SYMBOLIC THOUGHT: Play, Language, Literacy Chapter 12

SYMBOLIC THOUGHT Imaginative play Stories Drawing Writing Speaking Symbolic thought gives kids the ability to engage in make believe

SOCIODRAMATIC PLAY Pretend play is a central activity in childhood: it is a stepping stone to more abstract actions such as reading and writing Sociodramatic play helps dev creativity, language, intelligence (IQ), problem solving in a circular relationship See chart p. 255(role playing, make believe, social interaction, speaking, persistence) See Judy’s handout

SOCIODRAMATIC PLAY Kids from different cultures play games that reflect their experiences We should provide a range of culturally sensitive play opportunities

PLAY-WORK Children who must do chores engage in play while they work Many cultures have only hand-made toys Many toys prepare kids for adult work roles (Menchu article)

FACILITATING PLAY OF SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN VISUALLY IMPAIRED Nature of their play: solitary, less imaginative, repetitive, seek adults rather than peers See p. 258 suggestions to stimulate play HEARING IMPAIRED Limited vocabulary prevents sophisticated pretend play See p 259 suggestions to stimulate play

MENTALLY RETARDED Repetitive, less language, less symbolic See p. 260 suggestions for stimulating play AUTISTIC Repetitive, less abstract, communication disordered See p. 261 for suggestions for stimulating play

Kids with disabilities should be encouraged to engage in symbolic play by adults despite the impairments that make it more difficult for them to do so

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PHONOLOGY/sound formation Forming sounds is a complex activity that requires coordination of several body parts Sound acquisition occurs developmentally See chart, p.263

SPEECH EVALUATION When child is hard to understand referrals are made to therapists Stimulable: can the child imitate the sound when it is demonstrated by an adult? Unpredictable substitutions Disfluency: analysis by expert is needed

SEMANTICS/word meanings 200 words at 2 years to 10,000 at 6 years Parent involvement leads to more rapid language development Overgeneralization Overrestriction Meanings dev over time ex. “yesterday” Language dev is an active, creative process central to early childhood often needing adult encouragement

SEMANTICS AND KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Word retrieval problems: stutter, pause, May result in indefinite speech “like,” “you know,” “thing”

SEMANTICS AND BILINGUAL CHILDREN Mental Dictionary: younger kids use both languages mixed together By age 5 kids use both languages separately and in the appropriate environments Proper assessments of bilingual kids must take both languages into account

SYNTAX/rules for forming phrases and sentences Morphemes: smallest part of word that has meaning See chart p. 269 Morphemes are acquired developmentally and in fixed order Noun + verb (Nanny go) dev to inclusion of morphemes (articles). Nanny will go away soon.

SYNTAX AND BILINGUAL CHILDREN Different languages have different rules Youngest children may apply 1 set of rules to both languages Black English Vernacular: a language with distinct syntax Best policy: to support both home and standard language use

PRAGMATICS/using language socially Politeness, vocabulary, body language, turn taking See chart p. 272 Socialized Speech dev over time and takes the listener’s perspective into account

PRAGMATICS AND KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Kids most likely to be affected by pragmatics problems: Hearing impaired Autism: avoid eye contact, unresponsive, echolalic Occur along a continuum from barely noticeable to lacking speech entirely Attempts to communicate should be encouraged

PRAGMATIC RULES ARE CULTURAL Turn taking Talkativeness (especially of kids) Silence: may be used to avoid conflict or agreement Body language and touching Facial expressions and eye contact

LITERACY DEV Writing dev in stages Kids often think adults can read their early scribbled attempts to write real words Kids begin to form approximations of real letters Kids associate real letters with phonemes (sounds) Kids associate real letters with the correct phonemes

READING DEV See chart p. 279 Child believes words are imbedded in pictures Child notices words are associated with print Child memorizes text Child looks for meaning in print (ex name)

ENCOURAGING LITERACY Dev multicultural literature section Encourage all attempts at reading-not just books (signs, magazines, clothing….) Embed literacy activities throughout the classroom: props, adult modeling Encourage verbal story-telling

Include: Poetry, songs, puppets, finger plays, felt board Read in circle Read to 1 child (promotes intimacy & involvement)

LITERACY DELAYS Early intervention is important Refer to speech and language therapist or other professional for evaluation & diagnosis