Attempts to understand Vygotsky's perspective in relation to Marxist epistemology and critically examines the sociocultural interpretation of Vygotsky. Shows that the relativism of the sociocultural school not only takes Vygotsky's zone of proximal development out of its social and historical context, but downplays the zone of proximal development…

Describes an attempt to write and edit a series of stories, 'Science Web Reader,' which make good reading for pupils aged 11-13. Explores three aspects of story: the author identified as a person, the story as that person's thoughts, and the offering of a distinct point of view. (Author/MM)

The five chapters of this special issue provide insights into how Scandinavians understand evaluation practice. Although there is no "Scandinavian" perspective on evaluation, theory and practice in the Scandinavian countries unfold against sociocultural and intellectual influences that differ from those of the United States. (SLD)

Using a situated cognition framework, 24 vignettes of literacy practices were examined in 4 Canadian settings: community-based, workplace, family, and school-based literacy. Literacy researchers appear constrained by behaviorist, normative perspectives despite the shift toward humanist perspectives. (Contains 51 references.) (SK)

Surveys the main theoretical issue that a large class, more than small classes, makes salient: How much learning can take place in a class of 300, as opposed to a class of half a dozen learners. Discusses the effect of class size on learning and looks at class size as a sociocultural variable. (Author/VWL)

This article describes the history and continuing development of Vygotsky-inspired sociocultural theories (SCT) and their application in second and foreign language research. In particular, I emphasize the intellectual traditions out of which SCT emerged and the relation of SCT to other critical scholarship. The discussion includes long-standing…

This paper examines recent movements in the early childhood education literature that have began to relate sociocultural explanations for human development to the early childhood curriculum. The paper reports the findings from an investigation conducted to determine early childhood educators' conceptions of the curriculum and their understandings…

Relatively little research has examined factors that account for transitions between transtheoretical model (TTM) stages of change. The present study (N=787) used sociodemographic, TTM, and theory of planned behavior (TPB) variables, as well as theory-driven interventions to predict changes in stage. Longitudinal analyses revealed that…

Sport scientists have examined numerous factors influencing the acquisition and manifestation of high levels of performance. These factors can be divided into variables having a primary influence on expertise and variables that have a secondary influence through their interaction with other variables. Primary influences on expertise include…

This essay responds to the problem that sociocultural literacy research has failed to adequately theorize individual literacy learners as moral agents with the capacity to produce harm or good to themselves and others. Building from the rhetorical construct of dialogism, this inquiry explores how the early ethical thought of Mikhail Bakhtin can…

Perspectives in global education are ever changing. Multiculturalism, which emphasized differences, has given way to education for inclusion, which holds personal heritage as invaluable texture, but also respects the fact that identity is a personal adventure shaped by many forces. Educators who promote a global perspective apply a variety of…

Sociocultural theories of learning provide an analytical lens for exploring faculty work. By conceptualizing faculty work as a learning process that is both cognitive and social, sociocultural perspectives highlight the ways in which faculty learning and work are enabled and shaped by the contexts in which they occur, but also how learning and…

Adolescent prostitution is a particular social phenomenon characterized by the fact that adolescents (those under the age of eighteen), either females or males, engage more than once (at least two times) in extramarital sexual relations with a large number of people for some particular (material) consideration owing to social, economic,…

This study reflects a social constructivist theoretical framework in which the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a central element, as two teaching approaches, communicative language teaching (CLT) and explicit focus on form (FonF) are examined. Research questions include: Are CLT and explicit FonF conducive to reaching the ZPD? Is there a…

This investigation examines Thai college students' motivational goals for learning the English language. Thai student volunteers (N = 1387) from two types of educational institutions participated in this survey study which combined measures of goal orientations based on two different goal constructs and motivation models. Results of two-step…