Cognitive Development and Language

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Discussion3

Cognition3

Language4

Relationship between Cognition and Language5

Cognition and Language in Children6

Language and Cognitive Development - Piaget's theory7

Conclusion8

References10

Cognitive Development and Language

Introduction

Cognitive development is a very interesting topic as it involves the study of cognition in relation with development of a human being. Cognition is a concept that has always fascinated me as it is an area of study that still has a lot to be discovered and understood. The brain is still a big mystery and thoughts, perceptions cognition are all concepts that interest me a lot. Cognitive development is closely linked with language. The paper attempts to study the relationship between cognitive development and language. The focus of the study will be on a child's cognitive development and language learning. I will try to investigate the process by which children increase their knowledge and skills to perceive, how they think, understand, then use those skills to solve practical everyday life.

I am underlining the importance in the field of cognitive aspects such as the relationship between language and thought (posed by Piaget, Vygotsky and Luria) and reflection on the meaning of the word (semantics), language structure (syntax). I further discussed the pragmatic component (contextual) and neurological processes involved in language development, which are approached from psycholinguistics and neuropsychology.

Discussion

Cognition

The word cognition means literally "the act of knowing or perceiving." The word cognition means literally "the act of knowing or perceiving." Therefore, when analyzing child cognitive development will try to investigate the process by which children increase their knowledge and skills to perceive, how they think, understand, then use those skills to solve practical everyday life (Clark, 2003). Thus, the study of the symbol, the sign and the semiotic function can not be assumed from a cognitive view, because they associate affective dimensions, evaluative, social and cultural who built and used.

At present, cognitive science has developed explicitly representational model of consciousness. This means that the reality of mental representations are regarded as a symbolic space in which the unfolding processes of thinking (Gelman, & Lucariello, 2002). Mental representations determine the processes of thinking. Recognition of the key role of mental representations in reasoning distinguishes cognitive science from other disciplines (Clark, 2003). Cognitive changes are studied mainly as derivatives operations of classification, inference, deduction. Traditionally, studies of cognitive development focus on the knowledge about objects and relations between them.



Language

Human capacity with which we are all born to learn and use at least one communication system. The language is predominantly a function of the left hemisphere. But also the right hemisphere has a bit of language (Bowerman, & Choi, 2001). Children can communicate long before they are able to use spoken words although spoken language is not the only method of communication, if you can consider as the most important because it allows human beings to exchange information, ideas attitudes and emotions (Gentner, & Boroditsky, 2001).

The empirical research and theoretical modeling of the child's language acquisition is an interdisciplinary project. Already the initial phase of research is characterized by contributions from psychology, ...