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Sociocultural theory and the teaching of process writing: The scaffolding of learning in a university context

This paper considers how independent and interdependent learning can be fostered through a process approach to the teaching of writing. It does so by presenting the theoretical rational which underlies a university academic skills programme. Drawing on reports of this programme which have been published elsewhere (e.g., Brine & Campbell, 2002), it is a case study illustrating how scaffolding can be effected by teachers and students. The paper begins by briefly reviewing three central concepts of sociocultural theory: the zone of proximal development, scaffolding, and appropriation. Attention is then turned to a consideration of writing as a collaborative process rather than as a product of solitary endeavour. Details are provided about a university course which applies sociocultural concepts to the adoption of a process approach to EAP writing. Attention is then given to the ways by which six principles of scaffolding (Van Lier, 1996) are applied throughout the course. Firstly, various forms of tutor scaffolding are outlined, and then a short sample of transcript data illustrates how students on this course can work collaboratively to co-construct texts and scaffold each other’s learning. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the broader pedagogical implications of sociocultural theory to the teaching of writing. Key constructs in Sociocultural Theory Most theories of, and research studies investigating, second language acquisition and learning are based on cognitive processes, usually in experimental conditions, and do not take the broader social context into account. By contrast, a sociocultural perspective, based on the pioneering work of L.S. Vygotsky (1896-1934), places the social context at the heart of the learning and communication process. Vygotsky posited that human learning cannot be understood independently from the social and cultural forces that influence individuals, and that sociocultural interactions are critical to learning. Individuals use physical, cultural and psychological tools to learn and to regulate their activity, and language in Vygotsky’s view, is the most important of these tools. Conceptual and cultural learning occurs through dialogue in what he called a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): The distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). Thus, learning is not merely conveyed, but mutually created by the participants in a structured dialogue in which the more capable partner promotes the learning of the less able by building, 76