ABSTRACT
The field of language development has undergone several major changes in the course of its brief existence as a discipline. Only the briefest outline of pragmatism can be presented here, particularly as it relates to psychology and human behavior. Vygotsky states that method is simultaneously prerequisite and product, the tool and the result of study. The concept of tool was an important one for Vygotsky and for Soviet psychology in general. Vygotskys work has been influential in an emerging line of research on cognitive activity. The chapter discusses the work of Wertsch has been singled out because it is more relevant to child language research and is most purposefully an attempt to develop a research tactic based on Vygotskian theory. This premise of the social nature of consciousness stems from Marx, and indeed, Vygotsky and his followers have attempted to develop a science of human development and behavior based on the principles of dialectical materialism.
