Although some research has been conducted on the importance of mediation in language learning and teaching (Dendrinos, 2006; González-Davies, 2020; Piccardo, 2012, 2020; Scarino, 2016), there is still scarce research on the integration of plurilingualism, mediation, and technology. Through qualitative and quantitative methodology, this paper…

This ethnographic case study explores the nature of situated transformative pedagogy that empowers linguistically and culturally diverse adolescent English language learners. Grounded in theoretical perspectives of critical multicultural education and sociosemiotics, this study, through developmental, spiral analyses of data collected from…

To interpret in detail the meaning-making in the classroom and the corresponding teacher semiotic mediation, we have resorted to Peirce's triadic ign theory, interpreted by Sáenz-Ludlow and Zellweger. We present an example of the use of a few elements of that theory in the analysis of a classroom episode in which meaning is constructed with the…

The article describes the theoretical foundations of R. Feuerstein's "Mediated Learning Theory" and its applicability to deaf populations. The theory provides insight into the comparable characteristics of culturally deprived and deaf populations. The theory emphasizes the importance of mediated learning as a prerequisite to independent…

This paper examines the purpose, function, and legitimacy of action research as a methodology that encompasses a complex, authentic view of scientific inquiry. A historical account of action research is presented with a focus in how it merged theory with practice. Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) is used as a theoretical rationale for…

The concept of verbal self-regulation, or verbal mediation, originated in behavioristic analyses of thinking, but was later extended to cognitivistic analyses. In both applications, the research that was generated was usually deficient in ecological validity. In addition, in some of the research verbal self-regulation was inferred when an overt…

The effect of using either abstract or concrete words on verbal problem solving was examined in this study. Twelve undergraduate students in each of two conditions mentally solved identically structured problems by reordering and chaining together previously memorized pairs of words. Subjects who received concrete words both memorized the word…

The purpose of the study was to observe the extent to which preschool children's actions were guided by private speech utterances in free play and puzzle solving conditions. A second purpose was to examine how the structure of private speech utterances varied according to the context in which they were uttered. Fifteen preschoolers were videotaped…

This study examines the effects of initial response training and criterion training on the discrimination shift performance of preschool children; results are discussed in terms of differing theoretical orientation. After an initial task involving either criterion training or response training, 109 subjects were presented with either…

This review argues that an hypothesis about longitudinal development may be derived from, and tested exclusively by, cross-sectional data, when the potential sources of interpretive errors are dealt with adequately. The argument is illustrated by cross-sectional data relevant to developmental mediation theory. (Author/SS)

A field experiment tested the effects of mediation, message difficulty and gender of message presenter on children's attention to messages. Seventy-seven children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years participated in the study. Children were observed as they watched messages delivered by a person either in real life or on television. Results indicated that…

The hypothesis that verbal humor may serve as a technique of social influence was tested for the first time under experimental conditions. Humor-moderating attempts at social influence and an examination of potential intervening variables tested the prediction that verbal humor would produce compliance. In a dyadic bargaining paradigm, at a…

The present study was designed to determine whether previous experience with categorically related items would facilitate third and sixth grade children's recall of subsequent unrelated materials. Subjects were 24 children at each grade level. An additional aim was to see if such experience with taxonomic material would influence both the manner…

The effectiveness of verbal and imaginal elaborations on the free recall of 50 educable mentally retarded adolescents was investigated. Ss were assigned to one of five conditions: experimenter-imposed verbalization (EV), experimenter imposed imagery (EI), subject-generated verbalization (SV), subject-generated imagery (SI), and control (C). Ss saw…

Cooperation among students is an instructional technique often cited as a constructive alternative to that used typically, namely interstudent competition. What is missing in the cooperation-competition literature is a clear explanation of why the two techniques should result in differential levels of student motivation. Expectancy theory is used…