The language in the analysis of clinic of activity: modes of accomplishment and psychological functions

Abstract

This text aims to define the statute and the functions of language in methodologies of analysis in a clinic of activity. Initially, we define the language in a conceptualization that allows us to consider it as an instrument, as an activity but also as an empirically analyzable product of human activity. Then, using Vygotsky’s psychology and his views on the functional diversity of language in psychological life, we examine how the various forms of language, promoted by the methodologies of the clinic of activity, are likely to support developmental processes. We end with a brief illustration, taken from an intervention carried out with French public prosecutors.