Abstract
The linguistic ability and play of a language-impaired child were analysed to determine whether a breakdown in symbolic play occurs together with a language deficit. Observation of play was conducted at the child's nursery school (unstructured situation) and in a situation designed to elicit specific play behaviours (structured situation). Imaginative play and its concomitants — affect, mood variability, concentration, aggression and interaction — were rated along descriptive scales, while each individual play unit was scored for organization of behaviour. Syntactic, semantic and phonological aspects of language were recorded during free play and analyzed within a syntactic framework. The normal developmental sequence provided the baseline of comparison for both language and play. Results indicated a developmental lag in play and a linguistic deviation from the normal pattern, which supported the possibility of a general representational deficit. A method for incorporating symbolic play into a language programme was suggested and the necessity for normative studies in this area was stressed.
Highlights
The dearth of normative studies yielding quantitative data necessitated a largely qualitative analysis. For both language and play the normal developmental sequence served as the baseline for comparison
Development Sentence Types (DST) analysis demonstrated that S used the earlier acquired verb phrase (VP) more frequently than the noun phrase (NP)
Qualitative analysis revealed a delay in language development as well as a deviation from the normal sequence
Summary
On the basis of foregoing findings, the aim of the present study was to analyse and to describe qualitatively the symbolic play and linguistic ability of a language-impaired child
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Schedule a callMore From: The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir Kommunikasieafwykings
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