CITY OF MALABON UNIVERSITY

Pampano corner Maya-maya St., Longos, Malabon City

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
City of Malabon University – Open University

THE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES

This course focuses on child and adolescent development with emphasis on current research and theories
on biological, linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions of development. Further, this includes factors
that affect the progress of development of the learners and appropriate pedagogical principles applicable for each
developmental level of the learners. The course also addresses laws, policies, guidelines, and procedures that
provide safe and secure learning environments, and the use of positive and non-violent discipline in the
management of learner behavior.

COURSE OUTCOMES

[1] demonstrate content knowledge and its application within and /or across curriculum teaching areas.
[2] demonstrate an understanding of the different research-based theories related to the broad dimensions of
child and adolescent development and their application to each developmental level of the learners.
[3] demonstrate understanding of pedagogical principles suited to diverse learners’ needs and experiences at
different developmental levels.
[4] demonstrate knowledge of laws, policies, guidelines, and procedures that provide safe and secure learning
environments; and
[5] demonstrate knowledge of positive and non-violent discipline in the management of learner behavior.

MODULE 9 WEEK 3
UNIT 3: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Overview

Cognitive development has about 50-year history, as a distinct field of developmental psychology. Prior
to the 1950’s, learning was conceptualized primarily in terms of behavioral principles and association processes,
whereas cognitive development emerged from the cognitive revolution, the revolution in psycholinguistics, and
especially Piaget’s work on children’s reasoning about a myriad of subjects like space, time, causality, morality,
and necessity (Lenner, Easterbrooks, & Mistry, 2005). Therefore, although superficially similar, research and
theory on learning versus research and theory on cognitive development represent very different histories and
very different perspectives.

Learning Objectives

In this module, you are expected to:

1. Apply the principles of cognitive processing in developing learning activities intended for young and
adolescent learners.
2. Discuss the concepts and theories related to the cognitive development of children and adolescents.
3. Make connections, using knowledge on current research literature, between cognitive development
theories and developmentally appropriate teaching approaches suited to learners’ gender, needs,
strengths, interests, and experiences.

Key Words and Concepts

Biological, physical, motor development, neuroscience and brain development, biological, physical
development, multiple intelligences, cognitive,

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Content

A. LANGUAGE AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

INTELLIGENCE AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

That was just defined as a communication system in which a limited number of signals that can be
sounds or letters (or gestures, in the case of the sign language used by deaf people) - can be combined
according to agreed-upon rules to produce an infinite number of messages (Sigelman & Rider, 2009).

Five basic components of language

• Phonemes - are basic units of sound in any given language (Spilt et al., 2015). these are the sounds
to create with the letters of the alphabet. Infants are sensitive to the rhythm and intonation of
language - the variations in pitch, loudness, and timing used when saying words or sentences,
and often considered the melody of speech.
• Morpheme - is the smallest grammatical unit of speech; It may be a word, like place or an, or an
element of a word, like re and ed as in reappeared.
• Syntax - is the structure of language - the grammar. It is the arrangement of words into a sentence
that makes sense in each language. Syntax also refers to the rules and principles that govern
sentence structure in a language, example how words and phrases may be joined.
• Semantics or meaning of language - infants come to understand many words before they can
produce them. That is, comprehension is ahead of production in language development. 10-
month-olds can comprehend, on average, about 50 words.
• Pragmatics - refers to the use or application of language. It is typically viewed as a social aspect
of language. Pragmatics is about applying language so that others understand what you are trying
to convey. For example, someone who is good at pragmatics may be able to say one thing and
convey a completely different message, if needed.

Theories of language development

The Nativist Perspective: Noam Chomsky

What is the nature of the human capacity to acquire language? This question can be
conceptualized in the following manner: the human capacity for language is a device residing in the
human brain that takes us its input certain information from the environment and produces as its
output the ability to speak and understand a language. Everything that is part of adult’s knowledge
of language must either be the input, be in the internal device, or somehow result from the way the
device operates in the input it receives. Noam Chomsky (1965) termed this capacity the language
acquisition device or LAD, and this way of posing the question still tends to be made explicit only by
those taking a generative grammar approach to the study of language acquisition. However, this
conceptualization makes clear two criteria that must apply to all candidate explanations of how
children learn to talk period to wait, any proposed account of the language acquisition process must
be consistent with two sets of facts; the input that children receive and the competence that they
acquire.

Noam Chomsky’s theory on language development explained that the nativist perspective
believes that nature is most crucial in the process of language development. According to Chomsky,
throughout the universe, infants have an inborn mechanism for acquiring syntax knowledge in any
culture and society, also known as universal grammar. In addition, the language acquisition device is
an inborn mechanism that allows infants to learn and manipulate deep grammatical structures.
Through hypothesis testing, children use natural mechanisms to teach themselves various aspects of
language use.

The Cognitive Development Theory Perspective: Jean Piaget

similar to the nativist theory, in accordance to John Piaget’s theory on cognitive development,
the cognitive developmental perspective believes that nature is most crucial in the process of
language development (Lerner, Easterbrooks, & Mistry, 2005). though, in contrast to the nativist
theory, the cognitive developmental theory does not state a specific inborn mechanism as part of the
developmental process. Rather, language development occurs according to stages of cognitive
development. For example, object permanence is an important stage of cognitive development that
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 must occur before language appears. According to Piaget, language appears when one can represent
symbols in the mind. This leads to the creation of words, which leads to language acquisition.
The Behaviorist Perspective: BF Skinner

In contrast citizen activists and cognitive developmental perspectives, the behavior is perspective
believes that nurture is most crucial in the process of language development. According to B.F.
Skinner’s behaviorist theory, language is thought through various reinforcements in the environment
(De Bot & Shrauf, 2009). infants learn to associate certain stimuli with certain behaviors and
responses. With continued reinforcement, infants learn appropriate responses and behaviors, which
lead towards language development. For example, through operant conditioning, infants learn what
songs elicit certain responses. Infants repeat some that elicit positive responses. Continued operant
conditioning supports imitative speech in that young children imitate speech sounds they hear and
continue to do so with positive responses from adults. With continued positive reinforcement in the
environment, infants, toddlers, and young children have positive outcomes in their language
development. As this perspective relies heavily on reinforcement, this perspective cannot explain the
reasoning behind children's made-up words.

The Interactionist Perspective: Lev Vygotsky

Like the behaviorist theory, the interactionist theory believes that nurture is crucial in the process
of language development. Though, the interaction is for perspective differs from the behaviorist
perspective in that this perspective believes that language is acquired through social interaction in
the environment, not reinforcement. With a focus on pragmatic knowledge, infants, toddlers, and
children enhance their language acquisition to communication in various social environments. In
accordance with the Vygotsky’s theory, social interaction is most important in acquiring skills. This is
so because, as language acquisition is influenced by one's surroundings, Vygotsky Theorized that
social interaction is important in helping children acquire language according to societal and cultural
norms in their community. The interactionist perspective also focuses on the process of language
development, which builds on the ideas of all theoretical perspectives of language development
(Burkholder, E.O. and Pelaez, 2000). Furthermore, in accordance with the language acquisition
support system, infants, toddlers, and children develop language knowledge through environmental
motivators and effort to understand and acquire all aspects of language, including interaction
patterns, the communication loop, and communication skills, such as listening and responding.

Stages in Speech Development

• Primitive or natural stage birth to about two years - this is characterized by three
nonintellectual speech functions:
o emotional release
o social reactions
o substitutes for objects and desires. These are words learned by conditioning, by
parents and siblings matching the words frequently to instead objects.
• Naive psychology - children discover that words can have a symbolic function, and they
display this discovery by frequently asking what things are called.
• Egocentric speech - takes the form of a running monologue that accompanies the child's
activities comma whether the child works alone or beside others period Vygotsky viewed as
an important new tool of thought-not only do children think to speak, but what they say to
themselves influences what they then will think, so the two interacts with produce together
conceptual or verbal thought. Vygotsky studied egocentric speech in terms of task difficulty
and age trends.
• In growth stage - children learn to manipulate language in their heads in the form of
soundless speech, thinking by means of logical memory that employs inner science for solving
problems.

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 The Language Development Chart

Age of Child Typical Language Development

6 Months vocalization with intonation
response to his name
response to human voices without visual cues by turning his head and eyes
responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones
12 Months Uses one or more words with meaning (this may be a fragment of a word)
Understands simple instructions, especially if vocal or physical cues are given
Practices inflection
Is aware of the social value of speech
18 Months Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words
Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns
Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over)
Much jargon with emotional content
Is able to follow simple commands
24 Months Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in,
on, under
Combines words into a short sentence – largely noun-verb combinations
(mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words
Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible.
Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words
Rhythm and fluency often poor
Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often
confused
My and mine are beginning to emerge
Responds to such commands as “show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)”
36 Months Use pronouns I, you, me correctly
Is using some plurals and pat tenses
Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under
Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name
Handles three-word sentences easily
Has about 900-1000 words
About 90% of what child says should be intelligible
Verbs begin to predominate
Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and
activities
Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason
Able to reason out such questions as “what must you do when you are
sleepy, hungry, cool, or thirsty?”
Should be able to give his sex, name, age
Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he understands
what is expected
48 Months Knows names of familiar animals
Can use at least four prepositions or can demonstrate his understanding of
their meaning when given commands
Names common objects in picture books or magazines
Knows one or more colors
Can repeat 4 digits when they are given slowly
Can usually repeat words of four syllables
demonstrates understanding of over an under
has most vowels and diphthongs and consonants P, B, M, W, and well
established
often indulges in make believe
extensive verbalization as he carries out activities
understands such concepts as longer, larger, when a contrast is presented
readily follow simple commands even though the stimulus objects are not in
sight
much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and even sounds

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 60 Months can use many descriptive words spontaneously both adjectives and adverbs
nose common opposites: big little hard soft heavy light etc
has number concept of four or more
can count to 10
speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of articulation problems
should have all vowels and consonants, M, P, B, H, W, K, G, T, D, N, NG, Y
(yellow)
Should be able to repeat sentences as long as 9 words
should be able to define common objects in the terms of use example hot,
shoe, chair
should be able to follow three commands given without interruptions
should know his age
should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon, night, day, later,
after, while, tomorrow, yesterday, today
should be using fairly long sentences and should use some compound and
some complex sentences
speech overall should be grammatically correct
6 Years in addition to the above consonance these should be mastered: F, V, SH, ZH,
Th
he should have concepts of seven
speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful
should be able to tell one I rather connected story about a picture seeing
relationships between objects and happenings
7 Years should have mastered the consonance S, Z, R, voiceless TH, CH, WH and the
soft G as in George
should handle opposite analogies easily: girl boy, man woman, fly’s swims,
blunt sharp, short, long, sweet sour, etc
understands such terms as: alike, different, beginning, end etc.
Should be able to tell time to quarter hour
should be able to do simple reading and to write or print many words
8 Years can relate rather involved accounts of events, many of which occurred at
some time in the past
complex and compound sentences should be used easily
should be few lapses in grammatical constructions tense, pronouns, plurals
all speech sounds, including consonant bleeds should be established
should be reading with considerable ease and now writing simple
compositions
social amenities should be present in this speech in appropriate situations
control of rate, pitch, and volume are generally well inappropriately
established
can carry on conversation at rather adult level
follows complex directions with little repetition
has well developed time and number concepts

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Assessments and Evaluations

Essay:

1. Write a position paper on how, children learn their language when it comes to their first and second
language.

2. What significant learnings were you able to get from the topic discussions?

3. What is the importance of understanding how language is taught at home?

4. How would teaching be designed when it comes to addressing the first language and second language
of students?

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Summary and Reflection

As a teacher, you will be faced with students with varied abilities. Some can process information and score
high and tests instantaneously while others may need more facilitation to be able to understand a concept well.
there is no clear consensus on the definition of intelligence. Piaget defined intelligence as thinking or behavior
that is adaptive. If you were to ask yourself, how do you define intelligence? Several traits that describe the term
will surely emerge. This is true with other experts who offer different definitions, most of them centering on the
ability to think abstractly or to solve problems effectively. Early definitions of intelligence tended to reflect the
assumption that intelligence reflects innate ability; genetically determined and thus fixed at conception. But it has
become clear that intelligence is not fixed, that is changeable and subject to environment influence. As a result,
an individual's intelligence test scores sometimes vary considerably over a lifetime. Bear in mind that
understanding of this complex human quality has changed since the first intelligence tests were created at the
turn of the last century - and still no single, universally accepted definition of intelligence

References:

Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

Brenda B. Corpuz PHD
Ma. Rita D. Lucas PHD
Heidi Grace L. Borabo PHD
Paz I. Lucido PHD

The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

Teresita T. Rungduin PHD
Darwin C. Runguin M.A.

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