Considering Cognitive and Psychosocial Aspects in Teaching English for Young Learners

Age	Cognitive	Psychosocial
0-1	Sensorimotor	Trust vs Mistrust
1-2	Sensorimotor	Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt
2-6	Preoperational	Initiative vs Guilt
6-7	Preoperational/Concrete	Initiative vs Guilt
7-12	Concrete Operations	Competence/Industry vs Inferiority
12-20+	Formal Operations	Identity vs Role Confusion

Birth-1 Year of Age

Sensorimotor Interacts and learns by sensory and motor experiences.  Begins learning to control body and use it to obtain needs.  Early stage learning of object permanence (mother).

Trust Vs Mistrust Infants depend on caregivers to respond to their sensorimotor communications and meet their basic needs

Age 1-2

Sensorimotor Still interacts and learns by sensory and motor experiences, but is more efficient at doing so.  The ability to walk allows child to expand his/her sensory world..

Autonomy Vs. Shame/Doubt Toddlers learn to explore and do things for themselves. Their self-control and self-confidence begin to develop at this stage.

Age 2-6/7

Preoperational Language development is prominent.  Fantasy/imaginary play becomes key in learning about and expressing their understanding of the world.   Child’s view of the world is egocentric. Formal logic is not a part of their thinking..

Initiative Vs. Guilt Children begin to interact with environment using motor and language skills.   Impulse control is initiated by external structure. Guilt can often stem from an egocentric understanding of the world around them.

Age 6/7-12

Concrete Operations Perform logical operations (i.e. basic math skills, categorical, thinking), but only in relation to concrete objects, not abstract ideas. Able to understand a situation from another person’s perspective.

Competence Vs. Inferiority School is a central part of life at this stage. Children learn to master basic social and academic skills.   Peers are the key social agent and they begin to compare themselves to other children.

Age 12-20

Formal Operations Abstract, theoretical, philosophical, and scientific reasoning becomes possible. Long term cause and effect speculations begin to occur. Adolescents begin to question, reinterpret and revise their previous knowledge base.

Identity Vs. Role Confusion Adolescents begin to ask the question, "Who am I?"  The adolescent typically relies on his/her society of peers to help resolve the inner conflicts.