Matthew E. Poehner

About

Matthew E. Poehner is Professor of World Languages Education and Applied Linguistics at The Pennsylvania State University. His research engages Vygotskian Sociocultural Theory to understand processes of instructed second language (L2) development and to organize educational environments and activities to promote learner language abilities. A major focus of his work is Dynamic Assessment, which rethinks assessment practice by embedding instruction as part of the procedure to broaden diagnoses of abilities. He has participated in collaborative Dynamic Assessment research projects in classroom, tutoring, and formal testing contexts across the U.S., Finland, China, and Israel, with results reported in numerous journal articles and book chapters. Poehner has co-edited volumes such as The Routledge Handbook of Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Development and Toward a Reconceptualization of Second Language Classroom Assessment, and he is the author of Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Development, which is forthcoming. His 2014 book Sociocultural Theory and the Pedagogical Imperative in L2 Education received the Kenneth W. Mildenberger Book Award from the Modern Language Association. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Vygotskian Sociocultural Theory, philosophy of science, educational research traditions, second language acquisition theory, language testing and assessment, and second language teaching methods. Poehner has served as Past President of the…

Research topics

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Mathematics education
• Epistemology
• Philosophy
• Pedagogy
• Computer Science
• Anthropology
• Cognitive science
• Developmental psychology

Selected publications

• Sociocultural Theory and L2 Development

  Routledge eBooks · 2020 · 57 citations

  Sociocultural theory has its origins in the writings of the Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky and his colleagues. Sociocultural research is grounded in the genetic method, an approach to scientific research in which the development of individuals, groups, and processes is traced over time. In second language (L2) research, the zone of proximal development concept was used by A. Aljaafreh and J. P. Lantolf to analyze the relationship between mediation and L2 development. Considerable research h…

  PublisherDOI

• Dynamic Assessment and second language development

  Language Teaching · 2020 · 52 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  This timeline is concerned with Dynamic Assessment (henceforth, DA) as it has been taken up and elaborated in contexts involving the teaching, learning, and assessment of learners of second languages (L2s). DA is distinguished by its insistence that an individual's independent performance of assessment tasks reveals only part of his/her abilities, namely those that have completed their development at the time of the assessment; insights into abilities that have begun to emerge but have not yet f…

  PublisherDOI

• Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Developmental Education

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2024-05-21 · 39 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding

  Sociocultural Theory (SCT), as formulated by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky nearly a century ago, is distinct among traditions in the field of second language (L2) studies in its commitment to praxis. According to this view, theory and research provide the orienting basis for practice, which in turn serves as a testing ground for theory (Vygotsky, 1997). This Element offers a synthesis of foundational concepts and principles of SCT and an overview of two important areas of praxis in L2 educ…

  PublisherDOI

• Toward a Reconceptualization of Second Language Classroom Assessment

  Educational linguistics · 2020 · 32 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Sociocultural theory and classroom second language learning in the East Asian context: Introduction to the special issue

  Modern Language Journal · 2023-01-01 · 28 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract In this introduction to the special issue, we first present a brief historical overview of sociocultural theory (SCT) as it has been extended to the process of second language (L2) development and instruction, beginning with two significant publications that appeared in 1994. In the early years, the theory was used as a lens to understand various aspects of learning and instruction. Eventually, it came to be used as a means of promoting the processes that it investigates. As we explain…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• James P. Lantolf

  29 shared

• Paolo Infante

  Minnesota State University, Mankato

  9 shared

• Rémi A. van Compernolle

  6 shared

• Lu Yu

  Prompt (Canada)

  4 shared

• James P. Lantolf

  Pennsylvania State University

  3 shared

• Xiaofei Lu

  3 shared

• Ofra Inbar‐Lourie

  3 shared

• Steven L. Thorne

  University of Groningen

  3 shared

Awards & honors

• Kenneth W. Mildenberger book award by The Modern Language As…

Similar researchers at Pennsylvania State University

• Sinfree Makonih-26
• Tommaso M. Milanih-25
• Celeste Kingingerh-24