The Role of Sociocultural Theory in L2 Empirical Research

Abstract

Second language acquisition (SLA) is a complex, interdisciplinary field of study which has its roots in subjects as varied as cognition and psychology to social applications and actions in anthropology and sociology (Han & Nassaji, 2019). One of the oldest and most influential ideas in SLA comes from the sociocultural perspective and, in particular, the work of Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Nearly a century ago, Vygotsky attempted to connect the seemingly disparate areas of society, culture, and cognition in his unifying, wide-angle theory called Sociocultural Theory (SCT).