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Related Concept Videos

Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development from Childhood into Adulthood01:25

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development from Childhood into Adulthood

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development emphasizes the role of thinking in a child's learning process, suggesting that children are naturally curious about their environment. His approach to development is discontinuous, proposing that cognitive abilities progress through distinct stages, each with unique characteristics. Central to Piaget's theory is schemata—mental structures that allow individuals to understand and interpret the world.
Schemata: Building Blocks of Knowledge
Schemata...
Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development01:17

Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development

During Piaget's concrete operational stage, from ages 7 to 11, children exhibit a marked increase in logical thinking skills, specifically in relation to tangible, real-world events. This stage is characterized by the development of several essential cognitive concepts, including conservation, reversibility, and classification, all of which support the child's evolving capacity for structured thought.
Conservation and Constancy of Quantity
A significant cognitive milestone in the concrete...
Piaget's Stage 4 of Cognitive Development01:19

Piaget's Stage 4 of Cognitive Development

The formal operational stage, as described in Piaget's cognitive development theory, begins around age 11 and extends into adulthood. It marks the emergence of advanced cognitive abilities that differentiate adolescent and adult thinking from those of younger children. This stage is characterized by abstract reasoning, hypothetical-deductive reasoning, and a more complex understanding of self and others.
Abstract Reasoning and Hypothetical-Deductive Thinking
Unlike the concrete operational...
Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development

The preoperational stage, the second of Jean Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, spans approximately ages 2 to 7 and is characterized by the emergence of symbolic thinking. During this stage, children use language, images, and symbols to represent objects and concepts, enabling them to engage in imaginative and pretend play. This symbolic thinking supports children's ability to perform make-believe actions, such as imagining a broom as a horse or their hand as a phone, blending...

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School-age children talk about chess: does knowledge drive syntactic complexity?

Marilyn A Nippold1

  • 1Communication Disorders and Sciences, College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. nippold@uoregon.edu

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR
|May 1, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Children’s language productivity and syntactic complexity increased significantly when discussing a familiar topic like chess with an unfamiliar adult. Expertise in chess did not impact language skills, but the task of explaining chess did.

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Area of Science:

  • Child Language Acquisition
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistic Pragmatics

Background:

  • Understanding factors influencing language development in children is crucial.
  • Previous research has explored topic familiarity and its effect on linguistic output.
  • The role of specific conversational tasks in eliciting complex language structures requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between topic knowledge (chess) and language productivity and syntactic complexity in school-age children.
  • To compare linguistic performance across different speaking tasks: general conversation, chess conversation, and chess explanation.
  • To determine if chess expertise influences language complexity.

Main Methods:

  • Thirty-two school-age children (mean age 10:11) were interviewed by an adult with limited chess knowledge.
  • Children were categorized as novice or expert chess players based on their knowledge and experience.
  • Language samples from three speaking tasks were analyzed for T-units, mean T-unit length, clausal density, and subordinate clause use.

Main Results:

  • Language productivity and syntactic complexity were significantly higher in the Chess Explanation task compared to other tasks.
  • Children classified as chess experts did not demonstrate superior language skills compared to novices across any task.
  • The complexity of the speaking task, not the child's chess expertise, was the primary determinant of linguistic output.

Conclusions:

  • The speaking task significantly influences language productivity and syntactic complexity in children.
  • Children demonstrate enhanced linguistic abilities when engaged in a motivating and challenging task, such as explaining a familiar topic to an unfamiliar listener.
  • Task demands and topic engagement are key drivers of complex language use in school-age children.