20. What are cognitive-interactionist and sociocultural-interactionist perspectives?
When it comes to L2 development, the phenomenon of interaction for purposes of SLA may also essentially be viewed from two perspectives as cognitive-interactionist and sociocultural-interactionist.
The cognitive-interactionist perspective is concerned with the interplay between learners’ internal cognitive processes and what they notice about the L2 as they participate in communicative interaction. This psycholinguistic perspective focuses on the classroom activities in which learners engage collaboratively, and the cognitive demands these activities place on learners. A sociocultural standpoint places emphasis on opportunities for learner–teacher and learner–learner collaborations that will foster SLA. Both perspectives, the cognitive-interactionist and the sociocultural-interactionist, therefore see a role for interactions between learners. Both will emphasize promoting meaningful inter-learner exchanges to foster SLA. However, both have different understandings about their significance for L2 learning.
Interactionists thus place considerably greater importance on the environment than would have been the case for innatists. The position also accommodates the reality that each learner is unique, that each has their own individual biological make-up and capacity to learn, and that teachers will ideally accommodate those individual differences. Group work may be a prominent feature. Guided collaborative or discovery learning would support the developing intellectual knowledge and skills of learners.
In summary, an interactionist theoretical perspective on learning aims to deal with the limitations inherent in the contrasting theoretical perspectives emerging from distinguishing between nature and nurture. The interactionist standpoint does not, however, represent one single or coherent approach. Its implication is that learner-centred and experiential approaches find themselves at one end of a continuum of theoretical positions, and teacher-led and expository approaches are located at the other end. Teachers’ positioning may well vary with different classes and at various levels of understanding of interactionism. (East, 2021)
References:
East, M. (2021). Foundational principles of task-based language teaching (p. 214). Taylor & Francis.