AAAL conference
Dot Robbins (drobbins who-is-at sprintmail.com)
Tue, 24 Mar 1998 21:58:18 -0600
Judy, thanks for the question about the AAAL conference; and Mike Busch,
thanks for your thoughts which were excellent. For me the conference was
interesting with so many references to Vygotsky by various participants,
together with Luis Moll speaking at a plenary session,+ the panel with
Jim Lantolf, etc. However, the focus on sociocultural theory was due in
part to Merrill Swain, who was this year's conference chair. Next year
will be a different story, with a more "mainstream" approach, so it will
be interesting to watch what type of shift is indeed taking place in
second language acquisition. There is no question that the influence of
SCT has grown within SLA, however one speaker I saw at AAAL would use
various concepts such as the ZPD within traditional experimental
designs.In other words, Vygotskian terminology was introduced, but the
research was traditional. This led to confusion.I do not think that this
occurence is uncommon. The point Mike Busch made (from Jim L.?) was
excellent regarding the fact that twenty minutes is not enough to
present aspects of sociocultural theory, then results of experiments or
research. There has been talk of an approach which would offer (longer)
sessions on certain aspects of SCT. Jim Lantolf mentioned the idea of
inviting someone like Jim Wertsch to speak at a special session at an
AAAL conference. I would hope that this idea could even go further in
terms of having one or two topics for discussion on various listserv
groups for a longer period of time, then discuss the topic at the annual
gathering of the sociocultural group of AAAL (i.e. the 5th gathering
will take place in Indiana in October), and then have special sessions
on that topic at the AAAL conference. I was involved in a colloquium on
"sociocultural theory and second language inside and outside the
classroom," presenting on the practical theories of A.A. Leontiev. There
simply was not enough time to get the ideas across, although the
questions asked were truly engaging.It was extremely frustrating to be
forced to simplify so much.
Now, regarding Leo van Lier's talk, I wanted to add a comment to the
thoughts of Mike B. Leo's project is philosophical and semiotic in
nature, and extends beyond the boundaries of applied linguistic theory
and sociocultural theory, leading into an ecological perspective,
including Chaos-Complexity Theory. I sincerely feel that within the next
six or seven years, Leo's framework will be better understood and will
move towards the center of attention of a large audience.Leo is
attempting to bridge the gap between micro-macro oppositions in SLA
research, and is the only person I know in SLA writing on a needed
ecological understanding.
In general, the trend within recent AAAL conferences has been most
positive regarding sociocultural theory, I think. Some theorists who are
known would not discuss Vygotsky with me even last year. This year one
person in particular sat down and wanted to know more; in general this
person's views about Vygotsky did not reflect anything I understand, and
we had a wonderful and open discussion.As a result, I am also more open
to this person's work now. At the same time, some theorists who are
radically opposed to SCT were not present at the conference. It was also
good to meet Shawn Rowe, who is one of Jim Wertsch's graduate students.
Shawn is vitally interested in the connection of SLA and SCT, and I
think he will play an important role in future. Until researchers in SLA
become acquainted with semiotics, discussions will remain difficult, not
only regarding SCT, but also regarding the writings of Leo van Lier and
others. Talking about Chomskyan linguistics as a base for SLA is a
completely different discourse from the Vygotskian perspective, and both
cannot be dealt with together as things currently stand within the
profession. However, this should open up more discussion for the future,
and not close it down. Regarding the upcoming ISCRAT Congress, it is
interesting to note that there is only one panel I know of presenting on
foreign language acquisition/cognition, and that is organized by A.A.
Leontiev. During the Vygotsky Centennial conference in Moscow in 1996
there were no papers on this connection. It is my sincere hope that a
cross-referencing of ideas will be forthcoming, where more SLA
researchers participate in ISCRAT/AERA, etc., with more ISCRAT/AERA/
researchers joining future AAAL conferences. Wishing each of you the
very best, Dot Robbins