Are you tired yet?
Are you tired yet?
Over the past three months we hear nothing more than the ZPD. Lev Vygotsky’s theory about the Zone of proximal development. We’ve talking about what the ZPD is. This theory explains that there is a perfect amount of challenge in each activity for every student. More specifically, it Vygotsky says that if you teach students something they already know then they will be bored. If you teach them something that is way beyond their present capability than they will give up, get frustrated, and then be bored. The ZPD is the place in which students are challenged enough and where they can engage in the material and understand what is going on.
This formula can also be used for language acquisition. If a teacher is teaching students words that they already know, they will not be learning anything new, and they will get bored. If a teacher is teaching students language that is way beyond their reach it will go right over their head and they will not be able to understand what the class is about. However if the language being taught is in the students zone of proximal development then these students will be able to grasp what is being taught and they will be able to better understand the language.
The key things students need to make this theory work is social interaction. Social interaction will help with development and learning. This will help students move from their actual language levels to their potential language levels. Reading texts and listening to others speak will help with ELLs learning.