TOPIC 8: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

8.1 Introduction
In the previous lecture we looked at social development. In our eighth lecture we will
be looking at cognitive development. Cognitive development is the process through
which children acquire the ability to reason, think and process information. You will be
introduced to the following cognitive theories of development.

i. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and

ii. Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this topic you should be able to:

 Define cognitive development
 Explain cognitive development as conceptualized by Piaget
 Explain how intelligence develops across stages of development.
 Explain Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
 Explain Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development.

8.2 Factors Affecting Intelligence and Cognitive Development

i. Experience
ii. Heredity – Seems to contribute more to intelligence than environment.
ii. Age – There is an improvement of intelligence Quotient score until the late teens or early
twenties.
iii. Culture – Responses in psychological tests are influenced by the culture in which the
individual lives, (e.g., speed factor in a test may vary with where one comes from).
iv. Socio-economic Status – Deprivation and malnutrition are common in low socio-economic
set-ups, and this adversely affects the development of intelligence.
v. Rural-Urban Setting – Differences may be due to the nature of the test (bias) or exposure.

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8.3 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1986. As a child he was extremely brilliant. By the age of
10 he had published his first scientific paper. He received his PhD by the age of 21. He was an
early constructivist theorist in psychology. He believed that children actively construct their own
knowledge of the environment using what they already know to interpret new events and
objects. His research focused on how children acquire knowledge as they develop.

Jean Piaget divided cognitive development into four major stages. He assumed that children’s
thinking was qualitatively different at various stages of development.

Jean Piaget viewed intelligence as consisting of two interrelated processes; organization and
adaptation. People organize their thoughts so that they make sense, separating the more
important thoughts from the less important ones, as well as connecting one idea to another. At
the same time, people adapt their thinking to include new ideas as new experiences provide
additional information. Piaget proposed that intellectual development is towards an increased
emancipation from the “here and now” of the immediate, concrete, present, to a conception of
the world in increasingly symbolic and abstract terms.

Piaget’s Cognitive Processes

Schemas Actions or mental representations that organize knowledge

Assimilation Incorporating new information into existing schemas

Accommodation Adjusting existing schemas to fit new information and experiences

Organization Grouping isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order system

Equilibration A shift, a resolution of conflict to reach a balance

Cognitive development takes place though the process of assimilation, accommodation and
Equilibration. Through the process of assimilation, children mold new information to fit in their
existing schemes. Schemes are sets of physical actions, concepts, or theories people use to
acquire information about their world. For example, when the child who is familiar with a dog
sees a goat for the first time he/she will refer to it as a dog. The process of changing schemata is
called accommodation. Through the process of accommodation, children change their schemes
to restore a state of equilibrium. Equilibration is the tendency to keep our cognitive structures in
balance.

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 Piaget’s Cognitive Development Stages

 Sensori-motor
 Ages birth - 2: the infant uses his senses and motor abilities to understand
the world
 Preoperation
 Ages 2-7: the child uses mental representations of objects and is able to use
symbolic thought and language
 Concrete operations
 Ages 7-11; the child uses logical operations or principles when solving
problems
 Formal operations
 Ages 12 up; the use of logical operations in a systematic fashion and with
the ability to use abstractions

Sensory-Motor Stage (Infancy) Birth to 2 years

Infant’s thought is called sensory-motor intelligence because babies think with their actions; using
their senses and motor abilities to understand the world. The infant uses senses and motor
abilities to understand the world. Through actions such as sucking and grasping, children
understand the world around them. This period begins with reflexes and ends with complex
coordination of sensory-motor skills. During this stage, the intelligence of a child lacks a reference
to the past and future (the here and now) and there is no differentiation between “me” and “not
me” (egocentrism). The child lacks object permanence, and develops schemas which are
recurrent patterns of actions e.g. grasping and sucking. During this stage the child acquires two
basic competences:

i. Goal-directed behavior (e.g., crawling around to look for a doll); and

ii. Object permanence.

Pre-Occupational Stage (Early Childhood) 2-7 years

Early Childhood: Cognitive (2-6 years)

 Most of the brain is functioning by age 2. There is a greater speed of thought –

essentially more efficient information processing. These changes allow for children to
think before they act and be less impulsive.

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  The maturation of the brain allows for better physical coordination, such as improved
speed and grace. Fine motor skills such as writing significantly improve at this age as
well.
 Cognition develops rapidly from age 2-6, as does language. Many 3- to 6-year-olds
are in school. Research suggests that there is rapid development and great learning
potential in the early years, which makes preschool a valuable resource.

The child uses symbolic thinking (including language) to understand the world. Thinking is based
on immediate comprehension and perception rather than logic. They cannot figure out the logical
principles of conversation, classification, and gradual change. Children learn many aspects of
language including pronunciation so rapidly during childhood, which leads psychologists to
wonder if this was the critical period for language development. However, while these are the
best years of learning to talk, language skills continue to develop at a later stages.
Most thinking is egocentric, which means that the child thinks of himself/herself as the centre of
the world. During this period, there is development of a reasonably well-ordered world of ideas.
Higher order schemas called operations starts to develop, which enable an internal manipulation
of ideas. However, the child still lacks the idea of conversation, and is confused by size and shape
of objects.
By this time language becomes a useful means of understanding the environment and gaining
new knowledge. This is the basic way of developing symbolic thought. The child expresses
animism, a belief that non-living objects are in fact alive and human, or the tendency to attribute
life to inanimate objects. They also belief in artificialism, a belief that all objects, whether living
or non living are made in the same way, usually by human beings. Thinking tends be very rigid.
There are many similarities in the nature and sequence of cognitive development in all children.
However, there are differences as well, especially in the child’s home environment and how the
parents interact with their children. Middle class children develop language skills faster than
lower class children. The community can have an important influence on pre-school learning.
Children who play with other children and meet a variety of people develop different skills than
the children who live in isolated communities where they play alone. The interaction between
child, home, community and early education, is probably the crucial factor that determines the
cognitive growth of any particular child.

Learning activity 8.1

i How does symbolism liberate a child’s thinking?

ii Attributing human qualities to inanimate objects is called________________
Answers:
i It enables him/her to think about past and future events.

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 ii Animism

Preoperational Thought

 Children display preconceptual thought at the age of 3 year i.e. they do not display true
concepts. They form preconcepts, i.e., the mental elements they combine do not have
defining properties or relationships that are hierarchical.
 Achievements are made in symbolic thought.
 Attains ability for deferred imitation and symbolization.
 Can imitate people and events observed in the past. This ability represents a combination
of visual image, memories and overt action.
 They also achieve symbolic play, which includes images and actions observed in the past.
 Mental symbols become detached from ties to actual experience.
 Child can sort objects and events using mental rather than physical actions/properties.
 Thought is not based on logical reasoning.
 Toddlers believe that everyone else think in the same way as they do i.e., they are
egocentric in their thoughts.
 Distinction between classes of objects are unclear.
 At 4, they have rundimentally understanding of classes of objects, people and events.
 They become increasingly able to classify objects into appropriate groups. For example
they can classify things by:
a) Colour
b) Shape
c) Size
d) Functions e.g. things to eat and things to wear.
They have difficulties in arranging things into subclasses and in a hierarchy e.g., if they are asked
if there are more children than boys or vice versa, they will have difficulties in focusing on the
general rather than the subclass. Their ability to understand class inclusion is limited. They don’t
understand that something can be classified simultaneously into more than one category; e.g. the
teacher may also be a mother and a wife.

Seriation/Ordinal Relation

 This is limited within preschool years. School age children are more successful in
this one.

Conservation

 They are yet to acquire the concept of conservation i.e. of substance, length,
number, area, volume, and quantity. This is because they are bound by
preconceptions, that is, things are as they seem. If appearance changes, then the
thing itself is changed.
 They don’t understand reversibility in thought.
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  Maturity plays a big role in understanding basic concepts. Thus, drill may make
little success. However, games, activities, and materials that focus the child’s
attention on classification, seriation, and conservation problems will facilitate the
understanding of these concepts but acquisition is gradual.

Animism

 Tendency to ascribe feelings, intensions, and thoughts to inanimate objects e.g. talk of
the chair as making him/her trip and fall. This is because knowledge on properties of
things is limited.

Spatial ability

 Understanding of spatial relations is limited (e.g. distance)

Understanding of Time

 Understanding of time is limited.

 Time is related to the sequence of events of the day e.g. daddy comes after the child
has eaten/or woken up.
 Use concepts related to time e.g. all day, yesterday, tomorrow, and today, next week
etc.
Quantity/Number

Can discriminate between more and less before they can respond differently to the words.

 Concepts of quantity or number are derived first from concrete experiences e.g., they
can grasp the perceptual difference between a plate with 6 cookies and one with 3
without counting.
 Concept of number is limited even when they can count. Counting is useful skill in
understanding number.
 Although they can count, the understanding of what each number means is absent.
 It consists of memorization.
 Concept of numbers and quantity develops gradually through repeated concrete
experiences with objects and people.
 Abstract activities involving pencil and paper and number tasks are inappropriate at
this stage.

Causality

 Understanding of causality begins in infancy e.g., infant knows if he/she cries the mother
will give attention.

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  Preschool children approach causality from a personal, subjective, egocentric perspective
e.g. “the moon comes out at night because it knows that we need light”.

Facilitating Cognitive Development

 Children think and reason differently from adults. Thus, they learn differently.
 They learn through a concrete, play-oriented approach.
 Teachers should prepare an appropriate environment for learning.
 Should serve as resource person to learning.
 Direct learning process.
 Should create challenges to extend children’s learning and thinking.

Concrete Operational Stage (Late Childhood) 7-11 years

Children are in Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development known as concrete operations.
During this stage, children develop ability to understand logical principles that apply to concrete,
external objects. The child understands and applies logical operations or principles to help
interpret scientific experiences or perceptions. Children can see things from another’s point of
view – decentering, that is, they become less egocentric and rigid in their thinking. They can
reason more easily and are less fooled by appearances.

The child can think abstractly about aspects of reality such as number and substance. However,
the child’s abstract thinking must be related to concrete events hence not entirely abstract. By
now the child understands the basic principle of conservation – the concept that the total
quantity, number or amount of something remains the same (is preserved) no matter what the
shape or configuration. For example, in the conservation of volume, if you fill two glasses of
equal size with equal amounts of water and transfer the water from one glass into a taller and
thinner glass, the child will perceive the amount as remaining the same despite the change in
height.

Seriation (the ability to order objects in a logical progression, such as from shortest to tallest) and
classification (sorting items by two or more attributes, such squares and rectangles) skills
develop. They can use abstract symbols for example, mathematical signs and letters. They are
also developing complex reasoning skills. However, they still need physical objects to solve some
problems (e.g., counters to solve mathematical problems). They understand that non-living
objects do not have feelings.

Formal Operational Stage (Adolescence) 12 years onwards

The development of cognitive and intellectual abilities does not continue throughout the entire
period of one’s life. It begins to slow down in rate during the early teens and reaches its peak
somewhere in the middle twenties. Nearly the first third of intelligence is developed by age 3.

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The second third of intelligence is developed by 6-10 years and the remaining third by 16-18
years. After that it develops at almost a flat rate. The experience gained by older individuals
compensates the decline in intelligence if any. Given that much of our intelligence develops in
childhood, early experience is very vital for depressing or accelerating the development of
intelligence.
The adolescent or adult is able to think about abstract and hypothetical concepts. Thinking
becomes logical and scientific. The individual becomes capable of hypothetical and deductive
thinking e.g., he/she can form a hypothesis, test it, observe the results, and draw conclusions.
They can now think about all possibilities, work systematically, hold several ideas in mind, and
combine them logically, e.g., If Kamau is taller than Juma, and Juma is shorter than Ouma, who
is the shortest of the three? There is also development of very strong idealism i.e., strong sense
of perfection that may not be possible.

Learning activity 8.3

i. What did Piaget discover about the way children perceive things?
ii. What stage of cognitive development does the child enter in middle childhood?
iii. What is meant by conservation?
iv. What is reversibility?
Answers:
i Children perceive things in a way fundamentally different from adults.
ii The concrete operational stage.
iii Conservation is the child’s ability to see objects as remaining equal in quantity in
spite of changes in shape or form, as long nothing is added or taken away.
iv The child’s ability to see that an operation can go both ways.

Educational implications
The cognitive theory of development is very relevant to the teaching-learning process because
it explains how children learn and process information at different levels of cognitive
development. Children in different developmental stages have different abilities and are
different in the way they process information during learning. With this in mind, as a teacher
you can facilitate effective learning through:
 Appreciating the need to wait for cognitive maturity before introducing certain concepts.
As a teacher you should not ask children to learn something they are not developmentally
ready for.
 Considering the child’s level of cognitive development when formulating lessons and
curricula.
 Appreciating the fact that children develop at their own rate. A child may enter and leave
a particular stage at different times other than the age limits proposed by Piaget. In
addition, some children in the same stage may be more advanced than others.
 Helping children to develop their thinking and reasoning abilities.

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  Providing children with opportunities to explore and try new things, especially in the
concrete operational stage.
 Allowing children to experiment for better understanding.
 Actively involving children in learning. Children develop their reasoning through
experiences that stimulate thinking. Things like games, social interactions, puzzles,
problems and experimentation are experiences that stimulate thinking and learning in
children.
 Using concrete examples when teaching elementary/primary school children.
 Providing concrete examples to children in secondary school who are in transition from
concrete operational stage to the formal stage.

Paget’s theory on cognitive development inspired major curriculum changes in the 1960s and
1970s. It had a major impact on preschool education. The theory provided a theoretical rationale
for constructivist, discovery, inquiry, and problem oriented teaching approaches in modern
education.

8.4 Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Lev Vygotsky’s (1896-1934) theory stresses the relationship between the individual and society.
The child is influenced by the culture in which he/she is raised. He believed that the individual’s
pattern of thinking is a product of cultural institutions and social activities. Adult society has a
responsibility to share its collective knowledge with younger and less advanced members in order
to promote intellectual development. Through social activities’ children learn to incorporate
cultural tools such as language, counting systems, writing, art, and other social inventions into
their thinking. Cognitive development occurs as children internalize the production of their social
interactions. According to his theory, both the history of the child’s culture and the history of the
child’s own experiences are important in understanding cognitive development.

In Vygotsky’s view, knowledge is not individually constructed. Social interactions with more
knowledgeable peers and adults provide the main vehicles for intellectual development.
Children are born with elementary innate mental abilities such as perception, attention and
memory which are transformed into higher functions with the assistance of more knowledgeable
members of society.

Language is the most important psychological tool that influences cognitive development. The
child’s intellectual development is contingent/dependent on mastering the social means of
thought, that is, language.

He talked of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) which is the gap between the cognitive
activities children can do alone and what they can do with the assistance of others.

Implication

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  Learning is a social collaborative process with others
 Learning awakens a variety of developmental processes that are able to operate only
when the child is interacting with people in his/her environment and in collaboration with
his/her peers.
 Provision of opportunities for children to collaborate on learning activities together.
 Teachers should provide sufficient instructional support (cues, suggestions, assistance) to
help children perform challenging tasks. This is what is known as scaffolding in other
terms.
E-tivity

Number 8.1

Title Cognitive development

Purpose To be able to demonstrate an understanding changes in cognitive development.

Summary of Go through the power point slides and watch the video clip in the URL

overall task https://youtu.be/IhcgYgx7aAA or https://youtu.be/8I2hrSRbmHE on topic 8 respond to the

assignment for the week.

Spark/simulator

Individual task Log on into the LMS and go through the reading assignments and use the knowledge to respond
to the learning task for the week.

Interaction begins i. Give an overview of the topic through power point slides.
ii. Feedback on learner responses on the task

e-moderator i. Ensure that learners are focused on the contents and context of discussion.
interventions ii. Responding to students’ concerns
iii. Stimulate further learning and generation of new ideas

iv. Feedback on learning progress

Schedule and time Two hours

Next

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 8.5 Summary
 Cognitive development shaped by experience.
 Cognitive development is the growth and changes in thinking, memory,
perceiving, planning, and reasoning which occur throughout the life span.
 Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development looks at an individual as capable of
adapting and organizing his/her experience.
 According to Piaget, cognitive development proceeds through four stages in which
thinking is qualitatively different.
 Vygotsky argued that cognitive development is facilitated by interaction between the
child and other more able members of society.

8.6 Revision Questions

1. Explain the concept of egocentrism during childhood.
2. Explain factors that shape cognitive and intellectual development of children.
3. What is the role of schemas and operations in cognitive development?
4. Explain how Jean Piaget looks at cognitive development.
5. Discuss cognitive development as perceived by Vygotsky.
6. Compare and contrast Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of cognitive development.

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TOPIC 9: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

9.1 Introduction
This topic covers the process of language development. Language is the means of
communication between human beings. Although the ability to use language is innate
in humans, the language itself has to be learned. Children acquire whatever language(s)
they hear spoken around them. Language development has a direct impact on the pace and
extent to which other aspects of development are acquired. This is because language forms a
means of teaching by the adults and older children. A child who has good language skills will
develop faster in the social and cognitive aspects.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this topic you should be able to:

 Explain how language is learned (acquired).
 Describe the stages of language development.
 Explain how various factors influence language development.
 Explain language development through the various stages of development.

To become verbally competent, the child must learn:

 The sounds of a language, the rules for combining them to make words, along with
stress and intonation patterns (phonology),
 The meaning of words (semantics),
 The way words are combined to form phrases and sentences in language (Syntax; e.g.,
putting together nouns, verbs, articles, prepositions, etc.)
 The strategies for using language appropriately in different contexts (pragmatics). For
example, turn-taking rules is one strategy speakers use to structure speech and for
maintaining social interaction.
 Vocabulary (lexicon)

9.2 Theories of language development

Linguistics and psychologists have proposed different theories explaining how language is
acquired and the factors that influence its acquisition. Some of the theories are discussed below:
i. Conditioning through reinforcement plays a significant role in language development (B.F
Skinner). For example, if the child is rewarded after pronouncing a word correctly, he will
tend to repeat it.
ii. Observation or imitation plays a great role in the learning of language (Albert Bandura).

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 iii. Maturationists believe language is the unfolding of an innate biological programme that
everyone is “hard wired” to develop.
iv. Heredity plays a crucial role in language development. Some theorists in linguistics (e.g.,
Chomsky, 1976) emphasize genetic factors in language development. Noam Chomsky
rejected behaviorist assumptions about language as a learned habit and proposed instead
to explain language comprehension in terms of mental grammars consisting of rules.
Theorists holding this view argue that human beings are predisposed (have an inborn
capability) to acquire language. The innate skills that accomplish this task are sometimes
called Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Language structure depends on innate,
biological characteristics of the human mind.

Evidence for LAD comes from several facts:

i. All healthy infants acquire language without explicit training.
ii. No other species of animals acquire language in the same way as humans. It is unique to
human beings only.
iii. Certain areas of the brain become clearly specialized for language functions during
childhood.
iv. Language develops in the same way across cultures.
v. All languages have certain features in common.
vi. The sequence of language acquisition is similar in all cultures

NB: Development of language is closely associated with development of speech organs;

mouth, throat, muscles, tongue, lips, larynx, and the ability of the child to associate sounds or
words with meaningful events, objects and persons.

9.3 Factors Associated with Language Development

i. Health - Illness may delay the development of speech organs and impair language
development.
ii. Intelligence Level - High intelligence may imply better linguistic competence.
iii. Socio-economic Status – individuals from high socio-economic families tend to be better,
may be due to exposure to television, media, early training, toys etc.
iv. Sex - Girls are superior in language development than boys.
v. Family - Stimulating and rewarding family environment can enhance language
development. Many members of the family will positively influence language
development.
vi. Acquainting children with different concrete objects and teaching words.
vii. Social Interactions - Encouraging children to play and to communicate with playmates
verbally etc.
viii. Play
ix. Schooling.

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9.4 Stages in Language Development
Language development improves as the child proceeds through various stages of development.
Baby talk has been recognized as a special language used all over the world to communicate with
babies; mothers and babies coordinate their conversation even before the baby can utter a single
sound. How well a child communicates depends on how ready and willing the family is to listen.
Language skills begin to develop at birth, as babies communicate with noises and gestures, and
practice babbling. Infants understand a few words at the end of the first year and say a few words
at the beginning of the second year. By age two, all toddlers can combine two words to make a
simple sentence. The parents’ ability to tune themselves into their infant’s level of
communicative growth and provide appropriate stimulation is more important than whether the
infant walks or talks early.

9.4.1 Infancy (0-2 years)

Speech readiness appears from 12 months onwards. The child understands language before
he/she can use it, and when he/she starts using it he/she comprehends more than he/she can
speak. In other words comprehension of language precedes production of language.

Period and time during which specific vocalization emerge

Period Vocalization and Language

Newborn Reflexive communication which includes cries, movements, and facial
expressions.
2 months Produces cooing, a sound which is vowel like in character.
6 months Babbling, a sound resembling one syllable utterances or vowels e.g. ma,
ma, da, da, a, ta. etc.
10 months i. Comprehends simple words and intonation of language.
ii. Makes specific vocalization that can be understood by those who know
the child very well.
iii. Appears to imitate sounds, although unsuccessfully.
12 months i. First recognizable words appear, uses one word to express a
complete thought (Holophrase speech).
ii. Vocabulary is about 3 words
18 months i. Vocabulary is about 3 to 50 words

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 ii. There is combination of words into two-word sentence (telegraphic
speech – e.g., “mommy come”). The two words express a complete
thought (leaving out connecting words e.g. articles and prepositions).
24 months i. Vocabulary is more than 50 words.
ii. The infant can name almost everything in their environment. He/she
can join two words to make a phrase.
Children follow the same sequence in the development of language but there are individual
variations in relation to the time at which various vocalizations appear.

Learning activity 9.1

i What term is given to infants’ one-word sentences?

ii In the second year, infants graduate to___________________ speech.
iii How do we know that children do not learn to speak simply by imitating adult
speech?
Answers:
i Holophrases
ii Telegraphic; two-and three-word speech sentences that exclude some parts of
speech
iii They often make their own phrases

9.4.2 Early Childhood

Language expands rapidly and children become more competent in understanding and using
language. The child becomes more competent in understanding and using language as he/she
learns new words every day. By the age of 2½ he/she uses sentences consisting of two to five
words. He/she repeats adult language or what is called echolaliac speech. By the age of 3 years
vocabulary is about 100 words, and grammatical mistakes are common. At 3 years he/she begins
to use a few prepositions (e.g., on, in, under etc.), Copulas (e.g., is, are, I, etc.) and inflections
(parts of words that can be changed e.g., ed, ing, est etc.). By age 4, the child’s language is well
established though different from that of adults in style, form, or grammar. By the age of 4,
vocabulary is about 1,500 words. By the age of 5, vocabulary is about 2,000 words. By the age of
six years the child becomes capable of using grammar correctly.

9.4.3 Middle or Late Childhood

Language development is remarkable during this stage. Vocabulary and proper use of grammar
expands further due to exposure to schooling and experience. The child understands the many
ways a language can be used (e.g. for expression, communication etc.). At the beginning of this
stage, they define words by associating them with actions/objects and then later they can use
words in appropriate sentences. Towards the end of the stage they can use words in their

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abstract form. The child at this level may be introduced to a second language in school other than
his/her mother tongue.
9.4.4 Adolescence
In adolescence, language development continues as the individual matures. Vocabulary expands
greatly and the understanding of grammar progresses. Adolescents are able to use language to
express their deepest emotions and thoughts. Adolescents learn to communicate in
figurative/metaphorical as well as literal ways and adjust their use of language to a variety of
social contexts.

The acquisition of grammar and vocabulary generally progresses through gradual stages of
improvement throughout the entire life span. The language tends to be more creative than that
of middle childhood. They can use language more abstractly and creatively. They use language
which adults may find difficult to comprehend e.g. ‘cool’, ‘spaced out’, ‘supuu’, ‘bunda’, ‘aire
aire’, ‘ucha’ ‘mathe’ ‘fathe’ etc. This comes as a result of the development of linguistic
inventiveness and because they want something distinct and unique to them.

E-tivity

Number 9.1

Title Language development

Purpose To be able to demonstrate an understanding changes in cognitive development.

Summary of Go through the power point slides and watch the video clip in the URL
overall task https://youtu.be/ZudYD2vNeqY & https://youtu.be/BSK2OhEFx0M on topic 9 respond to the
assignment for the week.

Spark/simulator

Individual task Log on into the LMS and go through the reading assignments and use the knowledge to respond
to the learning task for the week.

Interaction begins i. Give an overview of the topic through power point slides.
ii. Feedback on learner responses on the task

e-moderator i. Ensure that learners are focused on the contents and context of discussion.

interventions ii. Responding to students’ concerns

iii. Stimulate further learning and generation of new ideas

16
 iv. Feedback on learning progress

Schedule and time Two hours

Next

9.5 Summary
 Language is mainly learned through reinforcement and reward.
 Language is an innate characteristic of human beings.
 Conditioning and imitation are also powerful means of learning language.
 Brain development is an important precursor to language development.
 Language during adolescence is a deviation from expectation due to identity crisis.

9.6 Revision Questions

1. Why is language important to human beings?
2. Which are the various means through which language is learned?
3. What factors influence language development and how?
4. How does the identity crisis of adolescence affect language development?

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