Access to Language and Cognitive Development
Michael Siegal and Luca Surian
Abstract
One of the most important questions about children's development involves how knowledge acquisition depends on the effect of language experience. To what extent, and in what ways, is a child's cognitive development influenced by their early experience of, and access to, language? Likewise, what are the effects on development of impaired access to language? This book confronts directly the issue of how possessing an enhanced or impaired access to language influences children's development. Its focus is on learning environments, theory of mind understanding, and the process of deriving meaning f ... More
One of the most important questions about children's development involves how knowledge acquisition depends on the effect of language experience. To what extent, and in what ways, is a child's cognitive development influenced by their early experience of, and access to, language? Likewise, what are the effects on development of impaired access to language? This book confronts directly the issue of how possessing an enhanced or impaired access to language influences children's development. Its focus is on learning environments, theory of mind understanding, and the process of deriving meaning from conversations. The book features chapters which are concerned with bilingualism, deafness, atypical child development, and development in cultures with limited vocabularies in areas such as number concepts. Throughout, it maps out what is known about the interface between language and cognitive development and the prospects for the future directions in research and applied settings.
Keywords:
children's development,
knowledge acquisition,
language experience,
cognitive development,
access to language,
bilingualism,
deafness
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2011 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199592722 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2012 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592722.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Michael Siegal, editor
Professor of Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK
Luca Surian, editor
Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Trento, Italy
More
Less
