Clearing a Vygotskyan Path examines the politics of dialect from a developmental psychology and epistemological perspective, showing how misperceptions of language use shape attitudes and influence our ways of talking about language and teaching "correct" forms of writing. Beyond seeing language as a natural cognitive outcome of socializing processes, Broudy shows how writers coping with various apprehensions can develop through language play higher forms of awareness of their own innate sense of rhetorical expression. Gestalt theory and the cognitive effects of cohesion and coherence serve as the theoretical backdrop of play. His research has implications in related areas where words and phrases can serve as coping mechanisms for anxiety, normalizing stress, and bringing closure to traumatic experiences.