ABSTRACT

Strong oral language skills are foundational for literacy development and begin before a child enters formal schooling. Oral language development has been related to pretend play abilities in children. Children, particularly those from disadvantaged areas, who enter school with low pretend play levels and oral language abilities, are at risk for learning. This quantitative study investigated the pretend play and oral language abilities of a group of 30 children from a disadvantaged area in Victoria, Australia, in their first year of school. Standardised play and language assessments were administered by researchers independent of each other. Results showed that, as a group, the children were entering school with play and oral language abilities below expected range for their age. Object substitution, the ability to symbolise and use an object as something else, was found to be a predictor of a child’s expressive and receptive language ability. Applying a socio-cultural lens enabled further exploration of the findings in relation to children’s lives. Implications for practice that are mindful of the policy context in which teachers work are noted.

摘要

强大的口语技能是读写能力发展的基础，并且在孩子进入正规学校教育之前就开始了。口语发展与儿童的假装游戏能力有关。儿童，尤其是来自贫困地区的儿童，进入学校时假装游戏水平和口语能力较低，面临学习风险。这项定量研究调查了来自澳大利亚维多利亚州贫困地区的 30 名儿童在上学第一年的假装游戏和口语能力。标准化的游戏和语言评估由彼此独立的研究人员管理。结果显示，作为一个群体，孩子们进入学校时的游戏和口语能力低于他们年龄的预期范围。对象替换，将一个物体象征化和用作其他东西的能力被发现是儿童表达和接受语言能力的预测指标。应用社会文化视角可以进一步探索与儿童生活相关的研究结果。注意到注意教师工作的政策背景对实践的影响。