Social Development Theory: Reinforcing Vygotsky's Theory in Teaching and Learning

Social Development Theory, a theory formulated by Lev Vygotsky, is a theory which emphasizes on the effect of culture and social factors in contributing to cognitive development. According to Vygotsky, his theory differs from Piaget's as he places more emphasis on culture affecting / shaping cognitive development and he sets more weight on the role of language in cognitive development. Vygotsky believes that community plays a central role in the process of learning. Thus, an event management project has been designed to suit the students' needs in absorbing language while interacting with the community. The effectiveness and the impact of the event management project is still a big question to be answered. However, the project has been implemented as one of the assessment for the students of Universiti Kuala Lumpur. Whether or not the project is beneficial and meaningful in the sense of English language, it may be answered through comparison research between the respondents of Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Spanish Institute and Kolej Poly-Tech MARA Alor Setar. In relation to the issue, the research aims to investigate the impact of Vygotsky's Social Development Theory, particularly in event management project, in teaching and learning English. The research involves Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Spanish Institute and Kolej Poly-Tech MARA Alor Setar students as the experimental and controlled groups of respondents.