scholarly journals The role of gesture in the language production of preschool children

Gesture ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Sekine
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Point Theory ◽  
Central Action ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Activity Sequence

The present study investigates the functions of gestures in preschoolers’ descriptions of activities. Specifically, utilizing McNeill’s growth point theory (1992), I examine how gestures contribute to the creation of contrast from the immediate context in the spoken discourse of children. When preschool children describe an activity consisting of multiple actions, like playing on a slide, they often begin with the central action (e.g., sliding-down) instead of with the beginning of the activity sequence (e.g., climbing-up). This study indicates that, in descriptions of activities, gestures may be among the cues the speaker uses for forming a next idea or for repairing the temporal order of the activities described. Gestures may function for the speaker as visual feedback and contribute to the process of utterance formation and provide an index for assessing language development.

The Role of Affect and Emotion in Language Development

2011 ◽  
pp. 208-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Hohenberger
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Emotional Context ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
Context Of Learning

In this chapter, language development is discussed within a social-emotional framework. Children’s language processing is gated by social and emotional aspects of the interaction, such as affective prosodic and facial expression, contingent reactions, and joint attention. Infants and children attend to both cognitive and affective aspects in language perception (“language” vs. “paralanguage”) and in language production (“effort” vs. “engagement”). Deaf children acquiring a sign language go through the same developmental milestones in this respect. Modality-independently, a tripartite developmental sequence emerges: (i) an undifferentiated affect-dominated system governs the child’s behavior, (ii) a cognitive and language-dominated system emerges that attenuates the affective system, (iii) emotional expression is re-integrated into cognition and language. This tightly integrated cognitive-affective language system is characteristic of adults. Evolutionary scenarios are discussed that might underlie its ontogeny. The emotional context of learning might influence the course and outcome of L2-learning, too.

Co-expressivity of Speech and Gesture: Manner of Motion in Spanish, English, and Chinese

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Point Theory ◽  
Semantic Theory ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Thinking For Speaking

<p>Languages such as Spanish and English differ in how each lexically packages and syntactically distributes semantic content related to motion event expression (Talmy 1985, 1991). Comparisons of spoken Spanish and English (Slobin 1996, 1998) reveal less expression of manner of motion in Spanish. This leads to the conclusion that ‘thinking for speaking’ in Spanish involves less conceptualization of manner. Here we assess speech-associated thinking about manner on a broader basis by examining not only speech but also the speech-synchronous gestures of Spanish, English, and Chinese speakers for content related to manner of motion. Speakers of all three languages produce manner-expressive gestures similar in type and frequency. Thus, motion event description may in fact involve conceptualization of manner to roughly the same extent in all three languages. Examination of gesture-speech temporal synchrony shows that Spanish manner gestures associate with expression of the ground component of motion in speech.</p><p>We consider these findings in relation to two assertions: (1) gesture compensates for content speech lacks, (2) gesture and speech ‘jointly highlight’ shared or congruent semantic content. A compensation interpretation of the Spanish manner gestures raises questions about the role of gesture data in studies of thinking-for-speaking, generally. Further evidence from a follow-up study, in which narrators had no visual exposure to the cartoon, lead us to interpret Spanish speakers’ manner-expressive gestures as an instance of joint highlighting. This interpretation accords with McNeill’s (1992) “rule of semantic synchrony” between speech and gesture, one of the foundations of his ‘growth point’ theory of language production (McNeill 1992; McNeill and Duncan 2000). We discuss some implications of a joint highlighting interpretation for analyses of thinking for speaking and for lexical semantic theory.</p>

scholarly journals A Methodological Approach to the Investigation of Language Flexibility in Preschoolers: the Role of Toys and Parental Beliefs

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-75
Author(s):  
Alexandra Marian ◽  
Thea Ionescu ◽  
Oana Benga
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Parental Beliefs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Experimental Procedure ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Watching Tv

"The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of the toy-type and parental beliefs about play in the development and use of language in a flexible manner by preschool children. Namely, we defined language flexibility as the ability to use multiple labels for the same object, in response to a particular verbal context. Children’s language flexibility was evaluated with a newly-designed task that comprised several story-like situations in which the main character needed the child’s help to solve a problem. The main results failed to prove a statistically significant difference between the two groups of children in the language flexibility task. But the performance on the language flexibility task was positively and significantly associated with some free time activities that children are frequently involved in and with parent’s willingness to let their children play with a toy in a different way than its prescribed mode. In contrast, the frequency and time spent by the child watching TV or playing on the computer was negatively and significantly associated with the performance on the language flexibility task. As a conclusion, we discussed the current results side by side with some proposals regarding both methodological improvements on the current experimental procedure and future research attempts at investigating language development and language flexibility of preschoolers. Keywords: play, toy type, language flexibility, parental beliefs, preschoolers "

The facilitative role of adults in the language development of Afrikaans‐ and Sesotho‐speaking preschool children

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Messerschmidt ◽  
Julia Ramabenyane ◽  
Ricka Venter ◽  
Carna Vorster
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Facilitative Role

The Role of the SLP in Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Assessment

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Philofsky
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Prevalence Estimates ◽  
Notable Increase ◽  
Screening Assessment ◽  
Critical Components

AbstractRecent prevalence estimates for autism have been alarming as a function of the notable increase. Speech-language pathologists play a critical role in screening, assessment and intervention for children with autism. This article reviews signs that may be indicative of autism at different stages of language development, and discusses the importance of several psychometric properties—sensitivity and specificity—in utilizing screening measures for children with autism. Critical components of assessment for children with autism are reviewed. This article concludes with examples of intervention targets for children with ASD at various levels of language development.

THE ROLE OF CHILDREN'S ARTISTIC LITERATUR IN THE ASSIMILATION OF PHILOSOPHICAL CATEGORIES BY PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 20-24
Author(s):  
Ponomareva L.I. ◽  
Gan N.Yu. ◽  
Obukhova K.A.
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Human Relations ◽  
The World ◽  
Culture And Health ◽  
Nature And Society ◽  
Good And Evil

In the presented study, the authors raise the question of the need to include in the educational process of a preschool institution to familiarize children with some philosophical categories. The educational system in which the child is included, starting from preschool childhood, provides him with the opportunity to gradually and continuously enter the knowledge of the world around him. It is in preschool childhood that the child is exposed to various relationships, values of culture and health, diverse patterns in the field of different knowledge. This contributes to a broader interaction of the preschooler with the world around him, which, in turn, ensures the assimilation not of disparate ideas about objects and phenomena, but their natural integration and interpenetration, which means understanding the integrity of the picture of the world. The authors prove the idea that the assimilation of philosophical categories by children contributes to the understanding of the structure of the surrounding world. The analysis of research is presented, proving that children's fiction in an understandable and accessible language, life examples and vivid images is able to explain to children the laws of the functioning of nature and society, as well as to reveal the world of human relations and feelings. Fiction surrounds the child from the first years of his life. It is she who contributes to the development of thinking and imagination, enriches the sensory world, provides role models and teaches you to find a way out in different situations. Philosophical categories such as "love and friendship", "beautiful and ugly", "good and evil" are represented in children's literature very widely, and the efficiency of mastering philosophical categories depends on the skill of an adult in conveying the content of a work, on correctly placed accents.

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