Do linguistic differences lead to cognitive differences? A cross-linguistic study of semantic and cognitive development

Abstract

Semantic and cognitive development were studied in eight Korean and French-speaking children, and these results were compared with results for 12 English-speakers. The children received object- permanence, means-ends and categorization tasks and their develop ment of related linguistic forms, disappearance and success/failure words and a naming spurt, was recorded. There were close and specific relations between these semantic and cognitive developments. However, non-English-speakers used very different forms from English-speakers to encode disappearance, success and failure; in particular, Korean-speakers used verbs. This suggests that children may have been motivated to acquire these words because of their cognitive significance. Moreover, both categorization and naming developed later in the Korean-speakers than in English-speakers and French-speakers. This may be due to the fact that verbs are more perceptually salient in Korean than nouns. This difference between the language groups also suggests that linguistic development may influence and motivate cognitive development. Thus, there appears to be a thorough-going two-way interaction between language and cognition in this period.