Sociocultural Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sociocultural Theory - taste Example101). The debate about the definition of term collaborative as well as ongoing attempts to get a line relevant criteria to determine whether learning is collaborative or not does not seem to have either major implications for the bedrock of collaborative learning.Almost every explore study exploring collaborative learning environment comes to positive conclusions (Johnson, Johnson, and Stanne, 1986 Natasi and Clements, 1991). Natasi and Clements (1991) summarize these conclusions in the following way Cognitive-academic and social-emotional benefits have been reported for students from early elementary by dint of college level, from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and having a wide range of ability levels Furthermore, cooperative learning has been use effectively across a wide range of content areas, including mathematics, reading, language arts, social studies and science (p. 111).Initially, research in the realm of collaborative le arning focused on functioning of an separate learner in a group the theories which dominated cognitive psychology over the 1970s tended to emphasise the role of individual information processors in the process of cognition. The social context of this process was viewed as secondary to individual drill (Dillenbourg et al, 1996 189). The last decades of the 20th century were marked by increased attention to the social context, and, consequently, improved sagaciousness of the process of cognition. Much of the shift was due to growing influence of sociocultural theory in pedagogical practice. This theory is very helpful in predicting, explaining and justifying the above listed cognitive, psychological and social benefits of engaging students in collaborative learning activitiesMAIN DISCUSSIONThe theoretical background underlying contemporary models of collaborative learning relies heavy upon three major theories of learning socio-constructivist theory, socio-cultural theory, and sha red cognition theory (Dillenbourg et al, 1996). These three perspectives share the basic features of cognitive stance, including the focus on the interactive aspect of human development and learning, but the socio-cultural theory has been recently gaining impulsion as the most influential among the three in the realm of language education (Lantolf, 2000 Wells, 1999).L. S. Vygotsky formulated the basics of socio-cultural theory in the 1920s and 1930s, though current conceptualisations of this approach also draw on plant life and ideas of other theorists (Luria, 1979 Wertsch, 1991, 1998 Newman and Holzman, 1993 Cole, 1996). The essence of socio-cultural theory is exploring the causal relationship between the social interactions and cognitive