Languaging as Agent and Constituent of Cognitive Change in an Older Adult:An Example
Keywords:
languaging, cognitive change, cociocultural theory, older adult,Abstract
Vygotsky’s writings have established the critical importance of language in the development of higher mental functions, including memory and attention. One of the processes involved in this development is languaging, the activity of mediating cognitively complex ideas using language (Swain, 2006). The present study of an older adult with mild cognitive impairment living in a long-term care facility involves Alise (the resident) narrating a fragment of her life history. We investigate the hypothesis that languaging will restore aspects of cognitive functioning through a microgenetic analysis of ten recorded sessions totaling 18 hours of conversation between Alise and the researcher. We demonstrate that languaging mediates Alise’s ability to recall details of the life history fragment she is recounting with increasing syntactic and lexical sophistication, thus documenting cognitive change.
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