Abstract:
This paper aims to study Vygotsky’s (1987) sociocultural theory of learning with respect to how it relates to technology-based second language learning and teaching. The researchers selected their participants from advanced students from Payame Noor University. We divided the participants into two groups- an experimental group and a control group. After teaching the course an experimental group was asked to continue practicing language in an online learning environment, whereas those in the control group were not told anything about practice procedure. We found that students’ engagement in an interactive group activity in the online learning can be a useful approach to facilitating and motivating internalization, learning, and better performance.
Machine summary:
We found that students’ engagement in an interactive group activity in the online learning can be a useful approach to facilitating and motivating internalization, learning, and better performance.
The theory focuses on children cognitive development and argues that the development of human cognitive and higher mental function comes from social interactions (Aimin, 2013; Tharp & Gallimore, 1988) and that the process of the development higher mental functioning is the one by which people internalize or regulate what they learn from social activities (Aimin, 2013).
The present study revealed that social community is as an effective strategy for developing students’ speaking and writing skills because students engagement or involvement in an ongoing online discussion atmosphere, offer them the opportunity to improve interactional and productive skills, and eventually internalize the second language.
For Vygotsky, social interaction, especially scaffolding conversations with conscious members of the community play a fundamental role in the development of cognition, and help children learn ways of thinking (Forward, 2005; Turuk, 2008; Olivaraes, 2012).
In particular, Internalization is a central concept in Vyogtsky’s theory (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006) that is particularly important for second language learning.
This study approve that the online practice approach was appropriate for learning and eventually internalizing the second language.
After using an English achievement test as the criterion of this study, we found that students’ engagement and communication in an interactive group activity in the online learning environment can be a useful approach to facilitating and motivating internalization, learning, and better performance.