Paradigms & Foundations
Who is Thomas Kuhn?
The philosopher/historian who defined a "paradigm" as a shared matrix of beliefs, values, and techniques accepted by a scientific community.
In Behaviorism, learning is defined as a change in this observable phenomenon.
Observable behavior
What is Meaningful Learning?
David Ausubel's concept describing learning that connects new concepts non-arbitrarily to prior knowledge.
Swiss psychologist who developed the Psychogenetic Paradigm.
Jean Piaget
What is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?
The distance between what a student can do alone and what they can do with assistance.
What is the Epistemological foundation?
The component of a paradigm that deals with core philosophical questions about knowledge and reality.
The key role of an EFL teacher in a Humanist classroom
A Facilitator (providing empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard)
Mental frameworks or organizational structures used to store and process information in long-term memory.
Cognitive Schemas
What is assimilation?
The cognitive process of fitting new foreign language data into an existing mental schema.
What is Scaffolding?
Temporary support provided by a teacher or peer to help a student complete a task within their ZPD.
What is Educational Psychology or Psychopedagogy?
General term for psychology branches applied specifically to understand and improve learning and teaching processes.
The technique used in Behaviorism where desirable behaviors are rewarded with points or stickers to reinforce them.
The primary problematic or focus of study in Cognitive Psychology.
Mental Processes (memory, attention, problem-solving)
What is accommodation?
The cognitive process of modifying or creating new mental schemas when new language information conflicts with current knowledge.
According to Vygotsky, this is the primary cultural and psychological tool that mediates human thought.
Language
The structural element of a paradigm that defines the specific research methods and techniques used to gather data.
Methodological Matrix
What is the Affective Domain (or the whole person)?
In Humanist pedagogy, learning must involve both intellect and emotion, addressing this specific domain.
What is Discovery Learning?
Learning strategy where students discover rules and patterns on their own through guided tasks.
The state of cognitive imbalance that triggers learning and intellectual growth when a student faces a task they cannot immediately solve.
Cognitive Conflict (or Disequilibrium)
What is Social Constructivism?
The epistemological basis of Vygotsky's theory, which states that higher mental processes originate in social interactions.
The main difference between a General Psychology paradigm and a Psychoeducational paradigm.
Psychoeducational paradigms adapt general principles directly to school contexts, learning, and instructional design
What is Existentialism?
Epistemological framework that underpins Humanism, focusing on personal, subjective experience.
How is evaluation viewed in the Cognitive paradigm compared to Behaviorism?
It focuses on qualitative mental processes and cognitive strategies rather than just final observable products/scores
The view of the learner in Piaget's theory regarding their knowledge construction.
Active Constructor of knowledge
How should evaluation be conducted in a Sociocultural framework?
With dynamic assessment (assessing potential learning with guidance rather than only static individual performance)