Role play and language development in the preschool years.

Autor/in	Andresen, Helga
Titel	Role play and language development in the preschool years.
Quelle	In: Culture & psychology, 11 (2005) 4, S. 387-414Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1354-067X; 1461-7056
DOI	10.1177/1354067X05058577
Schlagwörter	Fertigkeit; Kommunikation; Psychologie; Psychosoziale Entwicklung; Rollenspiel; Soziale Interaktion; Kindheit; Kind; Sprachentwicklung; Dyade; Entwicklung; Theorie; Kindergartenkind
Abstract	One aim of the present study is to specify Vygotsky's thesis that preschool children in role play are acting in the zone of proximal development (ZPD) with respect to language development. The empirical basis of the analyses consisted of 36 video tapes of 2 children each. Altogether, 48 children between 3 and 6 years of age were included. Results show that language is the central means of creating pretence. By explicit metacommunication, children collaboratively negotiate the plot, transform meanings and distinguish fiction from reality. Thus, metacommunication functions as a verbal frame, determining the meanings within play. Thereby children overcome sympraxic language use which is characteristic of toddlers. Another result is that role play changes during the preschool years. It is argued that these changes can be subsumed under a general developmental phenomenon, namely the transition of interpsychic into intrapsychic processes. A point of special interest is why preschoolers, through role play, can act in the ZPD, although their ability to cooperate with other children is only at a nascent stage. To explain this, the paper discusses several aspects of psychosocial development. (ZPID).
Erfasst von	Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie, Trier
Update	2006/4