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Languange and Thought. Vygotski, Piaget, Saphir, Whorf and Chomsky

Dec 21, 20245 min read

Language and Thought: Vygotsky, Piaget, Sapir, Whorf, and Chomsky

  • The impetus for this note arose because I promised to complete a section for the book, where I delve more deeply into different perspectives on how language shapes our minds.
    • I articulated my position, provided some examples, but neglected to highlight others’ viewpointsβ€”something I had overlooked and resolved to amend.
    • For this work, I’ve decided to focus on five luminaries in the field: Vygotsky, Piaget, Sapir, Whorf, and Chomsky.
    • While the first two scholars examine the intricate question of causality between language and thoughtβ€”whether language shapes thought or vice versaβ€”the latter three adopt a different approach.
      • Not necessarily wrong or right, just divergent. And, in fact, this divergence makes the topic far more intriguing than it might appear at first glance.
    • So, let’s delve in. For better comprehension, we’re going to engage our imagination.
  • Imagine that you’re standing in the middle of a well-lit tunnel, with both ends clearly visible, and you understand how to reach each end by walking. But there’s no need to; the tunnel is gradually shrinking.
    • Each end is drawing closer, though one side is closing in faster than the other, compelling you to move to remain at the center.
    • This represents the views of Vygotsky and Piaget. Both theorize that language and thought are interconnected and mutually influential; the only difference lies in what they believe influences the other more.
  • @ Vygotsky is a driving force at one end of the tunnel and Piaget at the other. They were contemporaries, influenced by the same scientific advancements, yet their conclusions diverged slightly.
    • Both believe that language and thought are interwoven. However, Vygotsky posits that speech plays a leading role in cognitive development and in cultivating higher-order thinking faculties.
    • Vygotsky argues that external speech forms first; then it becomes interiorized, eventually giving rise to patterns of thought, which are further shaped by socio-cultural phenomena.
  • @ Piaget, conversely, stands at the helm of a force driving from the other side of the tunnel.
    • In Piaget’s view, which does not directly contradict Vygotsky’s, the language we speak is shaped by the thought processes that have already developed.
    • By this, he suggests that a child first learns how to interact with the world, exploring objects in their environment and experiencing phenomena, and only afterward learns to articulate their thoughts verbally.
      • Consider a child who is bouncing the ball from the pavement, he first learns how to do it and only afterwards is given or asks for the name of the action.
    • He contends that language serves as a vehicle for thought but does not determine cognitive development.
  • While Vygotsky and Piaget present a nearly identical view on language and thought, albeit from different angles, the next three researchers offer radically distinct theories on what influences what. Edward Sapir, Benjamin Lee Whorf, and Noam Chomsky each forged entirely separate paths. Their theories are so expansive and thought-provoking that it’s challenging to capture them through the tunnel metaphor. Let’s begin with the first two, the mentor and the protΓ©gΓ©: Sapir and Whorf.
    • @ These two scholars introduced the concept of linguistic relativity. According to them, language shapes not only our thought processes but also our perception of reality.
    • They speculated that speakers of different languages perceive the world in fundamentally different ways. For instance, as a Russian speaker, I perceiveΒ goluboyΒ as a distinct color, whereas in English, it’s merely a lighter shade of blue.
    • According to Sapir and Whorf, language not only predetermines how we see the world but also establishes the boundaries of our thinking.
    • In other words, we can only perceive what we can articulate, and we perceive what our language permits us to perceive.
      • A fascinating example of this phenomenon is a peculiar aspect of the mind when learning foreign languages. We are often incapable of discerning a word in speech if we lack a mental representation or are unfamiliar with its spelling.
  • @ The final figure in this group is Chomsky, an American linguist who examined the relationship between language and thought from a grammatical perspective.
    • He formulated the theory of universal grammar. According to him, humans possess an innate understanding of language, and he emphasizes that fundamental cognitive functions exist independently of language.
    • This led to the theory that any individual has the potential to learn any foreign language because they grasp grammar on an intuitive level.
    • Chomsky argued that language reflects pre-existing cognitive structures and does not play a role in the development of these structures.
      • ? In his opinion the cognitive ability to perform basic logical reasoning exist independently of language. CHECK
    • As I see it, he partially contradicts Vygotsky and Piaget, but this dichotomy is too complex to discuss in depth within the scope of this note.
      • In short Chomsky sees language and thought as independent entities, where Vygotsky and Piaget interdependent.

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Footnotes

    1. How language shapes the way we think | Lera Boroditsky // 2018.
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