From Social Interaction to Higher Psychological Processes. A Clarification and Application of Vygotsky’s Theory

Vygotsky’s notions of speech, language and thought have recently begun to receive more attention in the west, but some of his basic distinctions are not well understood. The first part of this paper deals with some of the confusions that have arisen due to inaccurate translation and misunderstanding of Vygotsky’s general theoretical framework. The focus of this analysis is on Vygotsky’s distinction between language and speech. The second part of the paper deals with the emergence of self-regulative capacities in ontogenesis – a central theme in the work of Vygotsky and his followers. It is argued that their ideas about self-regulation can be properly understood only if we conduct a genetic analysis that goes…