mediated action
SMAGOR who-is-at aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu
Sun, 08 Oct 1995 09:40:37 -0500 (CDT)
Francoise, in response to your statement that "it is almost
axiomatic in Vygotskyan theory that action is mediated by
language": My reading of Vygotsky is that action is mediated
by tools and signs, *primary* among which is language (or
speech, according to some translations, which is the more
dynamic term). To me it's a cultural bias that speech is
the primary tool. I'm much more comfortable with the broader
idea that people have access to a "tool kit" of mediational
means (see Voices of the Mind) that gives them choices about
which tool to use in which circumstance.
Peter
Smagorinsky smagor who-is-at aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu