Referents are the tools we have available to shape the course of language development.
The irony of it is that these are NOT even processes at all. They are, for purposes of our discussion, things ...all the things around us.
That includes you and me, all body parts, animals, trees, houses pencils and paper--everything and the world itself.
While this may seem too obvious to mention, it is the most important aspect of language to us.
Why? Because these are the only tools we have at hand to shape the course of language development. Everything else is speculative and intangible.
Of particular interest, of course, are the things provided for the child‰s environment.
Every time the child comes in contact with and attends to something novel, there is going to be a physical restructuring of the brain.