Psychology and education are joined in the belief that learning is a process that involves cognitive, emotional and environmental factors for the development of knowledge. There are three main categories of learning theory including behavior, cognitive and construction theories.

Behavior theories maintain that learning is observed from changes in behavior shaped by the environment and reinforced. Thus, by conditioning using a stimulus response paradigm or in an operant manner via providing reward or punishment for behavior, behaviorists believe language is behavior and is learned.

In the cognitive theory, memory plays an important role to organize and process information that will lead to learning. It is the individual who has the control of cognitive processes. In cognitive theory language, conceptual and communication development occur simultaneously.

The constructivist system proposes that learning is an active process in which a person uses current and past knowledge to build new ideas. In this theory, the language we use is crucial because learning and language are bonded. It refers to how a person perceives, thinks and understands.

During the past several decades the “Theory of Mind” has gained increasing presence. This theory postulates that development is a continuum from birth to adult. It heavily relies on a child’s ability to know how his/her mind works and also to understand how the mind of another person works.