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Vygotsky Scrutinize Language

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Vygotsky and Piaget scrutinize language and thought and how their development is interrelated as well. They agree language consists of cognitive and social development. This paper attempts to describe their theorization concerning speech and thought. Vygotsky (1986) revealed thought and speech are closely connected due to intellectual development is necessary for language development. However, thought and language are processes which originate independly one from another. Once children absorb meaning of the words they are told by adults, thought and speech merge. Words without meaning are empty sounds, no longer a part of human speech (p. 6). Individuals construct words meaning accordingly to their lifetime experiences and contexts. Hence, exposure to language is not enough. Children usually face difficulties in learning new words because of the concept to which it refers (p. 8). These difficulties of learning new words are associated with the process children go through in order to create conceptual representations of words in their mind instead of being related with words sounds. Since the …show more content…

Children as well as adult speech primary function relies on social contact. He stated there is a certain age in which social speech is divided into two types, egocentric and communicative. Both types of speech are communicative however egocentric speech is more connected with the development of inner speech which is used for mental reasoning. Regarding socialization, Piaget (in Vygotsky, 1986) described it as an external force independent from the practical activity of the child and occurs once child’s egocentrism is overridden. Child’s thinking does not appear as a product of development (p. 54). Nevertheless, socialization is fundamental for the development of cognition because it modifies higher mental functions (Vygotsky,

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