D2L_Lecture5 - CHAPTER 5 CULTURE LANGUAGE AND COGNITION Focus of Chapter 5 Influence of culture cognition and language on development Examine 2 opposing

CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 5 CULTURE, LANGUAGE, AND CULTURE, LANGUAGE, AND COGNITION COGNITION

Focus of Chapter 5 • Influence of culture, cognition, and language on development • Examine 2 opposing theories by looking at cross- cultural research data • Examine the link between cognitive & linguistic behaviors across cultures • Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory and Vygotsky’s ZPD

Culture, Language , Cognition • Cognition – the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and problem solving. – These are higher-level functions of thebrain • Language – a system of communicating with other peopleusing sounds, symbols and words in expressing a meaning, idea or thought. – primarily through oral and written communications as well as using expressions through body language.

Culture- Language- Cognition • Does cognition influence language? • Does language influence thinking? • In what language does a bilingual/bicultural think in? – Nativelanguageor second language? • Do people who speak different languages think about and experience the world differently?

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

Culture- Language- Cognition • Do people who speak different languages think about and experience the world differently? – Argument: If people’s thinking is influenceby their language, then wecould explain differences in cognition by studying differences in languagespoken in different cultures

Culture- Language- Cognition • Research has not been ableto support thehypothesis – i.e., Thinking is not determined by language. – Rather, how wetalk about “things” determines how we perceive the topics • Vygotsky’s perceived culture-language-cognition are interrelated and dynamic – i.e., social interactions shape languagedevelopment and thinking abilities – “ talking to learn ”—as children interact with others, they internalize language, and organizetheir thinking

Culture- Language- Cognition • Acculturation – Themodification of thecultureof a group or individual as a result of contact with a different culture. • Enculturation – theadoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture; "thesocialization of children to thenorms of their culture"

Culture- Language- Cognition • As children learn language, their cognition also develop through a process called enculturation • A method to help children enculturateis scaffolding or guidance • This usually occurs during theZoneof Proximal Development • Important initial guidanceand support comes from caretakers, – A behavior strongly influenceby culture