Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist born in 1896 who studied language development and believed that language plays a key role in cognitive development. He proposed that children use language both to describe the world to others and to think internally, which allows them to understand the world. Vygotsky also developed the theory of the zone of proximal development, which refers to the ability of children to solve problems with guidance from others that they could not solve independently, and suggested that social interaction and language use within this zone are critical to learning.

1. VYGOTSKY AND THE
ROLE OF
LANGUAGE.
Practice II: Didactics of ELT & Practicum at Primary
School level.
Mailén Cuello Torres
Sofía Martins

2. VYGOTSKY’S LIFE:
Born in1896 in Orsha (Russian
Empire).
 Degree in law in 1917.
Formal work in psychology:
1924.
 Died of tuberculosis in 1934.

3. LANGUAGE:
 To describe the world
 As a thinking tool
 To play with it internally:
 to understand the world.

4. ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT:
 Learning in a social environment:
 Social activity
 Children learn from people
 Language makes interaction
possible
 Critical interaction to the way
they learn.

5. ZPD
 Tasks beyond their ability.
“The distance between the actual
developmental level and the level
of potential development”.
Parents and teachers can foster
learning.