Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-285) and index.

Introducing Sociocultural Theory / James P. Lantolf Chapter 1: Sociocultural contributions to understand in the foreign and second language classrooms / Richard Donato Chapter 2: Rethinking Interaction in SLA: Developmentally appropriate assistance in the zone of proximal development and the acquisition of L2 grammar / Amy Snyder Ohta Chapter 3: Subjects speak out: How learners position themselves in a psycholinguistic task / Regina Roebuck Chapter 4: The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue / Merrill Swain Chapter 5: Playfulness as mediation in communicative language teaching in a Vietnamese classroom / Patricia N. Sullivan Chapter 6: Social discursive constructions of self in L2 learning / Claire Kramsch Chapter 7: Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves / Aneta Pavlenko and James P. Lantolf Chapter 8: Side affects: The strategic development of professional satisfaction / Deryn P. Verity Chapter 9: The appropriation of gestures of the abstract by L2 learners / Steven G. McCafferty and Mohammed K. Ahmed Chapter 10: Second language acquisition theory and the truth(s) about relativity / Steven L. Thorne Chapter 11: From input to affordance: Social-interactive learning from an ecological perspective / Leo van Lier

"This book represents a major statement of the current research being conducted on the learning of second languages from a sociocultural perspective. The book is divided into a theoretical and an empirical part. Specific topics covered include: learning and teaching languages in the zone of proximal development; L1 mediation in the acquisition of L2 grammar; sociocultural theory as a theory of second language learning; gestural mediation in a second language; and constructing a self through a second language." (Book Cover)