Dialectical Unity: Interactive Interweaving of Conflicting Variables within Second Language Developmental Processes

Amongst varieties of theories in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) there is a dearth of research on the interrelationship and coexistence of different ratios and variables among linguistic, cognitive, social or emotional forces in second language (L2) developmental processes. To bridge this gap, this paper adapts a Vygotskian interpretation of dialectics to demonstrate a dialectical unity among these conflicting forces. Thus, departing from any political connotations that dialectics are usually associated with or disputes over Vygotsky’s tendency to disparity and contradictions, the present paper mainly aims to throw light on the possibility of viewing L2 developmental processes through the prism of this alternative dialectical perspective. To that end, the paper does not seek to equate Vygotsky, dialectics and SLA but rather to pose new questions from a dialectical perspective with the aim of stimulating further research on this matter. The study adopts a traditional literature review approach by selecting a few empirical and theoretical studies that seem to bear on the dialectical thought process without necessarily explicitly referring to it. The analysis suggests that such variables as cognition, affect and sociocultural factors may indeed co-exist to a greater or lesser extent in an ongoing dialectical development.