近侧发展区间（英语：zone of proximal development，简称ZPD，亦译为可能发展区、最近发展区）是由前苏联发展心理学家利维·维谷斯基提出的学习理论，指学习者现实及实际可达到的发展的差距。这个差距是由学习者的独立解题能力及其潜在发展水平而决定的。换句话说，就是学习者的学习能力以内，但暂时未能理解的知识。

近侧发展区间是形容一个还没有成熟但是正在发展过程中的一个功能。这个功能将来会成熟，不过现在还是在萌芽的状态。这些功能可以被比喻成是发展中的芽，或者是花朵而不是果实，因为它们还在成长的时期。(Zaretskii, 2009, p.49)

The zone of proximal development, often abbreviated as ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help. It is a concept introduced, yet not fully developed, by Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) during the last ten years of his life. Vygotsky stated that a child follows an adult's example and gradually develops the ability to do certain tasks without help. Vygotsky and some other educators believe that the role of education is to give children experiences that are within their zones of proximal development, thereby encouraging and advancing their individual learning.