Análisis y Determinación de Equipos de Telecomunicaciones

Language and culture rely on each other and combine to make something that is alive (Jiang, 2000). If the methods or approaches used to teach a new language are based on a different cultural approach, the teachers will have to adapt (Tudor, 2013) as well as the students if the implementation of a new pedagogy such as learner-centeredness is to succeed. A sociocultural approach allows for the complexities of the classroom

environment and the Thai government’s learner-centered policy toward English language teaching, mediated by Thai culture to be investigated fully.

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Sociocultural Theory (SCT) is defined as the understanding of how the human

consciousness is derived from the dialectical unity of our brain (biological) and outside stimuli whilst undertaking social activities (Lantolf & Poehner, 2014). By using a sociocultural lens, it is possible to investigate how children acquire mental programs by being born with unconscious values, which are gradually manipulated by outside stimuli influenced by family, school and work as they age (Hofstede, 2008). These environmental factors are a great influence and can take place in schools, as in this research. To

implement a learner-centered approach teachers have to engage students in socioculturally meaningful activities, so that the learners obtain control over their mental activity and begin to function independently (Zuengler & Miller, 2006).

Ratner (2002) explains that SCT is the process of how the brain functions using a mediation process which is organized around cultural artefacts, activities and concepts. This is based on work by Vygotsky (1987) into how human beings are mediated by physical and symbolic tools, which allows humans to use what they have, to make new artefacts to regulate and control their behaviour in the contexts of family life, peer group settings and schools (Lantolf, et al., 2015). These tools illustrate the importance of

language as a means of facilitation in human mental activity and how learning is mediated socially by interaction with peers and experts (Mitchell, et al., 2013).

SCT or social constructivism is an analytical tool used to investigate teaching and learning. This may be dialogue between a learner and someone who is more experienced, for

example, interaction between teachers and students in the classroom, using learning materials and realia, culturally organised for learning to take place (Richards & Rodgers, 2014), as well as interactions between students as they learn. These interactions in the classroom, whether they are teacher to student or between students, may be problematic

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(Hofstede, 1986) when learner-centered teaching has been introduced, as mentioned previously in this chapter.

Wertsch (1991) describes a sociocultural approach to the mind, in which he studies the mental functioning of people as they socially interact with each other within the contexts of culture, history and institutions. He believes that social interaction in small groups as well as social structures, such as institutions and cultural settings should be studied together, as they are both socially situated. This socially shared cognition is an important part of this research as language use, organization and structure are the main means of mediation and the developmental process takes place through participating in cultural, linguistic and historical settings (Lantolf & Thorne, 2007). In addition, there could be a shared cognitive challenge for both teachers and learners (Hofstede, 1986), when learner-centered teaching is implemented in the English language classroom. There are two central tenets of

sociocultural theory that make it particularly appropriate for the examination of my research questions, they are complexity; and social dimension/mediation (Ratner, 2002).

Complexity allows for all the intricacies of the learner-centered classroom context to be examined, the historical background, what happens inside and outside the classroom, the complex dynamics of interactions between teachers and students and the centrality of Thai culture as an overriding feature of this cultural setting. Moreover, Lantolf & Poehner (2014), explain that Vygotsky (1997) saw education as being grounded in science and that teachers were to be considered scientists as well as practitioners and that their job was not only to transfer knowledge from teacher to students, but to create the right environment for students to learn. In other words, teacher centeredness is the transfer of knowledge from teacher to learner, whereas the idea of learner-centeredness is to create the right

environment for students to take more responsibility for their learning. In addition, by motivating and offering support to the learner, Vygotsky believed that the teachers’

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teaching role is reduced in importance and replaced by the personality of the teacher (Lantolf & Poehner, 2014). This an important part of this research, the interaction between teacher and students, their shared culture and the use of learner-centered teaching

originating from the west with its inbuilt pedagogical traits that may be culturally different for both teacher and learner. For learner-centeredness to take place, teachers require enthusiasm and inspiration to nourish their students through facilitation, even though the teachers are individuals with their own sets of beliefs, which they bring with them to the classroom.

Individuals are mediated by their surroundings and it is extremely difficult to understand other peoples’ surrounding if you are not part of it. (Frambach, et al., 2014). Vygotsky’s position was explained and developed further by many academics. For example, Lantolf & Pavlenko (1995) stated that human development is intermingled with socioculturally constructed mediational means. This mediation was used by Halliday (1985), who introduced systemic functional grammar to explain how cultural and social features interact and mediate different language systems giving the academic community social aspects of the language through social and cultural interaction to gain meaning and sociocultural focus was the way to underscore the fact (Bass-Dolivan, 2011). The interaction between teachers and students and between students is a significant aspect of this research that sociocultural investigation can study, taking into account possible problems involving cross cultural learning situations (Hofstede, 1986),

the scaffolding and mediation provided by the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978) where learners can be supported by the teacher as an expert (Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994), and also by their peers as novices (Ohta, 2001).

It is important to point out at this stage that the ZPD (Vygotsky, 1978) and Krashen’s (1985) i +1 Input Hypothesis, although strikingly similar to some observers, are in fact

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different. According to Dunn and Lantolf (1998), ZPD views learners as collective cultural agents and i + 1 sees them as self-directed entities with multiple variables. This is because sociocultural theory such as ZPD is not a language acquisition theory (Kinginger, 2001). They can be brought together in a learner-centered way, by implementing a zone, where specific skills are to be learned, based on the outcomes required by the curriculum and input is selected by the learners, under the watchful eye of the teacher, to allow for ZPD and i + 1 at the same time. This has been explained to some degree by Davila (2017); however, Krashen quite rightly does not agree with her definition of i + 1.

It is central to this research to emphasise the social dimension and mediation aspects as teachers are observed teaching their classes, implementing the government directives of learner-centered teaching even though some teachers have not been trained in this

approach nor do they have the necessary English language and English language teaching skills. Hall (2000) states that imposing solutions from outside, in this case, learner-centered teaching and communicative activities being implemented by the Thai government, is not the best way to ensure implementation. It would be better to cultivate local practices that are homegrown and more acceptable in the local contexts in line with national interests (Schweisfurth, 2013a). As previously explained, this is prevalent in Thailand’s education system, as it is assumed that orders from above are for the compliance of all concerned (Hallinger & Kantamara, 2000), especially when you take into account the specific nature of Thai culture (Redmond, 1998); however, Thailand’s school directors need to put forward these changes in a way that their teachers can understand and implement (Hallinger, 2004). For this to happen, they may have to deal with this situation, by mediating the policy of learner-centeredness and enacting it in the way everyone can understand.

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Participation in everyday activities is the process and the product of learning (Zuengler & Miller, 2006). Learners are active in the construction of their own learning environments, first socially (inter-mental) and then individually (intra-mental) (Mitchell, et al., 2013). This includes the English language classroom as it is central to learning English in the Thai context. The reason for this is because school forms a major part of a student’s life,

especially in the early years as children spend so much time there. Learning is a socially mediated process as students develop the mental tools they require adapt to what is taking place in the classroom (Mitchell, et al., 2013). It is a place where early values and beliefs and what it means to be Thai are introduced (von Feigenblatt, et al., 2010), and it is where English language learning is initiated from an early age. In rural Thailand, there are very few opportunities to learn English outside the classroom as English is a foreign language and is limited to classroom use with very few real opportunities to develop English language competence (von Feigenblatt, et al., 2010). English is taught from Grade One (primary one) according to Thai government directives; however, this may not be considered the top priority for people in the northeast of Thailand as they may perceive that they have more important concerns than learning English, for example, the national tests show that Thai language, social studies, science and mathematics are also in need of improvement (Mala & Fernquest, 2017).

The English language classroom is the setting where students’ mental and physical behaviour is surrendered to others (their teachers or classmates) for a period of time. This type of mediation is explained by Miller (2011) as the interception of self by others. This is also in line with Vygotsky’s (1986) ZPD which indicates how much an individual may be able to do in the future on their own after working in collaboration with others (Zuengler & Miller, 2006). For students to be allowed the freedom to learn in a learner-centered way, it is up to the teacher to prepare the best environment for the child to learn (Dewey, 2010). By using Vygotsky’s (1986) ZPD as a focal point, investigations can take place into the

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space where the difference between a child’s actual mental age and the level reached by assisted problem solving (scaffolding) becomes the ideal space for learning to take place. For students to have their interest stimulated there needs to be an interface between a student’s current cognitive structure and new experiences for the development of understanding to happen (Ginsburg & Opper, 1969).

Engeström (1987) believed that the most important cognitive activity by humans takes place in social and material environments, which includes the classroom. Sociocultural theory includes praxis-based research (intervention and creating the right environment for human development) as well as research and the understanding of the human

developmental processes (Lantolf & Poehner, 2014). In the classroom setting, this equates to students in the classroom discussing and solving problems, with the teacher as the expert facilitating the activities. This sociocultural setting was investigated by Hofstede (1986) as he considered that teacher/student and student/student interaction is deeply embedded in society and he paid attention to the differences in the social positions and the processes of the teachers and students in given societies and cultures.

Sociocultural theory was chosen as a framework for this study to consider the multi- faceted nature of education including its cultural orientation as customs and conventions sometimes interfere (positively and negatively) with the ability of students to learn (Pea, 1987). Under the umbrella of a sociocultural approach, cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980), classroom interactions (Hofstede, 1986) and dimensions of learner-centeredness by Blumberg (2009) will be investigated to see the relationship between Thai culture and the learning and teaching of English in north-eastern Thailand. It is hoped that they provide insight into similarities and differences between policy ideas adopted from other contexts (in this case learner-centered learning from the west) and the Thai context (teacher- centered learning in transition to learner-centeredness). Zuengler & Miller (2006) believe

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that by using a sociocultural approach, researchers can be more aware and sensitive to the type of classroom communities that learners require and that is important for this research when looking to see how learner-centeredness plays a part in that community. By looking at this mediation, it is possible to develop an understanding of the way teachers attempt to teach using learner-centered teaching according to government policy, how they are aware of the policy and can implement it and become self-regulated agents (Miller, 2011).

In summary, sociocultural theory, which views learning as something that is stimulated by outside influences when taking part in social activities. Guided participation by a more knowledgeable other will allow a learner to develop the new knowledge and skills over a period of time (Rogoff, 1990). This allows humans to control and regulate their mental functions and involves mediation of self and others using artefacts, symbols, music and language to create higher order thinking as part of human consciousness during social interaction (Lantolf & Poehner, 2014).

The literature that was reviewed in this chapter fell into five main categories, culture, Thai culture, SLA, learner-centeredness, and Sociocultural Theory. The review highlighted potential gaps in the available literature concerning how Thai teachers of English understand and implement learner-centered teaching in their classrooms, and the relationship between learner-centeredness, SLA and culture, to answer the research questions. For example, under a sociocultural framework, if students are not engaged by the content during learner-centered teaching (Blumberg, 2009), they might deploy their Affective Filter (Krashen, 1982), which may illustrate whether teachers and students have the cognitive ability to adapt to different pedagogy (Hofstede, 1986). In addition,

interactions between students, teachers and content (Blumberg, 2009) may give rise to corrective feedback through interaction (Long, 1996) and differences in student/student and teacher/student interaction patterns (Hofstede, 1986).

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This example shows how a sociocultural approach, where every day concepts are shaped on the basis of concrete experiences and are based mostly on simplifications from superficial features of entities (Lantolf & Poehner, 2008, p. 5), can encompass learner- centeredness, SLA and cultural dimensions, whilst analysing cognitive ability, different pedagogy, corrective feedback and interaction patterns in the classroom environment.

The top-down approach of the entity view of culture allows for cultural dimensions

(Hofstede, 1980) and dimensions of learner-centered teaching (Blumberg, 2009), as well as problematic cross-cultural learning situations (Hofstede, 1986) to be analysed in

conjunction with the more incremental bottom-up approach that sociocultural theory provides where the social interactions, dimensions, and group relations unfold in the complexity of the English language classroom, mediated by Thai character traits (Komin, 1991) and elements of face (Persons, 2008). This is where the theoretical domain meets the empirical realm (Lantolf & Poehner, 2008).

Using both top-down and bottom-up approaches is based on a theory where entity theorists may well believe that traits are fixed; however, the effects of these traits on behavior could be comparatively small when they are equated to influential contexts and situations (Plaks, et al., 2009). The context in this investigation is where learner-centered teaching is

implemented in the English language classroom and how it is mediated by Thai culture.

This study is using the top-down and bottom-up approaches due to the strong influence that Thai culture has on the behavior of Thai people. This has been explained by Mulder

(1979), who has researched extensively about the Thai people. He states that Thai people value the rules of society above the laws of the land, illustrating the powerful influence that Thai culture could play in this research. Rather than relegating social structure as a

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backdrop for social action (Holliday, 2009), Mulder (1979) believes it is all important. Lantolf & Thorne (2006, p. 29) state that sociocultural practices and culturally built semiotic artifacts mediate the higher forms of the mental functions of human beings, and when internalized, they serve to give a person the ability to control their biological mental processes.

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