Origins Sociocultural Theory The contributions that society makes

Origins: Sociocultural Theory • The contributions that society makes to individual development • The interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live Lev Vygotsky (1896 -1934)

Sociocultural Tradition of Communication Theory • “Sociocultural approaches to communication theory address the ways our understandings, meanings, norms, roles, and rules are worked out interactively in communication. ”(Littlejohn & Foss)

Sociocultural Tradition of Communication Theory • This tradition holds that reality is not an objective set of arrangements outside us but is constructed through a process of communicating in groups, society, and cultures. • It focuses on patterns of interactions rather than individual characteristics of mental model.

Theories under the Sociocultural Tradition • • Symbolic interactionism Social constructionism Sociolinguistics Ethnography & Ethnomethodology

Symbolic interactionism George Mead (1863– 1931) • This theory focuses attention on the way that people interact through symbols: words, gestures, rules, and roles. • Based on how humans develop a complex set of symbols to give meaning to the world. (La. Rossa & Reitzes, 1993) • Key idea: Social structures and meaning is created and maintained within social interactions.

Social constructionism • Investigates how human knowledge is constructed through social interaction • Argues that the nature of the world is less important than the language used to name and discuss it.

Ethnography & Ethnomethodology • The observation of how actual social groups come to build meaning through their linguistic and non-linguistic behaviors, is another perspective within the sociocultural tradition.