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A longitudinal study of the relationship between early language development and play development*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Tamiko Ogura
Tamiko Ogura*
Affiliation:
Shimane University
*
Faculty of Education, Shimane University, Matsue, Japan, 690.
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Abstract

Temporal correspondences between the attainment of specific milestones in play and language were examined through a longitudinal study of four Japanese children (aged 0;7 to 0;11 at the beginning of the study). There were developmental correspondences between the onset of six language landmarks (the emergence of first words, naming words, vocabulary spurts, word-chains, nonproductive two-word utterances, productive two-word utterances) and the onset of subcategories of play. Language and play both reflected the development of underlying symbolic ability, and both developed in a parallel manner at the single-word stage. After the emergence of word-chains, language and play developed interdependently. All the children proceeded through the same sequence of stages, but the rate of development was different depending on their environment.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 1991 , pp. 273 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank Philip Dale, Toru Watamaki and an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper. I also thank Yukie Yamashita for her reliability checks. I am grateful to the children, the caretakers, and the parents who made this study possible.

References

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