【英语时差8,16】玩耍和语言

Play And Language We usually think of play as something that’s done only in one’s free time, separate from the serious business of life. For an infant or a toddler, however,learning to play is a crucial part of social development. The ages between eight months and three years are a very busy time for children. This is when they first learn to use language, starting with single words and moving gradually into word groups and finally sentences. This is also when they learn what psychologists call symbolic¹ play; that is, using gestures or objects to symbolize² other events and objects. Just as the abstract words of a language can symbolize real things the word “house” for a real house a child’s play doll might come to symbolize a real baby. What’s more, just as language starts with words, then moves gradually to sentences, symbolic play starts with discrete³ episodes pretending to change the baby, pretending to answer the phone then moves to more elaborate games. A number of psychologists have studied the connection between play and language mastery. One group found that they could predict how quickly children would learn to speak by carefully watching how they played. Another study seems to indicate that you can actually improve a child’s mastery of language by training him or her in the basics of symbolic play, although more research is needed to confirm this.

1 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

2 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。

3 discrete   

adj.个别的，分离的，不连续的

参考例句：

• The picture consists of a lot of discrete spots of colour.这幅画由许多不相连的色点组成。
• Most staple fibers are discrete,individual entities.大多数短纤维是不联系的单独实体。