Bruner's account: language acquisition as necessity for thinking and the highest levels of cognitive development¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article presents Jerome Bruner's (1983) cognitive-developmental account, in which first language acquisition is primed by knowledge of the world and a push to communicate, not acquired abstractly. Bruner concludes that "the need to use language fully as an instrument for participating in a complex culture .... is what provides the engine for language acquisition." The article adds that for Bruner, language acquisition is a necessity for thinking, empowerment, and achieving the ultimate stage of cognitive development.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Acquisition must be primed by some knowledge of the world and some push to communicate

Constraints¶

• The account concerns first language acquisition; the article uses it to resonate with L2 hypotheses rather than as direct L2 evidence

Target Learners¶

• children acquiring first language
• L1 and L2 writers

Target Learning Objectives¶

• language acquisition
• cognitive development
• using language to construct realities and put order into events

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Language Acquisition Theory
• Sociocultural Theory
• Krashen's Monitor Model: five hypotheses distinguishing subconscious acquisition from conscious language learning
• Krashen's Monitor Model: acquisition versus learning as separate internal rule systems

Examples¶

• Treat talking and writing as means to learning through dialogue-based, student-centered instruction
• Use process writing techniques in natural language settings to develop the push to communicate and facilitate acquisition
• Prepare novice teachers of the gifted in the sociocultural context of the gifted classroom

Key Sources¶

• Diaz, Diana M. (1988). First Language/Second Language: Acquisition, Writing, and Cognitive Development. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED294203