ESL and Vygotsky’s Perezhivanie: A Pedagogy Facilitating learning and Cultural Intersubjectivity through Nonverbal Communication

Youth ESL education in South Korea often hires native-English speaking teachers (NETs) as a symbolic socio-cultural example of the English language. However, Korean schools do not typically provide teachers’ pedagogical education to facilitate language learning and positive childhood development. The ramifications of this learning environment are unexplored in research, including the influence of NET’s teaching practices on student wellbeing and the outcomes of merging languages and cultures. The present study conceptualizes childhood socio-cultural development and ESL pedagogy through Vygotsky’s perezhivanie—a prism of childhood self-development within a specific social setting. Within this conceptualization, the Korean ESL classroom context defines the perezhivanie, and the pedagogical approach is contoured by the circulation of nonverbal communication (NVC) within the perezhivanie framework. Nineteen NET interviews demonstrate student-teacher nonverbal engagement as a cultural and emotional pathway within the perezhivanie. This paper argues for an approach to ESL pedagogy using NVC to cushion L2 language acquisition by two means: as a social representation of culture in dialectical language and as a means of interpersonal support to facilitate a positive learning environment. In other words, appropriate use and awareness of NVC may enhance the receptivity of ESL teaching by supporting a safe learning environment, and deepen L2 acquisition through demonstrations of language and culture in nonverbal exchanges.