Lev Vygotsky’s Theory Essay

The culture or the growing-up surgical procedure of a minor has been considered as the most critical and crucial commence of a somebodys life. It is in this pose where most changes take place which determines the strength or weakness of the foundations of ones skills and capabilities as he or she grows up. Human developing has excessively been an interesting topic or look in the field of psychology over the long time. Theories and concepts have been formulated and developed in order to fabricate a wide understanding of the suffice of homo development as it plays a significant part in a persons foundation as an adult.The developmental process of a child includes some(prenominal) aspects the likes of the physiological, emotional, and cognitive development. In this paper, the focus shall be on cognitive development and the process of language acquisition, as proposed and theorized by Lev Vygotsky. What is Cognitive Development and manner of speaking Acquisition? Cognitive d evelopment is a part of the overall dynamic process of human maturity. In current media, a lot of products like milk, supplements, and health commodities for children have been advertised to contribute on improving the wellness of a childs cognitive development.This shows how the current society values this aspect of child development with special importance. Cognitive development pertains to how an case-by-case understands and grasps ideas through learned factors and genetics as well. This developmental aspect is made up of flipper fields, namely, information processing, intelligence, reasoning, language development, and memory (Wells, 2008). Understanding the whole cognitive development of a child may not be complete without understanding these core fields. However, this paper shall focus on one sports stadium which is language development.The definition of intelligence and cognitive development has also become a popular reach among psychologists like Vygotsky and Piaget. Pia get defines intelligence as the ability of an individual to adapt to his or her environment through several adaptation models which include the concepts of assimilation and accommodation, both of which place stronger tenseness on the individual (cited in Lloyd, 1995). On the other hand, Vygotsky argues that cognitive development refers to the capacity of a person to learn through instruction with an emphasis on the environment.Moreover, Vygotsky saw the capability of individuals to learn through instruction as the basic feature of human intelligence (cited in Lloyd, 1995). In medical terms, language development can be identified as the process wherein the complexity of symbols, sounds, and meanings combined is being expanded steadily. This process shall depend on how a person interprets, understands, and perceives objects and symbols as influenced by his or her environment and learning process (Biology Online, 2005).Among children, especially those of 1 to 2 years of age, the arch ean developments in language can be very well observed in their immut subject cooing, imitation of adult sounds and paroles, babbling, and use of shortened words and sentences (Biology Online, 2005). Lev Vygotskys Views on the Roots of Though and Language Lev Semenovich Vygotsky is a German psychologist who explained and expounded on the genetic approach to the early developments of thoughts and concepts in human development.He machine-accessible the changes and transitions occurring in this process from childhood to adulthood through a series of human developmental stages (Marxist profit Archive, 1990). Although his theories have been rejected in the United States during the earlier part of the political conflict between the U. S. and Soviet Union, his kit and boodle still became popular as the Cold War ended up to present date. His works basically revolved slightly the roots of thought and language. It impart be easier to understand Vygotskys theories in psychology by unders tanding the main arguments from which his theories are rooted from.His main arguments active intelligence and cognitions postulate that, (1) persuasion is understood developmentally in terms of its roots and succeeding growth at the individual and cultural levels of analysis (2) thinking is interceded by semiotic mechanisms like mother tongue which can be considered as the most powerful of such mechanisms and (3) there are certain thinking processes like line of work solving, instinctive memory, and self-regulation which have roots from kind processes and interactions (Vygotsky cited in Goswami, 2004).As one may observe, more often than not, Vygotsky utilise the terms speech and thinking than language and thought. This preference to use such terms was believed to be cogitate with his perception of speech as a social or shared process (Lloyd, 1995). For Vygotsky, the developments of thinking and speech are two separate entities thought being non-verbal and language being non- intellectual. However, he explained that during a unique(predicate) time in a persons life (around the age of two), the lines of development of these two areas seize on to meet again to induce the creation of a new behavior (Vygotsky cited in Schutz, 2004).He was able to expound his positions on this concept as he noted that, (1) thinking and speech have divergent roots at the start of their development (2) at the beginning, there will be a pre-intellectual stage for speech and a pre-linguistic stage for thought (3) there will come a point in time when these two aspects shall follow different curves unaffected with each other (4) at a present moment point, their curves shall meet where thought will turn verbal, and speech, on the other hand, will turn rational and lastly, (5) thinking and speech are not always overlying each other (Lloyd, 1995).Vygotskys theory has also been particular about the ramp upion of words and acquisition of word meanings. He explains that the formati on of word and word meaning is in a way related to how a child perceives a chore in communicating with his or her guardian. Vygotsky claims that word meanings are derived from the problem of not knowing what to call or how to fall upon a particularized object, feeling, or thought, which the child usually asks from an adult (cited in Schutz, 2004).Vygotsky also acquired interest in understanding the possibilities that language may indeed affect how a person thinks. In contrast to Piagets focus on childrens egocentric and private speech, Vygotsky dealt with language as a form of social communication which progressively supports both language and thinking process. Applications of Vygotskys Constructivist Cognition Concept to a babys Education and Language formation Vygotskys Language Acquistion Theory has been influenced by the constructivist approach.In constructivism, problem solving is the core idea of all forms of learning, thinking, and development that is, as a child encounte rs a problem and discovers consequences for its solutions, he or she eventually forms his or her thinking and understanding of a certain concept (Vygotsky cited in Brewer, 2007). In the constructivist view, previous knowledge plays a big part on how a child will perceive things as he or she grows up that is, it is important for the learner to be able to construct new information into his or her current knowledge because the information connected to the learners prior experiences shall be forgotten easily.In application to real life situations, teachers can try to learn about the childrens prior knowledge about a specific problem or a specific topic which confuses them in order to gauge what the children already know and help them understand different experiences (Brewer, 2007). In relation to language development, Vygotsky also coined the concept of the zone of proximal development, which emphasizes that children acquire knowledge about objects and concepts they run across as confu sing through directed interactions from guardians, teachers, and parents.He explained that what children learn with the guidance and assistance of people around them appears to be a lot more suggestive of their learning development compared to what they usually do alone(predicate) (Vygotsky, 1987, qtd. in Lloyd, 1995). Thus, speech and word meaning which is acquired by a child alone may not give him or her the utmost linguistic potential he or she can have. Language development as well as the other aspects of development a child goes through in the early years is highly important regardless of the learning genre or theory followed.Theories like Vygotskys language acquisition theory are formulated to give people specific basis of the different developmental processes. A childs language development is never as plain as teaching him or her words and names rather, it is a complex process which involves crucial elements and key areas where parents, teachers, and concern guardians have to focus on in order to help the child realize his or her serious potential.References Biology Online. (2005, October 3). Language Development.Retrieved November 14, 2008 from http//www. biology-online. org/dictionary/Language_development Brewer, W. (2007). Learning theory Constructivist approach. Answers. com. Retrieved November 14, 2008 from http//www. answers. com/topic/learning-theory-constructivist-approach Goswami, U. (2004). Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development. Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing. Lloyd. P. (1995). psychological science Cognitive and Language Development. Leicester, UK British Psychological Society.Marxist Internet Archive. (1990). Vygotsky, Lev Semenovich (1896-1934). Retrieved November 14, 2008 from http//www. marxists. org/glossary/people/v/y. htmvygotsky-lev Schutz, R. (2004, declination 5). Vygotsky & language acquisition. English Made in Brazil. Retrieved November 14, 2008 from http//www. sk. com. br/sk-vygot. html Wells, K. R. (2008). C ognitive development. Encyclopedia of Childrens Health. Retrieved November 14, 2008 from http//www. healthofchildren. com/C/Cognitive-Development. html