Zone of Proximal Development

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Zone of Proximal Development
Name of Student
Name of Institution
Zone of Proximal Development
What problems are related to integrating listening and speaking, reading, and writing in relation to the ZPD?
In relation to ZPD; there are problems related to integrating listening and speaking, reading and writing. Issues with integrating listening and speaking, reading and writing may involve:
Uneven participation- Some groups that appear more dominant than others during the process of learning speaking, reading and writing interfere with the overall instilment of these skills (Hamaguchi, 2010). Delving into the ZPD, there is an understanding that individuals require guidance from their instructors to acquire these skills. It becomes an unwarranted situation when uneven participation impedes their grasp of learning and speaking.
Fear of making errors [and mistakes] – Some individuals fear to make errors in listening and speaking hence leading to inhibition (Mahrooqi & Denman, 2015). ZPD recommends that instructors work toward influencing the minds of these learners. They should understand that shyness, criticism, and errors are inevitable in the acquisition of these skills. Reading and writing are also impeded by the fear of making these errors. Some learners may have speech and communication issues making it difficult for them to grasp these skills.
Amotivation- Expectedly, there are situations where learners are unmotivated causing them to fail in the acquisition of listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

ZPD, here, would advise individuals to imitate or focus on replicating the characteristics of other motivated learners.
Use of native language(s) – There are learners whose grasp of listening and speaking skills is impeded by their inclination toward their native [and foreign] languages (Mahrooqi & Denman, 2015; Muñoz-Luna, R & Taillefer, 2017). It becomes a problem; therefore, because implementation of ZPD here shows that the learners will have to work independently and avoid using native languages. Again, with this; there may be complications when individuals end up translating their native languages into languages such as English.
How does this influence instruction?
Regrettably; these problems affiliated with listening and speaking, reading, and writing influence instruction. Most times when instructors realize that an individual is unmotivated, it is bound to interfere with the process of instruction. Motivation and encouragement are important thus; ZPD, in this case, places learners under the bracket of “guidance” (Fisher & Frey, 2010; Middleton & Perks, 2014). Inasmuch as they cannot grasp these skills independently, the ‘barriers’ work toward influencing instruction on the negative. These problems also influence instruction as the teachers are ‘forced’ to learn the students’ patterns to tend to them independently. If at all the learners are evenly participating in the groups, they make it easier for the instructors to handle all their needs. It is, in fact, much easier for instructors to remain in spaces that do not have these developmental issues.
Furthermore, use of native languages becomes a barrier when the learners and instructors fail to communicate with one another (Coelho, 2012; Mahrooqi & Denman, 2015; Muñoz-Luna, R & Taillefer, 2017). Teaching the learners English, for instance, is only fruitful when they are aware of the foreign language. It would be much easier for a French-English instructor to instill English knowledge in his/her students as compared to having one that is only well-versed in one language (Coelho, 2012). Effective instruction is, therefore, dependent on input from both the learner(s) and instructor(s). It would be much more effective to avoid these problems while instilling these skills in the learners. When the instructors find it difficult to reach out to these students, the endeavor becomes null and void.
References
Coelho, E. (2012). Language and learning in multilingual classrooms: A practical approach. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2010). Guided instruction: How to develop confident and successful learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Hamaguchi, P. M. A. (2010). Childhood Speech, Language, and Listening Problems. Hoboken: Wiley.
Mahrooqi, R., & Denman, C. (2015). Issues in English education in the Arab world. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Middleton, M., & Perks, K. (2014). Motivation to learn: Transforming classroom culture to support student achievement. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.
Muñoz-Luna, R., & Taillefer, L. (2017). Integrating information and communication technologies in English for specific purposes. Cham: Springer International Publishing.