In this study, we test the hypothesis that symbolic play represents a fertile context for language acquisition because its inherent ambiguity elicits communicative behaviors that positively influence development. Infant–caregiver dyads (N = 54) participated in two 20-minute play sessions six months apart (Time 1 = 18 months, Time 2 = 24 months). During each session, the dyads played with two sets of toys that elicited either symbolic or functional play. The sessions were transcribed and coded for several features of dyadic interaction and language; infants’ linguistic proficiency was measured via parental report. The two contexts elicited different communicative and linguistic behaviors. Notably, the symbolic play condition resulted in significantly greater conversational turn-taking than functional play, and also resulted in the greater use of questions and mimetics in infant-directed speech (IDS). In contrast, caregivers used more imperative clauses in functional play. Correlational and regression analyses showed that frequent properties of symbolic play (i.e., turn-taking, yes–no questions, mimetics) were positively related to infants’ language proficiency, whereas frequent features of functional play (i.e., imperatives in IDS) were negatively related. The results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that symbolic play is a fertile context for language development, driven by the need to negotiate meaning.

中文翻译：

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象征性游戏为语言发展提供了肥沃的环境

在这项研究中，我们检验了这样一个假设，即符号游戏代表了语言习得的肥沃环境，因为其固有的歧义会引发对发展产生积极影响的交际行为。婴儿-照顾者二人组（N = 54) 参加了相隔六个月的两次 20 分钟的游戏课程（时间 1 = 18 个月，时间 2 = 24 个月）。在每次会议期间，二人组玩两套玩具，引发象征性或功能性游戏。针对二元交互和语言的几个特征，对会话进行了转录和编码；婴儿的语言能力是通过父母报告来衡量的。这两种语境引发了不同的交际和语言行为。值得注意的是，与功能性游戏相比，象征性游戏条件导致了更多的对话轮换，并且还导致了在婴儿导向言语 (IDS) 中更多地使用问题和模仿。相比之下，看护者在功能性游戏中使用更多的祈使句。相关性和回归分析表明，符号游戏的频繁特性（即轮流、是-否问题，模仿）与婴儿的语言能力呈正相关，而功能性游戏的频繁特征（即 IDS 中的命令式）呈负相关。结果提供了支持以下假设的证据，即符号游戏是语言发展的肥沃环境，由协商意义的需要驱动。