Language as mind tools: Learning how to think through speaking

... the expression of experience in linguistic terms constitutes thinking for speaking—a special form of thought that is mobilized for communication. ... We encounter the contents of the mind in a special way when they are being accessed for use. ... In the evanescent time frame of constructing utterances in discourse one fits one's thoughts into available linguistic frames. "Thinking for speaking" involves picking those characteristics of objects and events that (a) fit some conceptualization of the event and (b) are readily encodable in the language. I propose that, in learning a native language, the child learns particular ways of thinking for speaking, [our emphases]