ABSTRACT
The problem of the relationship between language and thought is an ancient one and it is contested. This chapter examines some of the empirical evidence for the relationship between language and thinking. It also examines linguistic competence, as defined by N. Chomsky and his critics and of its relation to general cognitive competence. The chapter reviews of cross-cultural and experimental evidence on the influence of language on the development of thinking. It discusses some of the interpretations placed upon K. Goldstein's findings concerning language disturbances, with especial reference to M. Merleau-Ponty's contention that 'language accomplishes thinking'. A. R. Luria, working within this tradition, has shown how language comes to have an increasing influence upon voluntary behaviour. In his work on the language and thought of the child Jean Piaget had argued that the Freudian distinction between primary and secondary processes could be conceptualized as a distinction between individual and socialized thought.
