OnSchmidt’s“NoticingHypothesis”andVygotsky’s“SocioculturalTheory”DepartmentofBasicCourses，Xi’anConservatoryofMusic

DINGNing

【Abstract】Schmidts “noticing hypothesis” and Vygotskys “sociocultural theory” are crucial for Second Language Acquisition （SLA）.Language teachers and learners may benefit a lot if they have insights into these two theories.In this essay，I will illustrate these two theories respectively with my own English learning and teaching experiences，and I will show their implications on SLA.

【Key words】noticing hypothesis； sociocultural theory； second language acquisition

Introduction

Schmidts “noticing hypothesis” and Vygotskys “sociocultural theory” are of great importance for SLA.Schmidt（1990）proposed the “noticing hypothesis”，according to which “the emergence of new forms should be preceded by their being noticed in the input.Vygotskys sociocultural theory has always been employed by teachers when they are conducting the lessons.After coming across these theories，I became interested in putting them into my teaching practices，and I find out that they are of great practical values and implications for actual second language teaching.I insist the values of these methods and ideas，especially the concepts of noticing，scaffolding，interaction and ZDP.

Schmidt .s “noticing hypothesis”

Schmidt proposes that the conscious noticing of a mismatch between one.s language production and the target form is a necessary and sufficient condition for second language acquisition.This hypothesis has got its practical implications and it has also inspired me that what the teacher is expected to do is to help the students pay attention to and notice things which they wont notice on their own.I remember when I was a fresher of English，I learnt English as a compulsory course in school.We had many tests aimed at testing different language systems and language skills.In each class，my English teacher would give us a clear explanation of the objectives of the class before conducting the lesson.So，as a student，I know before-hand what am I going to learn in the class.For example，if the class aims at the past tense，I would probably focus on the verbs in the past forms when I read the text.I firmly believe that “what you learn is what you pay attention to and what you notice”.

Experiment

I have made a simple experiment with my four friends who know little about French grammar.I taught them “passé composé”，which is a French grammatical point of the past tense.Passé composé requires the collocation of the auxiliaries and the past participles of verbs； however，different verbs should collocate with different auxiliaries between “avoir” and “être”.I first gave them a passage to read； and then I made Ivy and Kiki as the controlled group，while Ruby and Sam as the experimental group.For the controlled group，I just followed the way of “PPP”（presentation，practice and production）； while for the experimental group，I gave them some tasks.In the instruction part，I provided them input about “passé composé”； then here came the critical stage that Ruby and Sam would notice the key points and then compare my instruction with their own criteria； in this way，they would find some “gaps” and figure out the way to fill in the gaps.In doing so，learners are able to reflect on what is noticed，endeavor to understand its significance，and experience insight（Schmidt，1990）.When I tested these two groups，the experimental group has obviously overshadowed the controlled group which has not paid attention to and noticed the input； so they performed not as well as the experimental group in transferring the input into the intake in SLA.

Results

In the past，I simply think that a successful class begins directly by explaining the key points of the lesson； however，after knowing Schmidts noticing hypothesis，I surely believe that if the teacher can help the students to pay attention to noticing during the input process，the teaching outcomes will be effectively improved.I connect my learning experiences with the noticing hypothesis and I figured out some elements which affect the noticing in input.They are teacher.s instruction，frequency of repetition，perceptual salience，different students. skill levels，tasks demand and comparison（Schmidt，1990； Skehan，1999）.Vygotskys sociocultural theory

Vygotsky（1978）proposed that learning is not just an individual matter，but that it develops within social environment.He believed that human mind is mediated and social interaction was the primary cause of cognitive development.Vygotsky claimed that the higher human mental functioning（eg.learning，thinking，voluntary attention，and logic memory） is “inherently situated in social interactional，cultural，institutional，and historical context”（Wertsch，1991）.Wertsch used the term “sociocultural theory” to refer to Vygotsky.s thoughts.Here are some key concepts in Vygotsky.s sociocultural theory： interpersonal interaction； intrapersonal interaction； scaffolding and ZDP（zone of proximal development）.I agree with Vygotsky.s proposition that we learn within communities.This is extremely true in SLA.I think that scaffolding is directly linked to the personal needs of the individual and the notion of ZDP.The zone of proximal development is the distance between what children can do by themselves and the next learning that they can be helped to achieve with competent assistance”（Raymond，2000）.This reminds me of the experience of an English class observation in a Chinese primary school last year.I believe that now I can analyze the class from an academic and sociocultural point of view.

Firstly，I noticed that the classroom layout was different from the traditional patterns which the seats were arranged row after row and with a teachers desk in front of the first row； actually，the desks scattered in the center area of the classroom； it allows students to sit around and have a face-to-face talk with each other.This kind of classroom layout makes the peer review and group discussion accessible.From the sociocultural perspective，this indicates the stress on interpersonal interaction which not only facilitates language learning but also is a causative force in acquisition.

What.s more，another outstanding aspect of the class is the teacher.s role.I found that basically it was a task-based English class.After the warming up activities，the teacher sent the students some tasks； she asked them to work in groups of four and follow the order of individual thinking，pair work and group discussion.During the process，she walked around the class to provide some help to the confused and demotivated children.She also answered questions by using the way of scaffolding，which Vygotsky defined as the “role of teachers and others in supporting the learner.s development and providing support structures to get to that next stage or level”（Raymond，2000）.One of her teaching aim was helping the student to achieve their ZPD； and her class indeed showed how classroom interaction promotes second language development in the ZDP.

Conclusion

To conclude，after knowing Schmidt.s “noticing hypothesis” and Vygotskys “sociocultural theory”，I had a suddenly feel that my learning and teaching experiences become clear，systematic and are easy to analyze.According to my own experiences，I insist the values of these methods and ideas，especially the concepts of noticing，scaffolding，interaction and ZDP； however，they are not perfect.For example，the noticing hypothesis does not provide clear definition of learning； that is，we have no idea what level of consciousness is responsible for learning.（Gass，1997）.While for the sociocultural theory，there still exists challenges such as some individuals achieved a relatively advanced level of English without learning in community and interacting with others.But what we can do is to make the best use of their implications for foreign language pedagogy and providing the learners the maximum of chance to learn and to use the language.

References：

[1]Gass，S.（1997）.Input，Interaction and the Second Language Learner.Mahwah，NJ： Lawrence Erlbaum.

[2]Raymond，E.（2000）.Cognitive Characteristics.Learners with Mild Disabilities（pp.169-201）.Needham Heights，MA： Allyn & Bacon，A Pearson Education Company.

[3]Schmidt，R.（1990）.The role of consciousness in second language learning.Applied Linguistics，11： 129-158.

[4]Skehan，P.（1998）.A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning.New York： Oxford University Press.

[5]Wertsch，J.V.（1991）.A sociocultural approach to socially shared cognition.In L.B.Resnick，J.M .Levine &S.D.Teasly （Eds.），Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition.Washington，D.C.American Psychological Association.

[6]Vygotsky，L.（1978）.Mind in society：The development of higher psychological processes.Cambridge： Harvard University Press.

作者簡介：丁寧，女，（1987.10.25-），西安音樂學院基礎部外語教研室教師（助教），雙碩士（英國愛丁堡大學英語教育碩士、西北大學英語語言文學碩士）。研究方向：翻譯理論與實踐、大學英語教學法。