Cognitive Development and

Language

Marie Belmonte Brummer

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Principles of development
They are three general principles of development.

People develop at different rates. Some children may be more mature in their thinking and social
relationships than others.
Development is an orderly process, which means that abilities are developed in a logical order.
Development takes place gradually. It usually takes time for changes to happen.

Those developmental knowledge will help me set appropriate expectations for my students. I can better
understanding how their thinking process works and in which stage of development they are in. It will
allow me to match and adjust my teaching methods to their knowledge and abilities. I should not expect
my students to succeed in activities that would be considered beyond their capacities because they would
not be ready for it and would not understand them. Similarly, teaching students things that are too simple
will make them bored and will not develop their learning. I should put my students in situations where they
have to reach to understand, and provide them support along the way.
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How our brain works

Accumulation and transmission of information is done in the brain, in the form of electrical activity, via neurons.
Those specialized nerve cells receive signals from sense organs, control voluntary movement, and form
connections. They process information like small computers do.

Body movement and coordination

This area matures first, whereas the frontal
lobe that controls higher-order thinking
processes mature last.

Auditory functions
This area plays major roles in emotions,
judgment, and language. It does not fully
develop until high school years and later.

Body sensation

Parietal
Frontal
lobe
lobe
Temporal Occipital
lobe
lobe

Visual functions
Areas that control complex
senses such as vision and
hearing, develop second.

View of the different areas of the

cerebral cortex and their major
functions
This picture represents the cerebral cortex, the largest area of the brain. It is susceptible to environmental influences (activity,
culture, context), which is why parts of it mature at different rates. The various areas of the cortex must communicate and
work together to accomplish more complex functions like speaking or reading.

Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development

STAGE

APPROXIMATIVE AGE

TASKS THAT WOULD EXEMPLIFY

CHARACTERISTICS OF THAT AGE

Sensorimotor

0-2 years

Imitating others and remembering events.

Preoperational

Begins about the time the child starts

talking, to about 7 years old

Developing language and beginning to use

symbols.

Concrete operational

Begin about 1st grade, to about 11

years old

Resolving hands-on problems, organizing

things into categories and in series.

Formal operational

Adolescence to adulthood

Solving abstract problems in logical fashion

and considering multiple perspectives.

Vygotskys Sociocultural Perspective of Learning

Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist. He believed that cultural tools (including technical and psychological
tools, such as interactions with others and language) play very important roles in cognitive development.
To him, higher mental processes (such as thinking through problems) are first co-constructed during shared
activities between the child and another person, which means that both interact and negotiate to create
understanding or resolve a problem. These co-constructed processes are internalized by the child and become
part of that childs cognitive development (Gredler, 2009).
Children first start talking to themselves when alone or in a group without real interaction or conversation. Piaget
called this the collective monologue and he labeled all of the childrens self directed talk egocentric speech. As
they mature, children develop socialized speech. They learn to listen and exchange ideas.
Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky believed that language in the form of private speech guides cognitive development. The
child begins to use private speech to regulate their own behavior by first talking to himself, and finally using silent
inner speech to reach a solution (Karvop & Haywood, 1998).
Vygotskys beliefs about the role of private speech in cognitive development fit with the notion of proximal
development. The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the area where learning and development are
possible. It happens when the the child cannot solve a problem alone, but can be successful under adult guidance
or in collaboration with a more advanced peer, such as a parent or teacher.
This type of support for learning and problem solving has been called scaffolding. It can be gradually reduced as
the child takes over the guidance.
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Ways We Use Scaffolding in the Classroom

The role of education is to develop childrens learning, instead of filling students memories with facts. Our objective as teachers is
to guide and support our students learning while they build a firm understanding that will allow them to solve problems on their
own. In the classroom, we can reach this goal using scaffolding. What is it exactly?
According to the psychologist Vygotsky, much of childrens learning is done through scaffolding. It is assisted or mediated learning
by teachers, family members, peers or even software tools. What kind of scaffolding strategies can teachers offer in the
classroom?

Show students what we expect them to do, demonstrate skills and thought processes (thinking out loud for example),
Simplify the task, clarify the purpose, and give them clear directions
Connect new learning to students interests or prior learning
Teach students to use graphic organisers (graphs, charts, tables, categories, checklists) or starters (who, what, why, how,
what next?), research and language tools (wikis, dictionaries or computer searchers)
Do part of the problem, breaking the problem down into steps or walking them through the steps of a complicated problem
Give hints, clues, and reminders
Encourage students to set short-term goals and take small steps, give detailed feedback and allow revisions
Teach key vocabulary, provide examples, and ask questions that refocus their attention
Capitalize on dialogue and group learning

As students grow in competences, the key is to give less support and more opportunities for independent work. It has to be done at
the right time and in the right amount for students to thrive in this learning environment.
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