The purpose of my Field Study is to investigate a variety of scaffolding activities to encourage and develop greater oral language skills in storytelling. My readings around this topic have lead to a wondering: can oral language aid in the scaffolding process? Are these two ideas reciprocally connected? Vygotsky’s social view of learning suggests that they are. He believes that knowledge is collaboratively constructed. There is active participation that enables learners to construct and transform language. How does this collaboration happen? What does this active participation look like? It appears to be had through oral communication; through external dialogue. Mercer (1994) suggests that “through talk, in particular, information and ideas can be shared, points of view explored and explanations presented. These new ways of thinking and understanding may represent only minor shifts, but there are significant in the ongoing construction of knowledge and the development of alternative perspectives.” The ability to communicate ideas with others helps us to talk through our way to understanding. Effective scaffolding allows and assists a movement beyond actual development to a level of potential development (ZPD) (2001, 24). Vygotsky further argues that:
“external dialogues in which learners take part are gradually internalized to construct the resources for thinking: outer speech eventually becomes inner thinking. As learners talk through a problem, or as they ‘talk their way to understanding’, they are developing the‘thinking’ tools for later problem-solving tools which will eventually becomeinternalized and construct the resources for independent thinking.”
The process of internalizing knowledge; for making sense of our world through dialogue is scaffolded by more and more opportunities to dialogue and make meaning. Being able to effectively communicate through oral language directly affects the scaffolding that occurs. Practically speaking, oral language development does much more than create good storytellers, it is critical in the process of learning.
“It follows, then, that the kinds of talk that occur in the classroom are critical in the development of how students ‘learn to learn’ through language and ultimately how they learn to think.” (2001, 25)
Reading Reference: Hamilton & Gibbons (2001). What is Scaffolding? In Hammond, J. (Ed.), Scaffolding – Teaching and Learning in Language and Literacy Education.