Another Chance! The Application of Vygotsky's Theories of Language and Learning to Low-Literate Adolescents' Acquisition of Literacy.Marilyn Kell, Learning Support Teacher, William Ross State High School Townsville QLD AbstractIn 1995 Marilyn Kell and a co-teacher wrote and taught a new program to eight students at William Ross State High School. All the students had major literacy difficulties. The teachers combined the theoretical concept of Lev Vygotsky, known as the Zone of Proximal Development, with an auditory discrimination program to build reading skills. The positive results extended far beyond literacy and the students now endorse this program to other students. Marilyn will discuss why the program was initiated, how it was initiated, what occurred over the year and what the students, their parents and teachers say about the program. Why Teach Literacy Skills to Adolescent Students ?'If I could read then I can understand things, like when I'm driving and go out places. Like even going and get a pizza ... go to read the list. It would be good to be able to read the list instead of just looking at it, and I don't know what to get. And just walk out of the shop not getting nothin, cause you don't know how to read it'. Ian Some commentators and educators tell us that students, such as the one who made the comment above, are at risk of not being productive, responsive and coherent community members after they have completed their schooling.. It has been suggested that adults with literacy skills at this level remain unemployed for longer periods, eventually find short term employment in low paid, low skilled occupations, may access public health and housing more frequently and in the worse case, are more frequently represented in penal institutions. From an education point of view, they will not have the skills to cope with their own children's education, in spite of their best intentions. These students know that they should have been able to learn to read and don't understand why they have failed. Their feelings are reflected in their: a) Behaviours which are characterised by aggression, rudeness, poor concentration, inability to plan, prepare and complete tasks, impulsiveness; OR quietness, shyness, withdrawn, non-communicative, non-responsiveness, secretiveness, excessive neatness and tidiness. b) Attitudes- typified by negativity, low self esteem, unwillingness to take risks, and easy defeat. c) Goals- that are generally very few or non-existent, embracing unemployment, low skilled occupations, gaols and sometimes premature death. It is because of these issues that the Learning Support Teachers at our school piloted a literacy project in 1996. This project addresses the critical issue of adolescent non-literacy which is emerging as a significant problem in Australia, focussing on moves that were taken to assist eight students to enhance their literacy skills. The Program Structure.The project was designed by three Learning Support Teachers in consultation with a Speech/Language Pathologist, a School Guidance Officer and class teachers. In establishing the project the following elements were determined: a) Personnel- Two Learning Support Teachers, actively assisted by a Speech/Language Pathologist, and supported by other school staff and executive administration. b) Class Size- A maximum of 4 students in each class, one of Year 9 students and one of Year 10 students. At the commencement of the project, these students were between 14 and 15 years old. c) Curriculum- The Junior Social Sciences curriculum was chosen because it is compulsory for all Year 9 and 10 students. This allowed for 5 x 40 minutes lessons per week (ie almost on a daily basis), and it would allow the Year 9 students to join regular Social Science class in the following year. d) Content- comprising two units each of Geography, History and Social Education, including, written and oral assignments, tests and excursions. e) Teaching Models- The Lindamood Auditory Discrimination in Depth Program was used for basic literacy skills, and Reciprocal Teaching was used to develop and enhance comprehension achieved when basic literacy skills were used in real research situations. Both were taught within the framework of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). f) Resourcing- All classes took place in a small but adequate, carpeted and air conditioned room. The furniture provided was better than the standard classroom furniture in other classrooms. Instead of individual desks, there were two large tables, so that all participants were able to join in discussion sessions and group problem solving. All consumables were provided for all participants. Two new Pentium computers with colour monitors and colour printer and vast amounts of software were purchased for the use of all participants. g) Placement- was achieved on the basis of psychological (WISC III) and speech (Lindamood Auditory Conceptualisation Test) assessments carried out in 1995. h) Consent- Parental consent to alter individual education programs was obtained in late 1995. Vygotsky and the Zone of Proximal Development. Lev Vygotsky was a Russian teacher and scholar from Belorussia who first came to prominence at the Second Congress of Psychoneurology in Moscow (1923) where he presented a paper outlining his attempts to arrive at a unified theory of consciousness and behaviour. His theoretical concept of the Zone of Proximal Development is the principle reason for his fame in the west. He defined it as. The distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky 1978, p. 86, in Tudge, 1990, p. 157). ZPD arose out of his work with a wide variety of people of all ages from right across the Soviet Union. It explains cognitive development as a function of an individual's sociocultural background and interactions with others over time. This concept does not describe a deficit model but acknowledges that in any teaching/learning situation the roles of teacher and learner are partially interchangeable because of the knowledge and experience each participant brings to the task. Essentially, Vygotsky claimed that the cultural development of a child begins with social interaction in collective activities where there exists a social relationship between two or more people. Behaviour and responses are socially regulated initially, but over time, through the use of language in play or activity settings, become internalised and self regulated, resulting in the development and expansion of higher mental functions. Important elements of this theoretical concept are: a) Social Activity- Cognitive growth has its origins. in social interaction, particularly through the use of speech. As in any social context, all participants are able to contribute to the learning process. b) Mediation- Speech is transformed from social interaction to inner prompting through the mediation of psychological tools and signs, including 'language; various systems for counting; mnemonic techniques; algebraic symbol systems; works of art; writing; schemes, diagrams, maps, and mechanical drawings; all sorts of conventional signs' (Vygotsky 1981, p 137, in Wertsh, 1985, p. 79); computers and their associated software, such as word processing, game, reference and organisational programs, e-mail, the internet and interactive technology; televisions and videos; telephones, including fax and answering machines; and video games that are an appropriate reflection of the student's socio-cultural background. Psychological tools - Invoke meaning and can be changed and manipulated to transform the environment Psychological signs Cannot be changed and act internally to transform activity to higher mental functions. Mediation is a tool that students with poor literacy can utilise to gain insights into concepts that they find confusing, vague, or that are new. Within the classroom these students will not seek clarification because they fear being belittled by other students. c) Appropriation- Equates to mastery, demonstrating that socially mediated language has been transformed to a higher mental function. It is instrumental for learners to be able to set goals and arrive at conclusions d) Assistance Incorporates awareness of each student's socio-cultural background, interests and abilities. Assistance can be given by the provision of appropriate psychological tools, and a secure and supportive community of learners. Assistance should be both quantitative (trying to extend the scaffolding higher) and qualitative (providing a wide range of assistance) [Tharp and Gallimore, 1988]). Vygotsky believed that learning was not necessarily classroom based and that each participant in the teaching/learning process had something to contribute because of their range of higher mental functions and life experiences. To Vygotsky, the crux of development and learning lay in the provision of assisted, as opposed to unassisted, performance. He did not envisage learning as static, or one off, but considered that, given suitable conditions, learning and cognitive growth would continue indefinitely. Learning, as perceived by Vygotsky, was cyclic, meaning that students of any age passed through the same process. He had an unshakeable belief in the importance of formal schooling as the site for the socialisation and enculturation that leads to cognitive growth. He believed that without the opportunity for learning from instruction, discussion, experimentation and problem solving children would not mature cognitively into adults. Vygotskian theory suggests that orientation involving a free exchange by all participants is vital when new skills are being introduced. Incidental talk not only allows students to share in discussions about a topic, but also allows them to discover informally the coded information relating to rules, mores and behaviour guidelines. Auditory Discrimination in Depth.The Auditory Discrimination in Depth program (ADD) uses the senses of sight, hearing and touch to improve students' levels of auditory discrimination so that they can identify sounds and locate their number and position within words. Rather than being a complete reading program it is a foundation, a means of providing tools on which to build strong reading, writing and spelling skills. It is premised on the recognition that
By simultaneously bringing together sensory information from sight, hearing and the third dimension of oral motor - kinaesthetic (that is feeling where and when the teeth, lips, tongue move in order to produce sounds) - students learn a process that enables them to self correct both reading and writing. Additionally, through questioning and labelling (posited by Tharp and Gallimore, 1988 as Vygotskian notions) students learn to verify attempts at reading and spelling. Labels are used to describe the oral motor motion and are a more vivid form of the scientific description (for example, 'lip poppers' [/p/ /b/] as opposed to 'bilabial plosives'). An integral part of the program is the student's ability to determine a phoneme then a grapheme from the recognition of oral motor function. The use of nonsense words and syllables is emphasised so that the teacher can feel confidence that the skills taught are being rehearsed and automated rather than the student relying on rote learned vocabulary. Teaching nonsense words allows students to learn a process that can be generalised as real words are introduced. The 80% of consistent spellings in English are taught as expectancies, that is that most of the time readers and spellers can expect words to respond to particular articulated patterns. Students are taught techniques for spelling words by syllable instead of chains of letters. The 20% of inconsistent spellings are taught by recognising and acknowledging their differences. Reciprocal Teaching.Pallinscar and Brown (1984) examined how educators can 'best aid learners in the Zone of Proximal Development, nudging them from one level of competence to the next and eventually to independent application of the instructed skill' (Pallinscar, 1986, p. 74). The instructional format they designed and refined with junior high school students is Reciprocal Teaching and involves the skills of predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising by students and teachers in interactive groups The implication of Reciprocal Teaching is that it teaches students to construct meaning from text rather than simply complete a task and that this skill then enters the intrapsychological plane as a higher mental function. Student Achievement.It would be tempting to measure the progress of the students in terms of gains made in word attack, comprehension and fluency skills. But our focus from the outset was much broader. To be successful this program had to demonstrate that it contributed to positive changes in the affective domains reflected in the students' behaviours, attitudes and goals. There were significant improvements in reading writing and spelling which I will now demonstrate with examples of student work. (The words in italics are those of the participants.) March 1996Cyclone make destroy /citly and kill to. -Jack Cyclone rain and flardes - Ian The cyclone is bad be cos it kill pelp. - Linda The cyclone is kill poeple in hours - Ross The world's greatest explions was Cauesd by a Volcano. This Volcano was Kakatoa, an island in Indonesia. - David Apart from David's work, all the rest is very basic,. All the work is characterised by significant numbers of spelling errors. Jack, Ian, Linda and Ross do not indicate the use of any editing skills. This work was the result of two weeks intensive Auditory Discrimination skilling and three weeks investigating volcanoes. At this stage the students were still gaining familiarity with the Reciprocal Teaching notions. Throughout the project no basal texts were used. May 1996Houses in 1996 Houses today are made of steel sment, and uther mertial. Houses have applices eg. TV, raedoe, phone, fritg and fritscer and lights. They all run on likchiserty. - Ian Ian has made considerable progress by this stage. His sentences are longer, demonstrating more evidence that he is importing his own knowledge and experiences into his work. Although he seems to have made many spelling errors, Ian has used the word attack skills that had been taught to date accurately 100% of the time. November 1996Crocodile skins are good money and people shoot them because they can make more money in a month than working. - David It [Peregrine Falcon] is endangered because of pesticide residues in food. Farmers spray pesticides to stop the birds eating the food. When Falcons eat the small animals that have eaten the sprayed food they die. - Ross Rabbits and Water rats are taking over the platypuses habitat. The Water rats are taking over their burrows and their food. - Peter In Australia freshwater crocodiles live mainly in the north because the water is warmer. They are mostly found in inland swamps, waterways or creeks. They will only stay where there is food for them . - Ian The Dugong lives in warm coastal waters up around Australia, West Africa, West Indian Ocean and s. America. It is still a live today in the places up above. - Linda In this work, completed towards the end of the year, there is very clear evidence of care taken with spelling and longer, more complex sentences. In fact, no spelling was given to the students. They were expected to attempt to spell the first syllable and then go to a dictionary or other reference material. In terms of the quality of their writing, each of the students indicates that they are attempting to argue a case, sequencing their ideas, analysing, reasoning and attempting complex reasoning. It is obvious that none of this work is copied from other texts, but is, indeed the work of each student. No evaluation of the project would be valid without the comments of the participants. They were asked about their reasons for joining the project and their feelings during the first lesson.
Both of these comments reflect the frustration these boys were feeling about the inability to read and write. Ian's comment here becomes very important when he comments about his success in the project. It wasn't just the students who were fearful. The following comment by my co-teacher summarises our feelings at the commencement of the project. Maybe our dedication at attempting to have a new direction succeed was just as important as each student's commitment to the task. This commitment on both sides made for a very intense and hard working year. There were times when we felt physically drained at the end of a lesson.
Why shouldn't Linda have been confused? The classes were 1/6 the size of regular classes, the facilities and equipment were much better and the course content was, at that stage, a mystery to the students. The Lindamood Auditory Discrimination in Depth program was a new experience for all the students. At first some of them felt that they were being asked to do Kindergarten work, but over time they began to see a purpose in it. I should stress here that the skills being taught in isolation were then reinforced in both oral and written work. There is little doubt that the isolated skill took on more meaning when it was used in a context that was significant for the student. This is a demonstration of mediation and appropriation as mentioned in the section about Vygotsky.
Another Vygotskian notion, that of group problem solving was valued and welcomed by the students.
These are all comments that endorse the Vygotskian notion of cognitive growth originating in social activity, particularly language. It was fine for the teachers to assess the students and determine that progress had been made. But the real indicator was that the students recognised their own progress. Ian's comments are interesting because psychological testing prior to the commencement of the project indicated that he was the least likely to succeed. He made more progress than any other student. He knew this because at home things had improved.
Outcomes.BehavioursGreater and wider use of texts All of the students recognise that text is print based. They can all use a range of resources and personnel to assist them. More mature These students now know that they can succeed at legitimate school tasks. The immature, acting out has diminished, but is not yet extinguished. AttitudesMore accepting of text The students are not fearful of text. They exhibit more risk taking behaviours and will not reject text outright. Better able to express frustrations Reading failure is no longer a matter of secrecy for these students. They know that we are aware of their difficulties and will often approach us to mediate with other teachers on their behalf. GoalsWork focused All of the students believe that they will find meaningful employment. At least six intend to complete high school (with one planning to attend university) and two have left school and are in the workforce With many students entering high school with poor literacy, the results of this research are good news. This work clearly demonstrates that adolescents with a history of literacy failure can gain useful skills that will enable them to continue on through formal education and find places in the workforce. Linda, for instance, acknowledges that she would not have been able to continue to Year 11 if she hadn't participated in the project. The project changed more than literacy skills. All the boys recognise that because they have more skills to participate in regular classes that they are in less trouble. One of the students no longer faces exclusion from school on behaviour grounds. Other teachers note in end of year reports that students were participating more actively in class discussions. For some of the students self confidence has flowed to other areas. At the end of the year Roy offered to assist us with an extra curricula activity. The hard working, happy and co-operative student who helped us for over four hours didn't resemble the angry frustrated student at the beginning of the year. Linda successfully applied in writing to participate in a program to help orient Year 8 students into the school. Her co-ordinator reported that she was a hard worker and showed a great capacity to work with and assist younger students. Linda and Roy have both represented the school in sporting teams in 1997. A Final Word.Adolescent non readers see people who are significant to them interacting with a variety of texts in a pleasurable and seemingly easy manner. They have no way of knowing the time and the perseverance it may have taken those people to acquire literacy skills, or how they must continue working at them to enhance them. In the project we challenged students to learn new ways of thinking about basic literacy skills and then demanded that they take huge risks to implement these embryonic skills in a range of literacy tasks. They came fearfully to the first sessions and soon began to find success in what they did. But their perception that acquiring and using literacy skills is easy and their expectation that they would soon be reading as independently and fluently as, for example, their peers were not realised so quickly. For students such as these to succeed they need be encouraged to understand that its OK to use techniques that they have been told are only for babies, such as external speech, as a prompt and learning tool. In the project under consideration this is best exemplified by the greater progress of the students who were supported at home by families who were able to spend time helping them talk through their tasks. Ian blossomed due to the support and interest he was shown at home. Anthony found that his father could share in his learning. Parents are a window into the students' socio-cultural background and a strong and positive relationship with them will prove rewarding to all participants in a ZPD. Most of all, parents want to know that teachers have concerns about their student's welfare. They will do the best they can to support their student at home. In terms of a ZPD it means providing the most suitable assistance at the most appropriate times whether it be at home or school. Undertaking this project was fascinating, hectic, at times frustrating but ultimately, extremely rewarding. When I recall the reluctant and nervous students who sat in my first lesson, shocked that they were being asked to read school texts I feel privileged to have been a part of the progress they have made in literacy and personally. All of the students and their parents felt that the project had been successful for them. And surely they are the people who can best determine the suitability of such a project. BibliographyDavydov, V.V. (1995) The Influence of L.S. Vygotsky on education theory, research and practice, Educational Researcher, Vol. 24, No.3, pp, 12 - 21. Forman, E. A., (1993) "Vygotskian perspectives on children's collaborative problem-solving activities", in Forman, E. A., Minick, N., and Stone, C. A., Contexts for learning: Sociocultural dynamics in children's development, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Kington, E. R., Kroll, B. M., and Rose, M., Eds (1988) Perspectives on literacy, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. Lindamood, C. H., and Lindamood, P. C. (1975) Auditory discrimination in depth, Pro-Ed, Texas Moll, L. C., (1994) 'Creating zones of possibilities: Combining social contexts for instruction', in Moll, L.C. (ed), Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. Newman, D., Griffin, P., and Cole, M. G., (1989) The construction zone working for cognitive change in the school, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. Pallinscar, A. S. (1986) The role of dialogue in providing scaffolded instruction, Educational Psychologist, 21,(1 &2), 73 - 98. Pallinscar, A. S., and Brown, A. L. (1984) Reciprocal teaching of comprehension - fostering and comprehension - monitoring activities, Cognition and Instruction, 1, 117 - 175. Pallinscar, A. S., and Brown, A. L, (1988) Teaching and practicing thinking skills to promote comprehension in the context of group problem solving, Reading and Special Education, 9(1), 53 - 59. Pallinscar, A. S., Brown, A. L., and Campione, J. C.,(1993), in Forman, E. A., Minick, N., and Stone, C. 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