Language Development

Language Development

Future Reflections Fall 1992, Vol. 11 No. 4
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LANGUAGE

DEVELOPMENT: Ideas for Young Children

Reprinted

from the VIP Newsletter.

The process

of developing language is influenced by several factors. Two important factors

for the young child who experiences blindness or visual impairment are: (a)

the child's experience with the objects in his/her world and (b) the methods

of communication that others use to encourage a verbal response from the child.
The first

factor often influences whether the child has a meaningful vocabulary. Are his/her

words purposeful in their ability to communicate? Often young children who experience

a visual loss talk abundantly about items that they may never have been in contact

with but have heard about in songs and rhymes or have only experienced in fragmented

fashion.
It is important

for all children to experience their world; to, for example, sit in a variety

of types of chairs so they might learn that all of the different styles still

equal chair. This concept, called generalization, is important in language

as it provides the child with an opportunity to label the objects of the world

into categories. To truly experience chair the sight-impaired child must

have the opportunity not only to sit in many different types of chairs, but

to explore chairs from all angles.
Another

component of experiential learning is to provide the child with a full process

sequence in his/her daily care routines. This is intended to assist the child

in avoiding a fragmented viewpoint about the environment and the object within

it. An example of a full sequenced experience is: Travel with the child to the

refrigerator to take out the milk, then to the cupboard to get a glass, then

to the table where the milk is poured into the glass, and after the milk has

been drunk, take the glass to the sink with the child. This sequence (as compared

to always handing the child a glass of milk) helps the child learn that things

do not automatically appear, that there is an order to life. It also provides

a participation model that will be important for later independence.
The second

factor addresses the methods adults use to elicit and reinforce a verbal response.

Research indicates that the following frequently utilized strategies may have

negative influences on a sight-impaired child's language acquisition:
* Fewer

responses to non-linguistic (non-word) vocalizations
* More

labels but fewer descriptions of the attributes of objects
* More

child-focused topics
* More

routine-bound language
Strategies

that enhance language-specific communication on behalf of the child are:
* Cue into

the child's non-linguistic vocalizations; praising the efforts or acting upon

what appears to be the intended meaning: "Ba—." "You want

your bottle?"
* Expand

descriptions of common objects, e.g. "You're holding the small blue cup"

versus "You're holding the cup."
* Promote

conversations that bring in other people and/or use others to model a language

request, e.g. "Dad, please pat the dog." (This encourages the child

to learn about this activity.)
* Provide

change in the language involved in familiar activities. The sudden switch from

a rote dialogue causes the child to stop and think about new vocabulary and

meaning.
**By Tanni

Anthony....from AVIS, Association for Visually Impaired Students in BC Newsletter. Original title of article: "Language Development: Ideas for Young Children

Who Experience A Sight Loss."
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