2.2.6

Cognitivism

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Cognitivism

Cognitive theory essentially states that children need a cognitive understanding in order to use language. This essentially states that children cannot linguistically articulate what they do not understand.

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Theory in practice - verb learning

  • If you think about when children acquire different verbs and their inflections, the easiest are learned first – the higher complexity, the longer it takes to learn.
    • For example, the notion of irregularity of verbs is quite a complex idea, so they are acquired later on in development.
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Piaget

  • Within Piaget’s theory, he states that children start life in a very egocentric way. In other words, they feel that the world revolves around them.
  • This is supported by the notion of object permanence, which essentially means that when a child cannot see something, to them, it does not exist (they do not grasp the concept of object permanence).
  • This is often seen when a child starts crying when a primary caregiver moves out of sight.
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Vygotsky

  • Another key cognitive theorist is Vygotsky.
  • Vygotsky’s theory proposes that there exists a cognitive deficiency – a gap in knowledge. He calls this gap the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and he states that a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) is needed to fill the gap.
  • Vygotsky’s work inspired Bruner to form his LASS.
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Challenges to cognitivism

  • Children who have learning difficulties and cognitive issues still learn to use language even expressing concepts beyond their understanding
  • Apes share a similar cognitive development as humans in the first years of life, but do not acquire language.
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Exam technique

  • In the exam, you should look for:
    • Children trying to make sense of something on their own.
    • Children not using certain language to express a concept which is complex/they are unlikely to understand

Jump to other topics

1Language Levels

2Language, The Individual & Society

3Language Diversity & Change

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