Introduction

Robert Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction offer a structured and systematic approach to teaching, guiding learners through different stages of acquiring knowledge and skills. However, when integrated with other influential learning theories, such as Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, Alexander Luria’s Neuropsychological Development of Learning, and Richard Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis, Gagné’s model can be further enriched to deepen understanding and enhance communicative language teaching. This essay explores how these three theoretical frameworks complement Gagné’s instructional events, focusing on language acquisition and the cognitive and social processes involved in learning.

1. Gaining Attention: The Role of Social Interaction in Learning

In Gagné’s first event, gaining attention of the students (Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, 2020), it is crucial to engage learners from the outset. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory emphasizes the importance of social interaction as a catalyst for cognitive development. According to the Office of Educational Improvement at the Medical College of Wisconsin (2022), “The sociocultural theory of cognitive development explores the influence the world has on individual development. It asserts that learning is a mostly social process whereby development occurs through interactions with people who possess more knowledge or skill than the learner.” From Vygotsky’s perspective, attention is gained not only through external stimuli but also through joint activity and social scaffolding. Teachers can activate student attention by engaging them in collaborative tasks that foster a sense of shared learning. For example, asking students to solve a problem together or engage in a dialogue captures their attention while creating a social context for learning.

Luria’s neuropsychological perspective adds depth to this process by highlighting the brain’s attentional systems and their responsiveness to novelty and relevance. Jha (2020) explains, “Our attention system is necessary for almost every single thing we do—whether it’s listening to my voice right now, focus on something you’re reading, communicate, learn or problem solve.” To help students acquire new knowledge and skills, teachers can present content in ways that actively engage the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functions. By relating tasks to learners’ personal experiences, educators can make learning more meaningful. Within Gagné’s model, incorporating real-world examples—such as discussions about current events—effectively stimulates attention by aligning with the learners’ emotional and cognitive states.

2. Informing Learners of the Objective: Establishing the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Gagné’s second event involves informing learners of the instructional objectives, a step that helps students understand what they are expected to learn and achieve. As educators, we must clearly communicate these objectives to align learning activities with desired outcomes. Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is particularly relevant here. According to the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Office of Educational Improvement (2022), the ZPD “is the difference between what a learner can achieve independently and what they can learn with the guidance and support.” By setting objectives that fall within learners’ ZPD, teachers ensure the goals are appropriately challenging—neither too simple nor overly complex. For instance, in a language lesson, the teacher might explain that the objective is to understand a dialogue about travel, ensuring the task matches the learners’ developmental readiness and supports guided progression toward mastery.

Luria’s research on language processing highlights the importance of designing objectives that activate specific neural pathways associated with sequencing, monitoring, and planning skills. According to Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland (n.d.), “Planning, sequencing and monitoring are the kinds of thinking we need to do to successfully achieve our goal or solve a problem. We need to think about what needs to be done, and the order to do it in.” Educators can apply this insight by structuring classroom activities that encourage learners to plan, execute a sequence of tasks, and monitor their outcomes. By aligning objectives and tasks with learners’ cognitive capacities, teachers can ensure that these activities fall within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) while engaging the brain’s processing systems effectively.

3. Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning: Bridging Past and New Knowledge Through Noticing

Stimulating recall, Gagné’s third event, aligns closely with Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis, which asserts that language learners must first notice linguistic features to internalize and learn them. While teachers play a critical role in guiding learners to notice essential information, they must also help students connect new material to prior knowledge. As the Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (2020) explains, educators should “help students make sense of new information by relating it to something they already know or something they have already experienced.” By recalling prior knowledge, learners are better prepared to notice and integrate new concepts.

For example, before introducing new grammatical structures, teachers can encourage students to reflect on related structures they already understand. This approach activates Schmidt’s idea of noticing gaps or discrepancies in their knowledge, paving the way for deeper learning. It is essential to remember that “a student’s education builds on previous concepts like building blocks. If you’re missing foundation blocks at the bottom, you can’t keep building. If a student has learning gaps, they can’t keep building and learning more complex concepts” (Hegwood, 2022). Addressing these gaps is crucial, as they can significantly impede further learning and progress.

Incorporating Luria’s neuropsychological approach, Gagné’s third event, Recall of Prior Knowledge, leverages the brain’s memory systems to support learning. Luria emphasized that linking new information to existing neural connections strengthens knowledge retention. As McAllister (2020) explains, “When you learn something, you have electrical activity going through different circuits. Those electrical impulses change the strength of specific connections, making them either stronger or weaker.” By stimulating recall, educators create a neural bridge between established concepts and new input, facilitating smoother language acquisition and deeper cognitive engagement.

4. Presenting the Content: Mediated Learning and the Noticing of Key Features

In Gagné’s fourth event, the presentation of content is where the bulk of new information is provided to the learner. Based on Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (2020), we teacher need to uUse strategies to present and cue lesson content to provide more effective instruction.” And we also must “organize and group content in meaningful ways, and provide explanations after demonstrations” (Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, 2020). Vygotsky’s concept of mediated learning is especially relevant here, as the teacher or more knowledgeable peer helps learners make sense of the content by providing cognitive scaffolds. For example, the teacher might model a conversation, breaking down language structures and explaining their use. This aligns with Gagné’s presentation of content by ensuring that learners receive the necessary input for understanding.

According to Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis, this phase of stimulating recall is an ideal opportunity for teachers to direct learners’ attention to specific linguistic features. For example, in a lesson on the past tense, the teacher might highlight verbs such as "went" or "saw," ensuring students notice the grammatical structure. This approach reinforces explicit learning, which is “characterized by ‘more conscious operation where the individual makes and tests hypotheses in a search for structure’” (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2012). By consciously focusing on new forms during this phase, learners are more likely to retain and effectively use the language in future contexts.

5. Providing Learning Guidance: Scaffolding Within the ZPD

Providing guidance is essential for helping learners internalize new content. At this stage, instructors must “advise students of strategies to aid them in learning content and of resources available. In other words, [teachers] help students learn how to learn” (Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, 2020). Vygotsky’s concept of scaffolding is pivotal to this process, emphasizing the need to “break up the learning into chunks and provide a tool, or structure, with each chunk” (Alber, 2011) so that students can understand and apply newly acquired knowledge in various contexts. Acting as facilitators, teachers offer step-by-step support as learners navigate new language tasks. This guidance diminishes over time as learners gain proficiency, eventually enabling independent work. For example, a teacher might begin by providing sentence starters during a speaking activity, gradually reducing this support as learners build confidence and fluency.

Luria’s insights into higher psychological functions—such as planning, attention, and memory—underscore the importance of effective guidance in structuring learners’ cognitive processes. These higher mental functions are “socially created, voluntarily controlled, semiotically mediated and united in systems with other functions” (Subbotsky, n.d.), enabling purposeful learning. When instructors break tasks into manageable components and guide learners through them, they activate the brain’s problem-solving circuits, enhancing language production and supporting the internalization of new vocabulary and structures.

6. Eliciting Performance: Collaborative and Noticed Performance

In Gagné’s sixth event, eliciting performance, learners are encouraged to demonstrate their understanding and apply newly acquired skills. This stage allows instructors to “have students apply what they have learned to reinforce new skills and knowledge and to confirm correct understanding of course concepts” (Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, 2020). Vygotsky’s emphasis on social collaboration is particularly relevant here, as learners often perform better when engaging with peers. For example, role-playing in pairs or small groups enables students to use language in meaningful, interactive contexts. This aligns with Vygotsky’s belief that learning is most effective in socially rich environments, as he “emphasized the collaborative nature of learning by constructing knowledge through social negotiation” (McLeod, 2024).

Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis highlights that eliciting performance is the critical moment when learners must consciously apply what they have noticed. As Schmidt explains, “the extent of attention determines the degree of noticing in the input, and that input has to be noticed before it becomes intake” (Buriro & Kakepoto, 2023). By actively producing the language they have focused on in earlier stages, learners ensure that noticing transitions into practical language use. For example, students might engage in dialogues where they deliberately apply newly noticed grammatical structures or vocabulary, solidifying their understanding and making the language accessible for future communication.

7. Providing Feedback: Cognitive Development and Noticing Errors

Feedback is crucial in any learning process, and Gagné’s seventh event emphasizes providing corrective feedback to learners. At this stage, instructors must “provide timely feedback of students’ performance to assess and facilitate learning and to allow students to identify gaps in understanding before it is too late” (Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, 2020). Vygotsky’s theory underscores the importance of interactive feedback, enabling learners to reflect on their mistakes and learn within the ZPD. As Ćehić (n.d.) reminds us, “human interaction lies at the core of verbal feedback. The interpersonal aspect of speaking and listening promotes a sense of connection between the giver and receiver of feedback. This connection can lead to increased engagement, motivation, and trust, ultimately enhancing the learning experience.” To strengthen these connections, teachers can pose guiding questions that encourage students to self-correct, transforming feedback into a constructive dialogue rather than mere correction.

Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis complements this event, emphasizing that learners must first notice errors to correct them. Although “learners will react differently to different types of error correction depending on their individual characteristics” (Bakan et al., 2020), unnoticed mistakes are unlikely to result in lasting improvement. Effective feedback should help students become aware of linguistic inaccuracies, enabling them to adjust their understanding and enhance their performance. For example, after a role-play activity, the teacher might highlight misused past-tense verbs, encouraging students to notice the errors and make the necessary corrections.

8. Assessing Performance: Formative and Summative Assessment Aligned with ZPD

Gagné’s eighth event focuses on assessing learners’ performance through both formative and summative methods. At this stage, instructors must “implement a variety of assessment methods to provide students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency” (Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, 2020), particularly in language learning. Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) enriches this approach by emphasizing that assessments should evaluate not only what learners can accomplish independently but also what they can achieve with guidance. Formative assessments, such as peer evaluations or teacher feedback during group activities, provide valuable insights into learners’ progress while identifying areas for future growth and development.

From Luria’s perspective, assessment should account for learners’ cognitive processing abilities, emphasizing how effectively they can sequence and organize language use. “Whenever [learners] see or hear something new, [they] go through a series of cognitive processes, which are the processes that result in learning” (Mccaw & Diamond, 2023). This focus on cognitive processes aligns with Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis, which highlights the importance of learners paying attention to linguistic features to acquire them. Consequently, summative assessments should not only measure output but also foster learners’ ability to notice and correct their own errors. Teachers can encourage students to reflect on their learning, evaluate how well they noticed key features, and track their progress over time. As Schmidt (1995) observed, “L2 proficiency might be a significant contributing factor in determining whether or not students noticed error corrections and understood the nature of errors so noticed,” ultimately enhancing the cognitive processes that drive learning.

9. Enhancing Retention and Transfer: Building Cognitive and Social Competence

The final event in Gagné’s model emphasizes enhancing retention and transfer, ensuring learners can effectively apply their knowledge in new contexts. Teachers are expected to “help learners retain more information by providing them opportunities to connect course concepts to potential real-world applications” (Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, 2020). Vygotsky’s theory underscores the role of social interaction in consolidating learning, suggesting that students who engage collaboratively and use language in varied settings are more likely to retain and transfer their knowledge. Educators can foster this through activities like group projects or real-world language tasks, such as presentations or debates.

Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis highlights the importance of continued noticing for long-term retention. Learners should be encouraged to observe language use in authentic contexts, such as media or conversations, even beyond the classroom. This practice reinforces understanding and facilitates transfer to new situations. Teachers can emphasize to students the critical need for reinforcement, noting that “the statistics on learning retention can be alarming if [we] take them at face value” (Clearwater, n.d.). Instructors need to be certain that, as Clearwarter (n.d.) suggests that “research on the forgetting curve shows that within 1 hour, learners forget an average of 50% of the information presented; within 24 hours, they forget an average of 70%; and within a week, up to 90% of what they ‘learned’” (Clearwater, n.d.). By addressing this forgetting curve, educators can help ensure that learners retain and build upon what they have noticed in class or independently.

Conclusion

Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction, when paired with Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, Luria’s Neuropsychological Development of Learning, and Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis, provide a comprehensive framework for language teaching. By integrating these models, teachers can create learning experiences that not only build cognitive and linguistic competence but also foster social interaction and real-world language use. Each of Gagné’s events can be enriched by these complementary theories, ensuring that language learners develop both accuracy and communicative fluency in a supportive and cognitively stimulating environment.

Moreover, the integration of these theories emphasizes the importance of addressing learners' diverse needs and abilities. Vygotsky’s focus on the Zone of Proximal Development ensures that instruction is appropriately scaffolded, helping students achieve goals they may not yet reach independently. Luria’s insights into cognitive processes reinforce the value of guiding learners through structured, meaningful activities that engage attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Together, these approaches highlight the interplay between social interaction and individual cognition in effective language acquisition.

By incorporating Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis, teachers can further enhance learners' awareness of linguistic forms and patterns, promoting active engagement with language in context. Encouraging students to notice and reflect on language use both in and beyond the classroom equips them with tools for lifelong learning. Ultimately, the fusion of these theories with Gagné’s instructional framework not only facilitates language acquisition but also empowers learners to apply their skills creatively and confidently in diverse, real-world scenarios.

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