VYGOTSKY’S SOCIO-CULTURAL THEORY: DISCUSSION AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT: Second language instruction has taken too much effort, time and energy of researchers,educators and language teaching practitioners for many decades. They have tried to find out what claims ortheories that can be adopted in order to improve second language instruction. With the hope of helping languageteachers move a step forward in their professional success, this article reviews the socio-cultural theory ofVygotsky in terms of its main claims and implications in second language teaching and learning. The mainclaims of the theory are private speech, activity theory and the role of scaffolding, which contributes to the studyof second language acquisition. The theory reveals that scaffolding at the Zone of proximal development can beeffective because it encourages learners to engage in the task and do not get frustrated. The six scaffoldingstrategies present a number of positive aspects for second language teaching and learning.

KEYWORDS: implications, language learning, scaffolding, sociocultural theory, Vygotsky