Contemporary Elaborations of Vygotskian Theory

Abstract

Wertsch (1991; also see Miller, 1994) has extended Vygotsky’s theory by applying Bakhtin’s (e.g., 1981) concept that “dialogic interanimation” characterizes the voices of any one speaker and the discourse of partners in communication. When we listen, volleys of answering or counter words are elicited in mentation by each utterance. This principal of dialogicality applies to both inner and public speech. The speaker’s culture is one of the voices that speaks through the speaker, in that a social language or speech genre (e.g., social class, professional grouping) qualifies presentation style. Thus, speech is inherently historical, cultural, and institutional. It is a coexistential “heteroglot” (in Cazden, 1993). It has a “stylistic aura,” a generic meaning, or a sociocultural intentional denotation.