For shifting the focus from completed maturational processes to those that can be potentially developed in the interaction with other(s) and for proposing that while interacting with the varied cultural artifacts people are not only transformed but able to transform the activity, the vygotskian notion of ZPD has indeed become a revolutionary analysis tool in several educational spheres. After drawing the characteristics of ZPD that have contributed to my reflection concerning the construction of knowledge in EFL pre-service teacher education processes, the present paper aims at discussing the zones of potential development revealed in the reports written by three future EFL teachers during English Methodology classes. Framed on the notion of ZPD and on the concepts of ideology, authoritative and persuasive discourse proposed by Bakhtin's circle, the analysis focuses mainly on the conflicts related to the process of becoming an EFL teacher.
ZPD; critical reflection; ideology; authoritative and persuasive discourse