Discourse Patterns in First Language Use at Hcme and Second Language Learning at School: an Ethnographic Approach

Literature I 47

Lhe unit of analysis

Following Marx_l Vygotsky wanted to find the 'living cell' or 'ɪɪɪieroeosɪɪ
of consciousness that reflects all its aspects' (Vertsch 1985b:193), an
interesting paralellism with *holistic' paradigms of inquiry (see pages
16-17).

By unit we mean a product of analysis which, unlike elements,
retains all the basic properties of the whole and which cannot be
further divided without losing them. (Vygotsky,1962:4).

Zinchenko (1985) notes that, in the history of Psychology, the choice of
the unit of psychological analysis has important consequences for the
structure of the theory: units like sensation, relationship figure-ground,
reflex or behaviour were bound to prove insufficient for the analysis of
complex cognitive processes.

Vygotsky 'the methodologist* went beyond Vygotsky 'the psychologist*
(Vetsch,1985b) as he tried to systematize the requirements for the units
and methods of psychological analysis (e.g., must be capable of self
development - Zinchenko,1985). He suggested 'meaning* as the unit of
analysis for the study of thought and language; using his criteria, but
more influenced by Leont'ev in this aspect, contemporary Soviet scholars
suggest 'activity' or 'goal-directed action* as the unit of analysis for
psychology.

... the human individual's activity is a system in the system of
social relations. It does not exist without these relations.
(Leont'ev,1981:47)

2.3.3 The role of the adult in education

The function of the adult consists in providing instruction not at the
level of actual development (lower limit of ZPD₁ which would reinforce the

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