Language enables thinking. I think you’re right to cast doubt that it determines the thinking. Language is needed to think as a builder and to relate to other builders. Without the language, cocepts are nebulous or perhaps nonexistent.

As a boy, I’d listen to my father talk with his colleagues. He was a craftsman, a joiner and cabinet-maker. But one thing came clear to me, even at those tender times, that in order to visualise what was being discussed the language of the cabinet-maker was essential.

Teaching Science to young minds is no different. When they have the language of Science and can understand it, they begin to think in scientific terms, ideas and concepts then become easier to grasp.

Literacy of the subject is so important, and not just to communicate ideas, but also to think in terms of the ideas.

Catchya later
from Middle-earth