Vygotsky & Pragmatic Development

• Vygotsky theory


  - general psychological theory, with heavy emphasis on the importance of language

  - social interactionist theory
• social interactionist theory


  - human behavior is rooted in social/cultural interactions

  - social interactions create our cognitive structures/abilities
• how development occurs:


  - children interact with adults or peers who are at a higher cognitive level

  - adults demonstrate or model a cognitive task

  - child observes this way of problem solving

  - child internalizes how to problem solv
• zone of proximal development (ZPD)


  - level of material where you can't succeed alone, but can succeed with appropriate help and guidance

  - difference between actual development level and potential development level

  
• language


  - "thinking depends on speech"

  - private speech

  - is a tool for cognitive processes
• private speech


  - kids talk to themselves out loud

  - allows kids to guide their own thinking

  - over time becomes inner speech (silent)

  - peaks at age 9 then decreases
• language development


  - stems from social interactions

  - first language used to control others (social)

  - then is internalized for self control and self thinking

  - domain general and nurture theory
• pragmatics


  - USE of language

  - meaning in context

  - intentions (functions) for communicating
• communicative intent


  - attempts to communication can be both verbal and nonverbal (gesture)

  - 18 months old use about 2 speech acts per minute

  - 24 months old use about 5
• turn taking w/ infants


  - take turns with non-verbal interactions
• turn taking w/ preschoolers


  - wait for their turn

  - rarely overlap turns with conversational partner

  - BUT have longer pauses between turns than older kids

  - difficult to introduce a new topic
• topic maintenance w/ toddlers


  - use repetition of what the adult said to take a turn

  - can take turns by answering questions asked by an adult
• topic maintenance w/ preschoolers


  - use more than 1 utterance per turn

  - elaborate on the same topic for a few turns

  - can add new information on the topic
• repairing communication breakdowns w/ toddlers


  - will repeat when asked

  - aren't good at providing new information about the breakdown
• repairing communication breakdowns w/ preschoolers


  - difficult for them to rephrase what they say or to request clarification from their partner

  - don't notice non-verbal cues the listener doesn't understand
• taking listener's perspective


  toddlers and preschoolers tend to:

  - not comment on what the listener is assumed to know

  - lead to not introducing new topics clearly

  - tend to talk about the here and now so it's not too confusing for the listener
• gender differences


  - boys and girls have different styles with girls more indirect and collaborative and boys more direct
• why is pragmatics hard for children?


  - pragmatic rules aren't clearcut

  - social conventions are abstract (not concrete)

  - pragmatic rules differ in different contexts
• pragmatics aren't clearcut


  - parents might say "you need to say please"

  - but you can be polite in other ways

  - toddlers use please more with older listeners, listeners who are more dominant, or have something the child really wants
• social conventions are abstract


  - not concrete

  - no referent to please and thank you
• pragmatic rules differ in different contexts


  - change register and style depending on communication partner