COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

WIRA KAFRYAWAN
P0600215002

POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM
HASANUDDIN UNIVERSITY
2015

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
For decades, researchers have debated and investigated the relationship
between language and cognitive development, especially in infancy, early
childhood and adolescence. Language is part of larger process of communication.
Language is a central importance in childrens development and vital for their
success at school and in the world beyond. Nevertheless, what is cognitive
development? Cognitive development is building up or construction of thoughts
ability to solve problems, memory and decisions making. Childrens cognitive
development focuses on children learning and processing information. It is to
develop the childrens thinking and organize the system of the childrens minds.
Cognitive development refers to the intellectual development of an individual
which involves language, mental imagery, thinking, reasoning, problem- solving and
memory development. Cognitive development is a gradual process that starts from
childhood till adulthood. Many people believe that infants do not have cognitive
skills, but according to psychologists infants also use their brain in a unique
thought process.
Cognitive skills can be developed over time from our sensory and motor
skills but do not depend on them. However, sensory and motor skills depend on
cognitive development to give the signal, meaning and direction. Cognitive
functions can bring the sensory and motor skills to a higher level and can be
improved with training. For a child, walking is a natural development, but
knowing which way is left and right, planning the specific route to walk, the speed
of walking to arrive at a particular place and time requires cognitive ability.
B. Problem Statement
What are the factors affecting cognitive development of children in
language?

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Cognitive Development
Cognitive processes involve changes in the childs thinking, intelligence,
and language. Cognitive developmental processes enable a growing child to
memorize a poem, imagine how to solve a math problem, come up with a creative
strategy, or speak meaningfully connected sentences.1
Cognition refers to thinking and memory processes, and cognitive
development refers to long-term changes in these processes. One of the most
widely known perspectives about cognitive development is the cognitive stage
theory of a Swiss psychologist named Jean Piaget. Piaget proposed that cognition
developed through distinct stages from birth through the end of adolescence. By
stages, he meant a sequence of thinking patterns with four key features: 2
1. They always happen in the same order.
2. No stage is ever skipped.
3. Each stage is a significant transformation of the stage before it.
4. Each later stage incorporated the earlier stages into itself.
Moreover, Cognitive development unfolds in a sequence of four stages.
Each of the stages is age-related and consists of distinctive ways of thinking:3
1. First stage: Sensorimotor.
Covering roughly the ages from birth to two years, the sensorimotor
stage is characterized by the childs growth in ability in simple perceptual
and motor activities. In this stage, infants construct an understanding of
the world by coordinating their sensory experiences (such as seeing and
1 John W. Santrock, 2006, Educational Psychology, Te McGraw-Hill
Companies, New York, p. 35.
2 Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton, 2009, Global Text: Educational
Psychology, Jacobs Foundation, Zurich, p. 47.
3 N. L. Gage and David C. Berliner, 1984, Educational Psychology Third
Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, London, p. 132.
2

hearing) with their motor action (reaching, touching) - hence the term
sensorimotor.
2. Second stage: Preoperational.
In the preoperational phase of this second stage, which covers the ages
from 2 to 4, children are busy using language to help themselves develop
concepts. Their concepts are very private, often false, and need to be
checked against reality. That symbolic function substage refers to the
young child that gains the ability to represent mentally an object that is
not present. This stretches the childs mental world to new dimension. In
the intuitive phase of the preoperational stage, which covers the ages
from 4 to 7, a child reaches conclusions that are based on vague
impressions and perceptual judgments that are not put into words. The
intuitive though substage refers to the children that begin to use primitive
reasoning and want to know the answers of all sorts of questions.
3. Third stage: Concrete Operations.
In the concrete operational stage, which covers roughly the ages from 7
to 11, the child becomes capable of various logical operations but only
with concrete things. Logical reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning, but
only in concrete situations.
4. Fourth stage: Formal Operations.
In the formal operational stage, which covers the ages from about 11 to
14, the students become capable of logical thinking with abstractions,
that is, with the possible as well as the here and now. Scientific
thinking of the hypothetico-deductive type is now possible. They can
draw conclusions, offer interpretations, and develop hypotheses. Their
thought has become flexible and powerful. At this stage, individuals
move beyond reasoning only about concrete experiences and think in
more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways.

Piaget differentiated three types of knowledge that must be present at all

stages of cognitive development: physical, logical-mathematical, and social:4
1. Physical knowledge is gained through hands-on interaction with the
environment. It deals directly with experience and perception of objects
and is very concrete in nature. This type of knowledge can only be
gained from personal, direct contact with environmental elements.
2. Logical-mathematical knowledge is an abstract reasoning that is
applicable beyond physical interaction with a concrete stimulus. While
physical knowledge is discovered, logical-mathematical knowledge is
created through actions. It can only be gained by repeated exposure and
interaction with multiple objects in multiple settings in order for mental
structures to be modified and created. Here, it is the manipulation of
objects in different patterns and contexts that allows for generalizations
and abstractions to be created.
3. Social knowledge can only be gained through interaction with others.
This type of knowledge is culture specific and its acquisition is based on
actions rather than physical perception of objects.
In actively constructing their world, children use schemas. A schema is a
concept of framework that exists in an individuals mind to organize and interpret
information. Schemas can range from the simple (such as a schema of car) to
complex (such as a schema for what constitutes the universe). A six-year-old who
recognizes that five small toy cars can be stored in an equal number of small
boxes is exercising a schema for number. Piaget interest in schemas focused on
how children organize and make sense out of their current experiences. Piaget
(1952) said that two processes are responsible for how children use and adapt
their schemas: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when a child
incorporates new knowledge into existing knowledge or when child uses their
existing schemes to make sense of events in their world that means the process of
4 Stacey T. Lutz and William G. Huitt, 2004, Connecting Cognitive
Development and Constructivism,
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/papers/cogdev.pdf, accessed on 18th
October 2015 14:57 WITA, p. 3.
4

changing what is perceived so that it fits present cognitive structures. That is, in
assimilation children assimilate the environment into a schema. Accommodation
occurs when a child adjusts to new information or when a child must change
existing schemes to respond to a new situation that means the process of changing
the cognitive structures so that they fit what is perceived .That is, children adjust
their schemas to the environment. Furthermore, children cognitively organize their
experiences. Organization is Piagets concept of grouping isolated behaviors into a
higher-order, more smoothly functioning cognitive system. Every level of thought
is organized. Continual refinement of this organization is an inherent part of
development. Therefore, organization occurs within stages of development as well
as across them.5
According to Piaget, organizing, assimilating, and accommodating can be
viewed as a kind of complex balancing act. In his theory, the actual changes in
thinking take place through the process of equilibration. Equilibration is a
mechanism that proposed to explain how children shift from one stage of thought
to the next. The shift occurs as children experience cognitive conflict, or a
disequilibrium, in trying to understand the world. Eventually, the child resolves
the conflict and reaches a balance, or equilibrium. If their present condition can
handle the new situation, their equilibrium is undisturbed. If it cannot, then some
intellectual work is necessary to restore the equilibrium.6
B. Language Development
Language is a form of communication whether spoken, written, or signed
that is based on a system of symbols. All human languages have some common
characteristics. These include infinite generativity and organizational rules.
Infinite generativity is the ability to produce an endless number of meaningful
sentences using a finite set of words and rules. 7
5 John W. Santrock, op.cit., p. 39
6 Anita E. Woolfolk, 2005, Educational Psychology, 9/E, Active Learning
Edition, Allyn & Bacon, Boston, p. 33
7 John W. Santrock, op.cit., p. 56
5

Language is highly ordered and organized. The organization involves five

systems of rules:8
1. Phonology is the sound system of the language, including the sounds that
are used and how they may be combined.
2. Morphology refers to the units of meaning involved in word formation.
3. Syntax involves the way words are combined to form acceptable phrases
and sentences.
4. Semantics refers to the meaning of words and sentences.
5. Pragmatics is the appropriate use of language in different context.
There is some evidence that the competence to acquire language is innate
(e.g., N. Chomsky, 1957; 1968). A language acquisition device has been posited,
present in all humans that are activated by exposure to spoken language. There are
several stages in developing language:9
1. The One-Word Stage
Language is the form of single-word utterances typically starts after the
first year of life, give or take a few months. Most of the early vocabulary
consists of referents. The first words are often overgeneralized because
meaning is so difficult for the young child to determine. Moreover, the
single-word utterances of a child are often thought to be holophrastic,
that is, one-word expressions of complex ideas, equivalent to the full
sentences of adults.
2. The Two-Word Stage
Eventually, and usually between 18 and 24 months of age, words get
combined. The child begins to speak the way adults write telegram. The
child also learns to use pivot words which are easily combined with other
words. However, the child communicates quite well, though by means of
telegraphic sentences. The range of semantic relations displayed by a
typical child in this stage is shown below:

8 Ibid.
9 N. L. Gage and David C. Berliner, op.cit., p. 151
6

Semantic Relation
Identification
Location
Repetition
Nonexistence
Negation
Possession
Attribution

Examples
see doggie
book there
more milk
allgone thing
not wolf
my candy
big car

Semantic Relation
Agent-Action
Action-Object
Agent-Object
Action-Location
Action-Recipient
Action-Instrument
Question

Examples
mama walk
hit you
mama book
sit chair
give papa
cut knife
where ball

3. More-Than-Two-Word Stage
When two-, three-, and four-word chains are formed, a new stage of
linguistic development begins and marked by the introduction of
inflection. In English, an inflection is an ending of a word stem that
expresses grammatical relationship. However, they overregularize their
language (go= goed). This is also evidence of the childs growing
cognitive ability. During this stage, the child loves nonsense (Topsyturvies) such as rooster goes meow that means sources of hilarity to the
child. And they are ways to play with the cognitive representation of the
world and the linguistic system describes that world.
Language acquisition advances past a number of milestones. There is a great
deal of variation in the ages at which children can reach these milestones and still
be considered within the normal range of language development. There are
several periods of ages in childs development:10
Age Period
0 to 6 months

6 to 12 months
12 to 18 months
18 to 24 months
2 years

Childs Development/ Behavior

Cooing
Discrimination of vowels
Babbling present by end of period
Babbling expands to include sounds of spoken language
Gestures used to communicate about objects
First words spoken
Understand vocabulary 50+ words on the average
Vocabulary increases to an average of 200 words
Two-word combinations
Vocabulary rapidly increases
Correct use of plurals

10 John W. Santrock, op.cit., p. 62

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3 to 4 years

5 to 6 years
6 to 8 years

9 to 11 years
11 to 14 years

15 to 20 years

Use of past tense

Use of some prepositions
Mean length of utterances increases to 3 to 4 morphemes a

sentence
Use of yes/ no questions and wh- questions
Use of negatives and imperatives
Increased awareness of pragmatics
Vocabulary reaches an average of about 10.000 words
Coordination of simple sentences
Vocabulary continues to increase rapidly
More skilled use of syntactical rules
Conversational skills improve
Word definitions include synonyms
Conversational strategies continue to improve
Vocabulary increases with addition of more abstract words
Understanding of complex grammar forms
Increased understanding of function a word plays in a

sentence
Understanding of metaphor and satire
Can understand adult literary works

Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to think at a conscious level and

comment about the sounds in words, the ordering of words in spoken or written
sentences, and the selection of the most appropriate linguistic form to convey a
given meaning. This metalinguistic awareness of language emerges in most
children by about age 6.11

CHAPTER III
DISCUSSION
Biological Factors and Environmental Factors
Biological factors underlie the development of the brain, gains in the height
and weight, changes in motor skills, and pubertys hormonal changes. Biological
11 N. L. Gage and David C. Berliner, op.cit., p. 158.
8

factors have great relation to the cognitive development of children in developing

language.
(a) Sense organs.
Sense organs are important because they receive stimuli from the
environment. Their proper development helps in receiving correct
stimuli and the correct concepts are formed. Defective sense organs
collect defective stimuli and as a result wrong concepts can be formed
and the cognitive development will not be perfect.
(b) Intelligence
It has been seen that cognitive development of intelligent children is
better. Children with low Intelligence Quotient are not able to receive
stimuli

from

the

environment

properly, thus

their

cognitive

development lags behind. Intelligence affects all mental capacities.

(c) Heredity
Cognitive development is also influenced by the hereditary traits; one
gets from his parents. Their development is similar to their parental
cognitive development.
(d) Maturation
As the child gets matured he gets more interactive with his
environment. For a good cognitive development interaction with
environment is very necessary which the child does with the help of his
mental and motor maturation. They help directly in the development of
cognition.
Whereas, environmental factors involve changes in the childs relationship
with other people, changes in emotion, and changes in personality. Environmental
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factors also have great relation to the cognitive development of children in

developing language.
(a) Learning opportunities
The opportunity a child gets to learn affects the cognitive development.
The more opportunities he gets the better is the cognition, because he
will be able to add to his mental capacities by learning through these
opportunities.
(b) Economic status
Economic state of the family also helps in the development of
cognition. Children from better economic status get more opportunities
and better training and it helps in cognitive development.
(c) Play
Play is also quite important in developing cognition. Through play
activities, the child interacts with the environment, receives stimuli and
responds to them.
(d) Various types of stimuli
As child grows, he gets various stimuli from environment through his
senses and perceives their meanings. These stimuli form concepts and
symbols. Parents and other people around the child could assist him get
the right meanings of stimuli. T1 instructions and motivation help in
cognitive development of the child. The child gets these stimuli from
his toys and activities like identifying different color, shapes, smell, and
sounds, etc.
(e) Family and society

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Family is very important from the point of view of providing the child
hereditary traits, which are the of development family also providing
opportunities to learn, good encourage atmosphere to the child if the
family provides such atmosphere to the child in which he maximum
stimuli from the environment, would be encouraged to learn and with
his environment. His cognitive development will be good.

CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION
Biological factors and environmental factors have important role of in
childrens cognitive development related to the development of language. Every
child has different genetic inheritance. Therefore, the higher quality of genetic
inheritance children own the better their cognition develops. Besides, if
environment provides encouraging atmosphere, facilities gaining knowledge like
good schools, librarian's healthy recreation facilities, health facilities etc. to the
children, they will develop possibility and good cognitive capacity. So we see the
environment and circumstance, both play an important role in the development of
cognition of the child.

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REFERENCES
Gage, N. L. and Berliner, David C. 1984. Educational Psychology Third Edition.
Houghton Mifflin Company: London
Lutz, Stacey T. and Huitt, William G. 2004. Connecting Cognitive Development
and Constructivism. http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/papers/cogdev.pdf.
Accessed on 18th October 2015 14:57 WITA.
Santrock, John W. 2006. Educational Psychology. Te McGraw-Hill Companies:
New York
Seifert, Kelvin and Sutton, Rosemary. 2009. Global Text: Educational
Psychology. Jacobs Foundation: Zurich
Woolfolk, Anita E. 2005. Educational Psychology, 9/E, Active Learning Edition.
Allyn & Bacon: Boston

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