Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) are psychologists who are known for their theories of language development and cognition. There are certain ways in which the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky are similar. However, there are many more ways in which their theories differ. Both theories are useful for understanding certain aspects of the relationship between thought and language development. However, Vygotsky's theory is somewhat more useful than Piaget's is.
In regard to their views on cognitive development and language development, both Piaget and Vygotsky are "constructivists." In other words, they both believe that children construct knowledge in the process of exploring the world around them. Children cannot be simply "given information, which they immediately understand and use" (Powell & Kalina, 2009, p. 242). Rather than receiving knowledge in this way, children are "active agents" in their search for knowledge and understanding (Hulit, et al., 2011, p. 90).
According to Piaget, children pass through four stages of cognitive development. In the first stage, the sensorimotor stage, children interact with their environments in "physical and mostly unlearned ways," although they rapidly undergo cognitive development at the same time (Hulit, et al., 2011, p. 62). Between the ages of two and seven, children enter the preoperational stage, during which their cognitive development and language development are accelerated. The third stage, the stage of concrete operations, results in the increased ability to solve problems. By the adolescent years, children have entered the formal operations stage, in which "cognitive abilities become fully developed" (Hulit, et al., 2011, p. 62). Vygotsky's theory does not divide cognitive and language development into stages like Piaget's theory does. In addition, Vygotsky's view differs from Piaget's because it does not regard the child as "an independent operat...