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PACIFIC INTERCONTINENTAL COLLEGE PHILIPPINES
LOT 20 BLOCK 30 SILVER CORNER, MARBLE ROAD, PILAR VILLAGE, LAS PIÑAS CITY
Tel. No.(632)475 7710/Telefax;(632)872 0773
Email: pic1@pic.edu.ph /http//www.pic.edu.ph
The Role of Language in Cognitive Development
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject
Education in Community Development
(EDMGT 611)
Presented to:
ESTEBAN G. BATALAO
Professor
Submitted by:
IRENE S. MACALALAD
Santa Rosa 3
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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
The Role Of Language in Cognitive Development
Piaget vs Vygotsky
Overview
This article attempts to provide an understanding of the two theories of Jean Piaget
and Lev Vygotsky, highlighting the similarities and differences between Piaget and
Vygotsky’s approaches. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are two developmental
psychologists who have contributed immensely to the field of Psychology through their
theories of cognitive development of children. Piaget can be considered one of the great
pillars when it comes to Cognitive development in Developmental psychology especially due
to his theory of cognitive development, which focuses on the progression of children to
different stages at the end of which they achieve maturation. On the contrary, Vygotsky
presents his Socio-cultural theory of development, which stresses on the influence that
culture and language has on the cognitive development of children.
What is Piaget Theory?
According to Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, all humans experience
an interaction between the internal development and the experience with the world around,
which creates a change in life. This happens in two ways, firstly through the adding up of
new information to existing ideas known as assimilation and the modification of cognitive
schemas (mental shortcuts) to connect new information known as accommodation.
According to Piaget, all children go through four stages of cognitive development. They are,
Sensorimotor stage, Preoperational stage, Concrete operational stage and Formal
operational stage. From the birth of a child till about two years of age, the child is in the
sensorimotor stage. During this stage, the child develops his senses and motor skills which
allow him to understand the environment. Also, he learns of object permanence which refers
to the realization that an object exists even though it cannot be seen, heard or touched. At
the end of two years, the child moves on to the pre operational stage which lasts till the child
is about seven years of age. Though the child is unable to engage in mental operations in
terms of the true understanding of quantity and of causal relationships, the child rapidly
engages in acquiring new words as symbols for things around him. It is said that children of
this stage are egocentric which means despite the fact that the child can speak, he does not
understand another’s point of view. As the child moves on to the Concrete operational stage
which goes on till twelve years of age, the child begins to understand concrete relationships
such as simple mathematics and quantity. By this stage, the cognitive development of a
child is very much developed. Finally, as the child reaches the formal operational stage, the
child is very mature in the sense, his understanding of abstract relationships such as values,
logic is very advanced. However, Lev Vygotsky came up with a different approach to
cognitive development of children through his Socio-cultural theory of development.
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What is Vygotsky Theory?
According to the Socio-cultural theory of development,the child’s cognitive
development is very much influenced by the social interactions and culture surrounding him.
As the child interacts with others, the values and norms that are embedded in a culture are
transmitted to the child where it affects his cognitive development. Hence, to understand the
development is to understand the cultural context in which the child grows.Vygotsky also
speaks of a concept called Scaffolding that refers to the provision of clues to a child in order
to solve problems without waiting for the child to reach the necessary cognitive stage of
development. He believed that through social interaction the child has the potential not only
to solve problems but also use different strategies for the future. Vygotsky considered
language as an important part in his theory because he conceived that the language has a
special role in cognitive development. Specially he spoke of the concept of self-talk. While
Piaget believed this to be egocentric, Vygotsky saw self-talk as a tool of direction that
assists thinking and guides the actions of individuals.Finally, he spoke of a zone of proximal
development. While both Piaget and Vygotsky agreed that there are limitations to the
cognitive development of children, Vygotsky did not confine the child to developmental
stages. Instead, he said that given necessary assistance the child can achieve challenging
tasks within the zone of proximal development.
Reflection
To sum up, both Piaget and Vygotsky are developmental psychologists who have
presented theories of cognitive development of children and adolescents with the view of
the individual as an active learner who uses the environment for his cognitivedevelopment.
However, the key difference is that while Piaget uses universal stages of development and
a rather independent approach of the learner, Vygotsky stresses on the social factors and
the social interactions which influence development. Another important feature is that
Vygotsky pays a lot of attention to the cultural attributes such as language and culture as a
whole which creates an impact on the cognitive development of individuals, which is lacking
in the theory of Piaget.
