and thus to acquire new ways of thinking. Thus, this move which, as Shorrocks (1997:
271) stresses, happens from solutions created between the two minds towards
internalized solutions within the individual child or, as Vygotsky (1978: 128) puts it,
from the ‘interpsychological’ to the ‘intrapsychological’, gives learning a social as
well as an individual dimension.
In this process of development, where a child is led from other-regulation to
self-regulation, both Vygotsky and Bruner consider that play has a leading role to
play. As Vygotsky explains:
‘Play continually creates demands on the child to act against
immediate impulse. At every step the child is faced with a conflict
between the rules of the game and what he would do if he could suddenly
act spontaneously. In the game he acts counter to the way he wants to act.
A child’s self-control occurs in play’ (Vygotsky, 1978: 99)
Moreover, as play creates an imaginary situation where children need to behave
beyond their average age, Vygotsky (1978: 102) stresses that play creates a zone of
proximal development for children as it ‘…contains all developmental tendencies in a
condensed form and is itself a major source of development.’ Bruner (1988: 266),
after a number of observations of play behaviour, expresses a similar view concluding
that ‘play is the business of childhood’ and he (ibid) sets out four conditions which
have been found to improve the quality of children’s play. These, as O’ Brien (2000b,
Unit 1: 19) comments include an adult’s gui dance, negotiation with other children,
specific rules to be followed which simulate real life constraints and a model of what
is possible.
1.1.3.2 The role of language in learning and development
For Wood (1988: 26) the most widely reported difference of opinion between
Vygotsky and Piaget concerns the nature of language and its effect on intellectual
development. Thus, while Piaget, as Lightbown and Spada (1999: 23) comment,
considers language as just a symbol system for expressing knowledge acquired
through interaction with the physical world, for Vygotsky language emerges as an
individual’s need for communication and social contact in order to be later
transformed into inner speech and thus to become a tool for thought. As Wood puts it,
‘In the beginning, speech serves a regulative, communicative function. Later,
it also serves other functions and transforms the way in which children learn,
think and understand. It becomes an instrument or tool of thought, not only
providing a ‘code’ or system for representing the world but also the means by
which self-regulation comes about. (Wood, 1988: 27)
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