
When connecting the zone proximal developing to language acquisition, we must refer to Vygotsky's concept. According to Vygotsky, there is an absolute connection and relations between language and thinking. Moreover, language affects thinking in a way that it shapes the cognitive developments such as perception, attentiveness and memorization, which are very essential for acquiring a language, especially second language acquisition (SLA). In addition, some relate the ZPD to other area such as Scaffolding and according to Thornbury,Scaffolding is what peers or teachers do to assist learners. Due to the fact that ZPD means assisted performance, the 'scaffolding' term is connected with the ZPD.
If teachers want to learn about the child's ability to perform, we should be aware of the gap between the level of independent performance and the levels of the performance with assistance because the tasks he or she can do today -with the assistance of others (his teachers for example) – he or she will be able to perform tomorrow. On his or her own.
The ZPD focuses on the child's performances, with assistance and without it, this process leads us to learning. According to Thornbury (2006), learning is a social phenomenon that requires activity and interactivity that that is related to language. The concept of ZPD can be applied to the EFL classroom as follows: the class can be divided into groups and be given a task in which the pupils will deal with problem solving and collaboration (the independent performance of the child) while the teacher (the assistance) can help, advice and guide them (performance with assistance). This kind of activity is connected with task-based learning which looks very much like assisted performance. This will enable the pupils to perform the task someday on their own while acquiring a language.
References
Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT: A Dictionary
of Terms and Concepts Used in English Language Teaching, Macmillan Books for
Teachers. Macmillan Education Australia.
Vygotsky,
L. (1978). Zone of Proximal Development: A New Approach. Mind
in Society, Cambridge, MA, Harvard
University Press.
Hi Shir, it sounds like an interesting topic as it empowers the student in the learning process. The teacher supports the student while the student becomes an active learner. It also reminds me of Krashen's input hypothesis where the student is challenged with new knowledge that is just above his present knowledge.
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