Early Language and Cognitive Development

Learning Objectives

Upon completing this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Explain how vocabulary knowledge, language comprehension, and mathematical language contribute to early cognitive development and classroom learning.
2. Differentiate difficulties understanding instructional language from difficulties demonstrating the underlying cognitive or academic concept.
3. Analyze the language demands embedded in preschool assessment and instructional tasks.
4. Apply evidence-informed instructional practices for developing vocabulary and mathematical language.
5. Evaluate how modeling, concrete materials, guided conversations, and visual supports influence children's performance.
6. Recommend culturally and linguistically responsive assessment and intervention strategies for early childhood settings.

Reading Assignment

Resource: Preparing Young Children for School
Institute of Education Sciences / What Works Clearinghouse (2022).

Assigned Pages: 23–24, 32–33, and 39–45.

These readings are drawn from three recommendations addressing mathematical understanding, mathematical language, and vocabulary development.

Open the Complete IES Practice Guide (PDF) ↗

Pages 23–24: Mathematical Ideas and Skills

Recommendation 3: Provide intentional instruction to build children's understanding of mathematical ideas and skills.

On page 23, examine the rationale for intentional mathematics instruction and the use of small-group learning opportunities. Consider how activities and conversations help children build conceptual understanding rather than simply memorize responses.

On page 24, examine Example 3.1, involving pattern blocks and copying designs, and Example 3.2, involving a number-path game.

Identify the language demands associated with understanding directions, comparing objects, naming quantities, and describing spatial relationships.

Consider how a child's performance may change when directions are modeled, physical materials are provided, or verbal information is reduced.

Pages 32–33: Mathematical Language

Recommendation 4: Engage children in conversations about mathematical ideas and support them in using mathematical language.

Page 32 introduces the importance of mathematical language and opportunities for children to hear, understand, and use words describing number, quantity, shapes, and relationships.

Page 33 describes intentionally teaching mathematical words and includes Table 4.1, which organizes common mathematical language by topic area.

Focus on the distinction between understanding a mathematical relationship and understanding the words used to describe that relationship.

For example, a child may accurately identify the larger of two sets when shown objects, yet struggle with a verbally presented question containing unfamiliar comparative language.

Pages 39–40: Selecting Vocabulary

Recommendation 5: Intentionally plan activities to build children's vocabulary and language.

Page 39 explains the importance of vocabulary development and recommends selecting three to five target words each week, with continued review in subsequent weeks.

Page 40 discusses choosing words related to meaningful themes and increasing complexity over time.

Review the progression from concrete words that can be pictured or demonstrated toward more abstract language.

Pay particular attention to high-frequency connecting words that may be difficult to represent visually but are important for understanding instructional language.

Pages 40–41: Introducing Word Meanings

Examine the recommendation to explain new words using familiar language and connect them to concrete examples, illustrations, objects, and experiences.

Consider why hearing a word once does not necessarily establish understanding of its meaning or appropriate use.

Page 41 includes Table 5.1, which describes ways to expand children's understanding of vocabulary.

Page 42: Elaborating Word Knowledge

Review strategies such as gestures, examples and nonexamples, and connecting words to personal experiences.

Examine Example 5.1, in which a teacher and child discuss the meaning of the word silent.

Examine Example 5.2, which demonstrates increasingly complex opportunities to understand and use the word fierce.

Pages 43–44: Practice Across Contexts

Focus on the recommendation to use materials, play, dramatic activities, and conversations to provide repeated opportunities for applying vocabulary.

Consider the instructional value of acting out words, connecting new words with previously learned concepts, and providing specific feedback.

Page 45: Reinforcing Language Through Conversation

Examine the recommendation to engage children in interactive conversations that revisit previously taught words.

Focus on how teacher questions, follow-up prompts, and repeated use across classroom activities contribute to developing word knowledge.

1. Language as a Foundation for Cognitive Development

Language supports the acquisition, organization, and communication of knowledge. Young children use language to learn new concepts, understand relationships, follow instructions, communicate reasoning, and participate in collaborative activities.

As children develop, language becomes increasingly important for understanding classroom expectations and accessing instruction involving abstract ideas.

However, language proficiency and nonverbal cognitive understanding are not identical.

A child may recognize a mathematical relationship through direct manipulation but have difficulty explaining that relationship using unfamiliar vocabulary.

Receptive Language

Receptive language involves understanding spoken or other accessible forms of language. In preschool classrooms, children must interpret directions, questions, descriptions, and explanations.

For example, a teacher might ask a child to place a block between two objects.

Successful performance requires understanding the spatial relationship, recognizing the relevant objects, and carrying out the requested action.

Expressive Language

Expressive language involves communicating ideas, knowledge, and experiences through speech or other communication methods.

A child may understand that two groups contain the same quantity but have difficulty describing them as equal.

This illustrates why expressive performance should not be used as the only indicator of conceptual understanding when communication demands may limit responding.

Vocabulary and Concept Development

Vocabulary knowledge includes more than recognizing word labels. It involves understanding meanings, relationships, examples, categories, and the appropriate use of words in different contexts.

The guide emphasizes repeated exposure and opportunities to use new words within meaningful activities.

2. Understanding Language Demands in Early Cognitive Tasks

Preschool assessments frequently require children to listen to instructions, interpret questions, remember verbal information, and communicate responses.

Consequently, task performance may reflect the interaction of language comprehension, working memory, attention, conceptual knowledge, and response demands.

Example: Understanding Quantity

A teacher presents two collections of blocks and asks which set contains more.

A child may correctly identify the larger collection when both sets are visible.

However, when the same relationship is described verbally without objects, performance may decline.

This change raises questions about whether the child is struggling with quantity concepts, comparative vocabulary, verbal working memory, or the absence of concrete support.

Example: Spatial Relationships

A child may successfully move objects into different locations after watching an adult demonstrate.

The same child may struggle with directions containing unfamiliar words such as between, behind, or beside.

The psychologist should consider whether the child understands the spatial relationships when language demands are reduced.

Example: Multistep Problem-Solving

An activity involving pattern blocks may require a child to retain a sequence of instructions while identifying shapes and arranging objects.

Errors could reflect difficulty with the underlying spatial concept, language comprehension, working memory, visual analysis, or motor coordination.

A Framework for Task Analysis

3. How Language Supports Early Mathematical Thinking

Recommendations 3 and 4 illustrate how mathematical understanding and mathematical language develop through purposeful instruction, conversation, and interaction with concrete materials.

Children learn mathematical concepts through activities such as comparing, sorting, counting, identifying shapes, creating patterns, and describing relationships.

Language helps children organize these experiences and communicate what they understand.

Vocabulary for Mathematical Relationships

Understanding Versus Naming

A child who can sort objects into groups based on shape may demonstrate conceptual knowledge even when unfamiliar with the names of each shape.

Conversely, a child who accurately labels a triangle may not yet understand which geometric characteristics distinguish triangles from other shapes.

The school psychologist should consider multiple response formats, including classification, construction, pointing, and explanation.

Conversations That Develop Reasoning

The guide emphasizes engaging children in mathematical conversation rather than limiting interaction to questions requiring single-word responses.

For example, instead of asking only whether one tower is taller, a teacher can ask how the child determined which tower was taller.

Follow-up questions can help children connect their observations to relevant mathematical vocabulary.

4. Intentional Vocabulary Instruction

Recommendation 5 emphasizes the deliberate selection, explanation, rehearsal, and repeated use of vocabulary.

Vocabulary development is cumulative. Knowledge of familiar words can support learning additional concepts, while unfamiliar vocabulary can limit access to instruction even when children possess related background knowledge.

Selecting Target Words

The guide recommends selecting three to five words to emphasize each week while continuing to review previously introduced words.

Words should be useful, meaningful, and connected to classroom learning.

Teachers may select words associated with a common topic to provide repeated opportunities for use.

Progressing From Concrete to Abstract Language

Early instruction may emphasize words that can be demonstrated through pictures, actions, or familiar objects.

As children develop understanding, instruction can incorporate words describing more complex relationships and abstract ideas.

Examples include words used to explain causes, relationships, comparisons, and reasoning.

Explicitly Explaining Meanings

The teacher should explain a target word in language children already understand.

For example, a teacher introducing the word sprint might explain that it means running fast for a short time.

The teacher can then demonstrate the action and provide an opportunity for children to identify or imitate it.

Examples and Nonexamples

Understanding is strengthened when children learn not only what a word means but also when it does not apply.

For example, when teaching the word silent, the teacher might contrast a quiet situation with one involving noticeable noise.

Children can describe the difference and practice using the target word.

5. The Role of Conversation in Cognitive Development

Language learning involves more than listening to adult explanations.

Children benefit from interactive conversations that allow them to respond, clarify ideas, explain observations, and receive meaningful feedback.

Extending Children's Responses

If a child says a tower is big, the teacher might expand the response by describing the tower as taller than another.

This preserves the child's contribution while introducing more precise vocabulary.

Supporting Complex Answers

Questions that invite explanation encourage children to organize and communicate reasoning.

For example:

• How did you decide which group has more?
• What makes these two shapes different?
• How could we arrange the blocks another way?
• What do you think will happen next?
• Why did you choose that object?

Providing Wait Time

Children may need additional time to interpret a question, retrieve relevant words, organize a response, and communicate their thinking.

Immediate repetition or rephrasing may sometimes increase demands rather than reduce them.

Teachers should allow appropriate processing time and then provide clarification or support when needed.

Using Multiple Communication Methods

Some children may demonstrate understanding through pointing, gestures, manipulating objects, pictures, or augmentative communication systems.

These response formats can support meaningful participation while language skills develop.

6. Reducing Unnecessary Language Demands

A central responsibility of school psychologists is helping educators distinguish the skill being taught or evaluated from the language used to present the task.

Language support should not remove the essential learning objective. Instead, it should make the relevant concept more accessible.

Clarify Instructions

Use concise language and provide clear demonstrations.

When a task requires a new concept, avoid introducing multiple unfamiliar instructional terms at the same time.

Use Concrete Materials

Blocks, pictures, figurines, and other meaningful materials can help children connect words to observable relationships.

These supports are particularly useful for early mathematics and vocabulary instruction.

Teach Words Explicitly

Choose meaningful target words and explain their meanings using familiar language.

Provide examples, nonexamples, and opportunities to demonstrate understanding.

Provide Repeated Practice

Review target words during stories, play, conversations, and classroom routines.

Gradually ask children to apply words in increasingly complex situations.

Monitor Generalization

A child who uses a word correctly during a lesson may still need additional opportunities to use it during natural classroom activities.

Measure understanding and application, not simply accurate repetition.

7. Assessment, Consultation, and Progress Monitoring

School psychologists can apply the reading to early childhood evaluation, classroom consultation, and intervention planning.

Assessment Implications

When interpreting language-dependent tasks, consider the interaction between the target skill and the language needed to understand and respond to the activity.

A child may demonstrate stronger performance under certain instructional conditions because those conditions reduce unnecessary barriers.

However, changes in task presentation may also change what the task measures. The psychologist should carefully distinguish informal instructional observations from standardized assessment results.

Multilingual Learners

Children who use more than one language may have uneven vocabulary exposure across languages and contexts.

Limited familiarity with a particular English word should not automatically be interpreted as limited conceptual knowledge.

Evaluation should consider language exposure, developmental history, educational experience, and available information about functioning across languages.

Instructional Consultation

Psychologists can help teachers identify vocabulary demands, clarify learning objectives, select accessible materials, and plan systematic opportunities for practice.

For example, when a mathematics activity involves comparative vocabulary, the teacher can intentionally teach the relevant words while maintaining opportunities for children to manipulate and compare objects.

Progress Monitoring

Meaningful progress measures may include:

• Accurate identification of target word meanings.
• Selection of appropriate examples and nonexamples.
• Successful use of vocabulary in unfamiliar contexts.
• Correct responses to concept questions with documented support levels.
• Participation in mathematical conversations.
• Ability to demonstrate the target concept through multiple response formats.
• Reduced prompting during familiar instructional tasks.

Lesson Synthesis

Early language development is closely connected to children's ability to acquire concepts, understand instructional relationships, participate in problem-solving, and communicate knowledge.

The assigned reading illustrates this connection through recommendations in mathematics instruction, mathematical conversation, and vocabulary development.

Connecting Pages 23–24 to Cognitive Development

Recommendation 3 emphasizes intentional instruction that helps children develop meaningful mathematical understanding.

The pattern-block and number-path examples illustrate how hands-on materials can support learning while giving teachers opportunities to observe children's reasoning and responses.

For school psychologists, these examples underscore the need to distinguish knowledge of a concept from the language and task demands used to elicit a response.

Connecting Pages 32–33 to Mathematical Language

Recommendation 4 emphasizes that mathematical learning is supported by opportunities to hear, understand, and use relevant language.

Mathematical vocabulary provides a way to describe quantity, spatial relationships, patterns, measurement, and geometric properties.

A child who struggles with unfamiliar mathematical language may have difficulty accessing instruction even when some underlying conceptual knowledge is present.

This makes language-sensitive observation particularly important in early childhood assessment and consultation.

Connecting Pages 39–45 to Vocabulary Instruction

Recommendation 5 emphasizes planned vocabulary instruction, including selection of useful words, clear explanations, concrete illustrations, examples and nonexamples, and repeated opportunities for application.

Vocabulary learning should not be reduced to word repetition. Children need opportunities to connect words with meanings, experiences, and related concepts.

The examples involving the words silent, fierce, and emerging illustrate how instruction can move from initial exposure to richer understanding and application.

Implications for Assessment

School psychologists should identify the language demands embedded in cognitive tasks and consider whether those demands are necessary to the construct being evaluated.

Differences between verbal and more accessible task conditions may help identify instructional barriers and guide further inquiry.

However, assessment interpretation must respect standardized administration requirements and avoid drawing unsupported conclusions from informal comparisons.

Implications for Intervention

Language-sensitive intervention should preserve meaningful cognitive challenge while making task expectations accessible.

Appropriate strategies may include explicit word instruction, visual demonstrations, concrete materials, guided conversations, repetition across contexts, and multiple communication options.

Instruction should progress from familiar, concrete examples toward more complex and abstract applications as children develop understanding.

Implications for Equity

Language exposure, cultural experiences, communication differences, and educational opportunities can influence how children demonstrate their knowledge.

School psychologists should ensure that differences in language experience are not automatically interpreted as cognitive deficits.

Accessible assessments and culturally responsive instruction support a more complete understanding of children's capabilities and learning needs.

Implications for Consultation

Psychologists can help teachers evaluate whether instructional language is understandable, whether vocabulary has been explicitly taught, and whether children have sufficient opportunities to use new words.

Collaboration can also support selection of meaningful learning objectives, appropriate practice conditions, and observable progress measures.

Key Concepts to Retain

1. Language comprehension and cognitive understanding are closely related but not interchangeable.
2. Mathematical language helps children describe and reason about quantities, shapes, patterns, and relationships.
3. Vocabulary development requires repeated exposure, meaningful explanation, and active application.
4. Concrete objects, visual supports, and modeling can improve access to instruction.
5. Performance differences across verbal and supported conditions require careful interpretation.
6. Multilingual development and communication differences must be considered during assessment and intervention.
7. Progress monitoring should examine understanding, application, and functional participation rather than word repetition alone.

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