Lev Semynorich Vygotsky is the name of a great Soviet psychologist who made a
huge contribution to the field of social culture. Vygotsky was born on November 17, 1896, in
Orsha, Russian Empire which is today called Belarus. He was the founder of social-cultural
theory and his name is held with great awe in the field of psychology to date. He is known for
the development of cultural-historical psychology, the zone of proximal development, and
inner speech. He devoted 10 years of his life to research within which he wrote the
“Psychology of Art" and "Thought and Language”. He had a special interest in the field of
child development, developmental psychology, and education. Vygotsky died of tuberculosis
on June 11, 1934, at the age of 37. This paper aims to discuss the idea of Vygotsky’s
concerning how external culture becomes part of an individual’s thought. The paper also
talks about the importance of language in thought, the importance of play, and TESOL. Lev Semynorich Vygotsky;
Background Information
Vygotsky defines natural memory as the type of memory that dominates the behavior
of non-literate people. Natural memory is characterized by the ability to retain actual
experiences as the basis of memory. Compared to all other types of memory, natural memory
is very close to perception as it stems from direct influences of external stimuli upon human
beings. Other than natural memory, the use of simple operations such as notched sticks and
knots extend the operation of the memory. It helps transfers psychological operations to new
forms and allows human beings to control behavior from outside by the use of extrinsic aid as
stimuli. Vygotsky states that the use of signs to a specific structure of behavior breaks away from biological development and creates new forms of culturally-based psychological
processes. Lev Semynorich Vygotsky;

According to Vygotsky, thought and speech in individuals have a different origin.
One of the differences is that thought is nonverbal meaning that it cannot be expressed by
word of mouth. Language, on the other hand, is non-intellectual during the early stages of
human life. Although the development line of thought and speech are different, Vygotsky
notes that they are not parallel. This means that the two cross now and then. The cultural
tools that shape thinking are broadly categorized into two; technical tools and psychological
tools. Mediating tools include language, signs, symbols, and concepts. To investigate the role
of sign involuntary attention and memory, Vygotsky carried out a series of experiments. The
experiment observed that a pre-school aged child is not capable of mastering his behavior
even with the help of organized special stimuli. The experiment also observed that the
colored cards meant to help the child in his tasks did not increase the child’s ability to
perform tasks efficiently. For children between 8 and 12 years, the experiment observed that
colored cards raise the effectiveness of their activity considerably. Similarly in adults, the
experiment observed that behavior development among them remains mediated.
The sign operation is a result of a complex, complex, and prolonged process subject to
all the basic laws of psychological evolution. Vygotsky observes that immediately a child
realizes that everything has a name, each new object gives the child a difficult time to
evaluate its name. When the child lacks the name of the object, he can either describe it by its
function or demand an adult for an answer. To develop language, the child requires practice,
modeling, and interaction. Vygotsky found that there is a correlation between thought and
speech as each provides resources to the other. This means that language is crucial to the
forming of thought and is also useful in determining personality features. The sign-using
activity is neither simply invented nor passed down by adults. Rather it stems from something that is originally not a sign operation and becomes one only after a series of qualitative
operations. Vygotsky noted that children reproduced the required word through a process of
direct representation rather than mediated symbolization. Children between 10 and 12 were
found to remember twice as many words when pictures were available as a memory aid as
they did without them. The mildly retarded children in the same age group benefited little
from the pictures used as an aid to memory. The pictures used as an aid to memory were
found to interfere with performance among the severely retarded children. Lev Semynorich Vygotsky;
The memory of older children is different from the memory of young children. The
memory of the young children is the central psychological function upon which all other
functions are built. Thinking in young children is determined by their memory in that
thinking t them means the ability to remember things. For the adolescent, the reverse is true.
To adolescents, to recall means to think. Using external aids to remember an activity is the
same as transforming remembering function into an external activity. Human beings actively
remember with the help of signs. The first manifestation of speech in children aged one and a
half and two years are similar to adults’ speech. At the age of eighteen months, a child is
already conscious of the relationship between sign and meaning. Lev Semynorich Vygotsky;
Mediated thought and how language serves the function
According to Vygotsky, the human mental process is mediated by tools such as
language, signs, symbols, and concepts. Vygotsky acknowledges that language is an
important tool in cognitive development. He argues that language is important since children
internalize social relationships through it. Language is an important mediator because it is the
only tool that can be used to express a thought. Language is the main route through which
thought is transferred from one mind to another. Language is transferred in the form of
linguistic information that enters one person’s mind from another. Through language, people can entertain new thoughts and this influences their behavior. It is important to note that
although the thought is transmitted through language, it precedes language. This means that
thought is conceived way before language is involved in its transmission. Lev Semynorich Vygotsky;
Importance of play in the intellectual growth of students
Vygotsky found that play is crucial to the intellectual development of students. He
found that through play, students enhance their ability to develop both intellectual and life
skills. The skills such as the ability to negotiate, explore, identify remember, communicate,
and imagining are best developed during play. Vygotsky also found that speech and language
development through play because students can watch, listen, and imitate what others are
doing. Importantly, play improves the ability of students to solve problems as well as
controlling their behavior. Read more
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
TESOL also is known as teaching English as a freight language (TEFL) refers to
teaching the English language to students who have a different first language. Students who
learn English as a second language are called English Language Learners (ELLs). The
English language is taught to students in regions where it is the dominant language. TESOL
is responsible for developing and delivering lesson plans that utilize the appropriate teaching
techniques. It also develops in students the ability to read, speak, write, and understand
English. Lev Semynorich Vygotsky;
In conclusion, Vygotsky is one of the greatest thinkers in the field of psychology.
Vygotsky after a series of experiments concluded that thoughts and language have a different
origin. This he says is because a thought is nonverbal while language is nonintellectual
during the early stages of human life. Vygotsky notes that the development line of thought and speech although different are not parallel. The tools that shape thinking include language,
signs, symbols, and concepts. Among the four, language is the most important because it is
the only tool that can be used to express a thought. Language is also used by children in
social interactions. Although thought is transmitted through language, it precedes language.
This means that a though is first conceived before being transferred to another person through
language. Play is crucial to the intellectual development of students as it enhances their
ability to develop intellectual and life skills. Through play, students gain skills that enable
them to negotiate, explore, identify, remember, communicate, and imagining. TESOL refers
to teaching the English language to students who have a different first language. It helps to
develop in students the ability to read, speak, write, and understand English. Lev Semynorich Vygotsky;