A Vygotskian Path to Better Understand Writing: A ZPD-Sensitive and Perezhivanie-Responsive Approach
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Wang, Zhaoyu Miranda
- Graduate Program:
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- December 13, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Kimberly Powell, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Amy Crosson, Major Field Member
Karen Johnson, Outside Unit Member
Esther Prins, Outside Field Member
Matthew Poehner, Chair & Dissertation Advisor - Keywords:
- Sociocultural Theory
Second Language Writing
Dynamic Assessment
Perezhivanie - Abstract:
- Argumentation is considered a reasoning process that involves taking a position, formulating and assessing claims to support or challenge that stance, and aiming to persuade others (Mercier & Sperber, 2011). Kuhn (1992) emphasized that argumentation represents one of the most significant ways that higher-order thinking and reasoning manifest in daily life. In contemporary society, argumentative skills have gained increasing importance in educational settings, higher education, and professional environments (Newell et al., 2011). Argumentative writing, an essential academic skill, is emphasized throughout the curriculum and across all levels of education (e.g., Andrews, 2009; Applebee & Langer, 2006); however, due to its complex nature and less prescriptive framework, teachers often find it poses great pedagogical difficulties in the classroom (Newell et al., 2011). Particularly, in the field of second language (L2) writing, the lack of clear conceptualization of argumentation and the relative absence of systematic academic discussions result in fragmented understanding of how to effectively teach and assess argumentative writing (Hirvela, 2017). This study investigates the development of argumentative writing skills of five high school emergent multilingual learners through the administration of Dynamic Assessment (DA). Derived from Vygotskian Sociocultural Theory (SCT), DA is deeply rooted in Vygotsky’s (1978) conceptualization of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Unlike traditional assessment methods, DA allows collaboration between the examiner/mediator, and the examinee/learner and thus is effective in understanding the learner’s emerging abilities. Building on the valuable insights that DA provides into learners’ ZPD, this study incorporated a writing enrichment program, inspired by Feuerstein’s (1990) theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM), which was designed to promote L2 writers’ development of key concepts in argumentative writing, including, audience awareness, genre conventions, and an argumentation schema developed from the Toulmin model of argumentation (Toulmin, 2003). The examination of learners’ independent and mediated writing performances shed light on the diagnostic-prognostic duality of DA, as well as the effects that ZPD-sensitive mediation had on multilingual learners’ argumentative writing development. In addition, the Vygotskian concept perezhivanie served as a developmental framework to demonstrate that L2 development is an inherently cognitive/intellectual and emotional process (Poehner & Swain, 2016). Commonly understood as “lived experience,” perezhivanie reflects Vygotsky’s dialectical thinking in encompassing the influence that the social environment has on human development (Vygotsky, 1994). In the current study, the microgenetic analysis of the interaction between the mediator and the learners illuminated how learners’ lived experiences and emotional responses shaped their engagement with argumentative writing tasks and how these experiences and responses were leveraged through mediation to support their development. The findings of this study underscore the implication that ZPD-sensitive and perezhivanie-responsive mediation can effectively support multilingual learners’ argumentative writing development.