Constructivism: a learning scenario
Constructivist language learning
Having practised new vocabulary items using an app, with flashcards and and multiple-choice activities eliciting repetition, memorization, and with reward for desired responses (detailed in the Behaviorism tutorial), the learner is asked to reflect on this experience and to discuss with peers. This could be done electronically via a forum, or as part of a classroom experience. Through collaboration, the learner becomes an active participant in their own learning and gains awareness of how they are developing as a learner. The instructor or AI / chatbot could model pronunciation and the learners listen to each other and give their feedback, developing new knowledge related to their existing knowledge through social interaction and the guidance/mediation of a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).
Next, new learning objectives are elicited. Having seen such vocabulary items, how might they be used in a real-world setting and can they predict this setting? The learner is tasked to use the newly acquired vocabulary in a real-world context to achieve authentic communicative objectives (could involve props or be part of a VR/app-based experience). They will develop new language skills and strategies in the zone of proximal development, interacting with their peers and with less competent learners, developing with help from more skilful peers. The learner works in small groups (either online or in a classroom setting) with support from the MKO who structures the peer interaction and facilitates further discussion and modelling of the language, helping with aspects of the task that the learner cannot do yet. (Guided learning in the ZPD leads to greater understanding than working alone).
Through discussion and taking on board other people’s perspectives and sharing their own understanding, the learner sees things in new ways; constructs their own new knowledge and helps their peers construct new knowledge. The learner is engaged in their own process of learning and takes responsibility to learn. Producing new language for a real-world scenario, the learner takes an active role in constructing and co-constructing new knowledge through collaboration in the ZPD, reaching the level of development that they are capable of reaching under the guidance of the MKO and in collaboration with peers.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
