Adjunct Professor, Hanaa Wahba
Berger (2000) defined language as an organized way of combining symbols in order to communicate; it could be words or gestures. Research has demonstrated that intellectual or cognitive development is closely related with language development (Berger, 2000). Oswalt (2007) stated that infants and young children’s language development correlated to their brain development; as the infants’ brains continue to develop, they started to produce their spoken language. Oswalt (2007) continued
to explain that babies' and young children's language development is strongly influenced by social interaction. The more infants are exposed to language, the more opportunities they'll have to develop their communication skills.
to explain that babies' and young children's language development is strongly influenced by social interaction. The more infants are exposed to language, the more opportunities they'll have to develop their communication skills.
Piaget (1962) was a Swiss Psychologist who became interested in cognitive development in infants and children. Piaget (1962) defined intelligence as a form of equilibration. He described equilibration as “a compensation for an external disturbance” (Piaget, 1962, p.122). Moreover, Piaget eventually came to believe that intelligence is a form of adaptation. For instance, he profoundly theorized that as children interact with their physical and social
environments, they organize information into groups of interrelated ideas called "schemes" (p.122-123). Piaget (1962) mentioned that intelligence is developed at different stages in human life. These stages include: sensori-motor stage, pre-operational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage. Ochs (2010)
identified that babies have the ability to process and organize information and take an active role in their cognitive development. Kuhl (2010) who specialized in language acquisition and the neural bases of language investigated the process by which infants acquire language. In Kuhl’s study, she profoundly used neuroscience of the brain to help people better understand how children acquire language (Kuhl, 2010). It is demonstrated that in the past, the development of language was mainly based on theory and relied on behavioral observations. Currently, technology advancements have
become vital in the examination of the human brain (Kuhl, 2010).
Kuhl (2010) showed in her study that social interaction early in the infants’ life produces essential connections in the brains mechanism; it creates a “gate” that helps in learning the basic phonetic units of any language (p. 720). Kuhl (2010) elucidated that, “there is evidence that early mastery of the phonetic units of language requires learning in a social context" (p.713). Kuhl (2010) conducted a longitudinal study to test her hypothesis that social interaction rather than visual or audio, better influence an infant’s perception of language sounds. She used 9 month-old American infants who changed from perceiving universal language sounds to language specific patterns, and exposed them to a foreign language for a first time. Four native Mandarin speakers “tutors” socially interacted with the infants for 12 sessions over a 4-5 week period (p.721).
The tutors read and played with infants during the implicit learning sessions. The control group, were 9 month-old American infants exposed only to native English speakers. Upon completion of the sessions, infants were tested on their ability to discriminate Mandarin phonetic sounds using both behavioral and ERP methods.
Infants exposed to a live Mandarin speaker performed significantly better than infants who heard only English and performed equivalent to 10 month-old native speakers of Mandarin. The same experiment was conducted using television and audio rather than a live tutor. Infants exposed to Mandarin showed no learning- their performance was equivalent to the control group where infants were not exposed to Mandarin at all (Kuhl, 2010).
Furthermore, Kuhl (2010) demonstrated that in the first few months of life, infants perceive phonetic units of all languages. Miskimon (2010) threw light on Chomsky’s theory which focused on how children do not learn a language but naturally acquire it through an innate language device. Moreover, Chomsky, the American linguist and philosopher explained that all humans have universal grammar; by the age of three, children speak in fluent grammatical sentences (Miskimon, 2010). Theorists demonstrated that there is a “critical period” in which the brain is sensitive to particular domains of language acquisition including phonetic, lexical, and syntactic language (Kuhl, 2010, p. 723). Chomsky believed that the child doesn't learn the language before
puberty, he will not master the language and that’s what he called it “window of opportunity” (Miskimon, 2010). Same as Chomsky, Eric Lennberg, who was one of the most famous linguists, clarified that infants are born with the innate ability for acquiring language (Gordon, 2010).
It is through technological advancements that researchers can better understand how and when infant acquire language (Kuhl, 2010). Some of the more popular technologies used to detect neural activity in infants’ brain are: the Electroencephalogram or EEG, which detects neural waves in the brain as an infant is presented with auditory stimuli. Both Piaget and Kuhl believed that children learn language through interaction with their environment. However, Piaget (1962) mentioned that children can’t develop their
language unless they first actively construct their understanding of their own world. Comparing to Piaget, Khul (2010) clearly explained that language is developed early in infancy.
References
Berger, K. (2000). The developing person through childhood and adolescence. New York: Worth Publishers.
Gordon, T. (2007). Teaching young children a second language. Westport, CT and London: Praeger Publishers, 30-31.
Kuhl, K. P. (2010). Brain mechanisms in early language acquisition. Neuron, 67(5),
713-727.
Miskimon, R. (2010). Chomsky’s theory on language development in children. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/224250-chomskys-theory-on-language-development-in-children/
Ochs, A. (2010). Cognitive language development in infants. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/216711-cognitive-language-development-in-infants/
Oswalt, A. (2007). Infancy cognitive development: language development. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?&id=10114
Piaget, J. (1962). The stages of intellectual development of the child. Educational Psychology. 121-124.
environments, they organize information into groups of interrelated ideas called "schemes" (p.122-123). Piaget (1962) mentioned that intelligence is developed at different stages in human life. These stages include: sensori-motor stage, pre-operational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage. Ochs (2010)
identified that babies have the ability to process and organize information and take an active role in their cognitive development. Kuhl (2010) who specialized in language acquisition and the neural bases of language investigated the process by which infants acquire language. In Kuhl’s study, she profoundly used neuroscience of the brain to help people better understand how children acquire language (Kuhl, 2010). It is demonstrated that in the past, the development of language was mainly based on theory and relied on behavioral observations. Currently, technology advancements have
become vital in the examination of the human brain (Kuhl, 2010).
Kuhl (2010) showed in her study that social interaction early in the infants’ life produces essential connections in the brains mechanism; it creates a “gate” that helps in learning the basic phonetic units of any language (p. 720). Kuhl (2010) elucidated that, “there is evidence that early mastery of the phonetic units of language requires learning in a social context" (p.713). Kuhl (2010) conducted a longitudinal study to test her hypothesis that social interaction rather than visual or audio, better influence an infant’s perception of language sounds. She used 9 month-old American infants who changed from perceiving universal language sounds to language specific patterns, and exposed them to a foreign language for a first time. Four native Mandarin speakers “tutors” socially interacted with the infants for 12 sessions over a 4-5 week period (p.721).
The tutors read and played with infants during the implicit learning sessions. The control group, were 9 month-old American infants exposed only to native English speakers. Upon completion of the sessions, infants were tested on their ability to discriminate Mandarin phonetic sounds using both behavioral and ERP methods.
Infants exposed to a live Mandarin speaker performed significantly better than infants who heard only English and performed equivalent to 10 month-old native speakers of Mandarin. The same experiment was conducted using television and audio rather than a live tutor. Infants exposed to Mandarin showed no learning- their performance was equivalent to the control group where infants were not exposed to Mandarin at all (Kuhl, 2010).
Furthermore, Kuhl (2010) demonstrated that in the first few months of life, infants perceive phonetic units of all languages. Miskimon (2010) threw light on Chomsky’s theory which focused on how children do not learn a language but naturally acquire it through an innate language device. Moreover, Chomsky, the American linguist and philosopher explained that all humans have universal grammar; by the age of three, children speak in fluent grammatical sentences (Miskimon, 2010). Theorists demonstrated that there is a “critical period” in which the brain is sensitive to particular domains of language acquisition including phonetic, lexical, and syntactic language (Kuhl, 2010, p. 723). Chomsky believed that the child doesn't learn the language before
puberty, he will not master the language and that’s what he called it “window of opportunity” (Miskimon, 2010). Same as Chomsky, Eric Lennberg, who was one of the most famous linguists, clarified that infants are born with the innate ability for acquiring language (Gordon, 2010).
It is through technological advancements that researchers can better understand how and when infant acquire language (Kuhl, 2010). Some of the more popular technologies used to detect neural activity in infants’ brain are: the Electroencephalogram or EEG, which detects neural waves in the brain as an infant is presented with auditory stimuli. Both Piaget and Kuhl believed that children learn language through interaction with their environment. However, Piaget (1962) mentioned that children can’t develop their
language unless they first actively construct their understanding of their own world. Comparing to Piaget, Khul (2010) clearly explained that language is developed early in infancy.
References
Berger, K. (2000). The developing person through childhood and adolescence. New York: Worth Publishers.
Gordon, T. (2007). Teaching young children a second language. Westport, CT and London: Praeger Publishers, 30-31.
Kuhl, K. P. (2010). Brain mechanisms in early language acquisition. Neuron, 67(5),
713-727.
Miskimon, R. (2010). Chomsky’s theory on language development in children. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/224250-chomskys-theory-on-language-development-in-children/
Ochs, A. (2010). Cognitive language development in infants. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/216711-cognitive-language-development-in-infants/
Oswalt, A. (2007). Infancy cognitive development: language development. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?&id=10114
Piaget, J. (1962). The stages of intellectual development of the child. Educational Psychology. 121-124.