Vygotsky’s Psychology-Philosophy: A Metaphor for Language Theory and Learning (Cognition and Language: A Series in Psycholinguistics)

You hold in your hands a new book. Professor Dorothy Robbins dedicated it to one of the aspects of the cultural heritage of the famous psychologist L. S. Vygot­ sky. His activity (deyatelnost) was multifaceted. He had input into different fields of psychology: its methodology, psychology of art, pathopsychology, the psy­ chology of child and adolescent development, pedagogical psychology, general psychology, speech psychology, and other fields. Within his various activities he enriched not only psychology, but a variety of different sciences/academics­ pedagogics, defectology, psychiatry, literary critical theory, and linguistics. Some famous scientists feel that he left his mark in fields of various scientific areas that did not exist during his lifetime-such as psycho linguistics, semiotics, and cybernetics. Many psychologists and linguists conduct research in the spirit of his ideas that are contained within his approach of cultural-historical theory of human psy­ chological development, all created by Vygotsky as early as the 1920s and 1930s; these ideas have become popular among scientists in different countries in the last decades. The use of Vygotsky's theories, even beyond the frame of psychol­ ogy, turns out to be fruitful. I hope that this new book by Dorothy Robbins will help readers understand the deeper meaning of the scientific/academic research undertaken by my father and the scientific results that were obtained by him. "You hold in your hands a new book. Professor Dorothy Robbins dedicated it to one of the aspects of the cultural heritage of the famous psychologist L.S. VygotƯ sky. His activity (deyatelnost) was multifaceted. He had input into different fields of psychology: its methodology, psychology of art, pathopsychology, the psyƯ chology of child and adolescent development, pedagogical psychology, general psychology, speech psychology, and other fields. Within his various activities he enriched not only psychology, but a variety of different sciences/academicsƯ pedagogics, defectology, psychiatry, literary critical theory, and linguistics. Some famous scientists feel that he left his mark in fields of various scientific areas that did not exist during his lifetime-such as psycho linguistics, semiotics, and cybernetics. Many psychologists and linguists conduct research in the spirit of his ideas that are contained within his approach of cultural-historical theory of human psyƯ chological development, all created by Vygotsky as early as the 1920s and 1930s; these ideas have become popular among scientists in different countries in the last decades. The use of Vygotsky's theories, even beyond the frame of psycholƯ ogy, turns out to be fruitful. I hope that this new book by Dorothy Robbins will help readers understand the deeper meaning of the scientific/academic research undertaken by my father and the scientific results that were obtained by him"--Font no determinada This book is an introduction to Vygotsky and his theories of language and second language acquisition. Employing a dual framework of metatheory and metaphor, the author focuses on Vygotsky's cultural-historical perspective (contrasted with the sociocultural heritage more prevalent in the West) and its emphasis on history as change and thought as related to action. Included also is a comparison of Vygotskyan and Chomskyan theories of language and grammar. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Background Information on Vygotskian Theory and Vygotsky the Man....Pages 1-18 Overview of L. S. Vygotsky’s Psychological-Philosophical Theory....Pages 19-31 Tools-Psychological Tools-Internalization-Signs....Pages 33-79 Chomskyan Linguistics and Vygotskian Semiotics....Pages 81-114 Universal Grammar—SLA—Grammar from a Vygotskian Position....Pages 115-120 Conclusion....Pages 121-125 Back Matter....Pages 127-144