Johanni Valerio

Professor Ewan

FIQWS

April 8, 2019

Research Proposal:Puppetry in Language Acquisition

The topic I have chosen for this essay is puppets in children education, specific puppets in language acquisition. This combination of language acquisition and puppetry is a topic that grabbed my attention because it is a topic that hits home. I struggled with enhancing my language acquisition skills, and the ability to understand a language. It’s important that children be able to enhance their oral skills and more important in a safe and imaginative way, but can puppets help with that? The art of puppetry is a practice that consists of a theater including the use of inanimate objects similar to humans. These puppets consist of different types of which makes a puppet an individual. Language acquisition teaches children ways to develop their language skills in a creative and dramatic way. But can puppets actually be part of language acquisition and make a positive impact on a child’s comprehension?

I will presume that many people will agree that puppets are a unique art form used in topics such as language acquisition. When a child begins preschool or kindergarten, the child has opportunities to enhance their literacy and oral skills. If dramatic play like puppetry is embedded in the child’s classroom, will the child process language clearer? Will learning language skills through puppets create a new world for them? What if the puppet can obtain the attention of a child? Do you think it will allow children to enhance if there are struggling in speaking? Many people will agree to this through the evidence of experiments and how they claim puppets are a comforting form for a child to learn comprehension.

Although there are people who suppose this practice of involving puppetry in language acquisition is beneficial in a child’s development, there are people who assume it’s unnecessary or irrelevant. There may be people who believe it hasn’t been studied enough to include it in a child’s language growth. Another reason they might oppose puppets in language acquisition is that they may fear it can cause harm to a child’s mental state. A child may question an interpretation of what is real and just your imagination. People who disagree with this practice believe that puppets are an equivalent distraction to how a phone distracts you to learn. People have a fear of inserting new art forms or ideas to a child’s ability to process information and probably many may be parents. It’s hard to allow a new learning skill into a child’s education. However, is this fear of puppets being seen as immature, not allowing people to see if it can enhance a child’s skill?

Puppets made particularly for language acquisition is a topic that has several judgments and assumptions, which delivers many questions I have about it. One question is, What impact may puppets leave on a child’s comprehension? Why are puppets good for teaching? Is it appropriate to insert puppets into higher grades than Kindergarten? Is this practice only exclusive to children, not teenagers? What makes puppets of a child’s development so unique? Lastly, why would puppets clearer in expressing language skills than teachers may be?

Puppets in language acquisition is a practice that can be vital in expressing how children will learn how to process information in a more efficient way. When I look into my sources I will be able to learn about a topic that gives the opportunity for children to enhance their skills in an artistic form. The way a puppet is portrayed will be seen as education wise. It’s important to allow children to comprehend language, but even more for them to learn it in a safe, comforting way with puppets influencing them. My research question is: What are the effects of puppetry as on language ac ?

Expository Essay: Puppetry in Language Acquisition

Children can be intrigued by the art and use of puppetry. The entertainment these puppets bring on screen grabs the attention of these young beings. But have you ever thought about working for language acquisition? Language acquisition has many distinct ways to be taught, and one is using puppetry. Comprehending a language, especially for a child,  can be challenging and puppetry in language acquisition can be a unique way to learn and grasp more of it. There are many studies, tips, and opposing views which have been parts of this practice and the background of it. These views support that puppetry in language acquisition has positive effects on a child’s language comprehension. A question to remember throughout is, What are the positive effects of puppetry in language acquisition?

Puppetry in language acquisition a unique practice for children to enhance their language comprehension in an artistic way. This unique practice has been discussed by many professionals like for example Ellen Booth Church in “Using puppets as a language-building partner”,who asserts how puppets help children build language skills. Church argues how “Puppets are a delightful way to encourage children to exercise their language skills” (1). She supports her statement saying that “Studies show that children who are often reluctant to talk to an adult WILL talk to a “puppet!”(ibid.). Church gives us insight on how comfortable children are interacting with a puppet that it will allow the children to want to learn. Children are known to have a short attention span but this home buddy will help “welcome children, lead the hello song, or discuss the events of the day” (ibid.). It is important to know that this practice is being done, particularly in this article on Kindergarteners, showing how this way entertainment device can be useful on young children educationally.

Additionally, there have been studies on how children role-playing with puppets have been effective in enhancing their language acquisition. The studies have used large groups of children with ages below ten years old. For examples in Elaine Andersen’s  “The acquisition of sociolinguistic knowledge: Some evidence from children’s verbal role‐play” demonstrates an example of “Twenty-four children aged between four and seven took part in this study” (129). When the procedure began, each child was part of “three sessions of play-acting with puppets.” (ibid.). This lets us know that the results needed to be examined more closely than one session. The puppets for the children were to encourage the children to “talking” and discourage them with the use of gesture or other actions which is why hand puppets had large mouths (ibid.).The data was collected from the sessions Anderson informs that  “the findings demonstrate that there are many social relationships” ( 132) demonstrating how each child had with the puppets as they initiated conversations. The results were positive due to over “developmental time, they showed an increasing awareness of the topics appropriate for different contexts and different speaker roles, the linguistic means available for initiating and maintaining a discourse turn” (ibid.). These results display how puppets allow a child to switch through roles of speaking, and was able to initiate a conversation with puppets, enhancing ways to converse more with them. But through this experiment, a child does have the ability to create a social role through language with improvisation with puppets (ibid.).
    There have been other studies on when a child has delayed communications it’s important to know that there are ways to help them comprehend how to speak. In Kelli Servizzi’s “Fixing Puppets so They Can talk”:  Puppets and Puppet making in a Classroom of Preschoolers with Special Needs, “a group of children is part of a study involved with puppets, that all began with a “small tub filled with store-bought puppets” (Servizzi). The kids developed from having a little conversation with the puppets to creating a play and becoming engaged in self-initiated dialogue and play (Ibid Servizzi). For example, Servizzi discusses how the children by the end of the workshop could introduce their puppets and creating questions through this play (Servizzi). Tommy, for example, felt an effect from the puppets, because at home every object for him and his sister was a puppet, showing how their skill and imagination has developed (Servizzi)). It’s important to know how there are many ways to help a child process information, and comprehend a language, like for example using puppetry. This is an experience that Servizzi displays how important it is  “letting go as a classroom teacher and allowing the interests and skills of the smallest learner to be the guide.” (Servizzi).

Moreover, shows like Sesame Street have entertained and educated children who are English language speakers, and learn life lessons, a show similar to Sesame Street came out a few years ago designed for young Jews. It is discussed in Jacob Berkman’s “Shalom Sesame’ debuts in the U.S.”how a “new version of the iconic children’s puppet show “Sesame Street” geared toward North American Jewish audience ages  3-7″named Shalom Street” (Berkman 1). It is unique from Sesame Street as it wants to provide for these children the “building blocks with Jewish literacy, an introduction to Hebrew-language learning, to showcase the Jewish people” (Ibid). The show’s, goals are for American Jews to comprehend Hebrew and language learning through puppets. Not only does it want this version of an iconic children’s show to help children understand Hebrew,  but learn it through the eyes of being a Jew in the United States.

The teaching of speech and language has found its way to be practiced through puppetry effectively in a classroom. Linda Siciliano’s article titled “Speech-Language – Puppetry?” helps show how this entertainment device can also be a teaching device in a classroom too. Siciliano asserts that when a teacher is using Puppets in a linguistic matter, you do not have to be a master at it. Puppets are in your hands to use it as a way to “dramatize concepts, learn about the rules of conversation, support fluency, help with the articulation of sounds and connect children to literacy” (Siciliano 42). It explains how this form of art has been seen as helpful when teaching a child to comprehend a language. Siciliano not only gives a demonstration of puppets in a classroom but ways a teacher can use puppetry like for example, having the puppet use actions the students ask them to do, teach the puppet trick ( 42-43) it’s unique for more children to comprehend language easier. This article offers a way a classroom can use puppets as the “puppets repetition or questioning provides repeated, focused practice of the target sound/ utterance and supports fluency” (Siciliano p.43). Puppets through social skills help teach pronunciation of words through stories. By the time, one is a teenager may not be as vulnerable but they do understand how it’s trying to help children so older children can help younger children with puppets, a view Siciliano has learned through her experience.

Although the positive effects of Puppetry in language acquisition have been displayed through studies, tips, and experiments there are claims and evidence to why this practice is unhelpful. Gail D Heyman., et al. “Young Children’s Trust in Overtly Misleading Advice” discusses how the comprehension of puppets towards preschool children fails. If a child knows the background of a puppet, it does not mean the child willfully processed for example in this study the big bad wolf negative traits of it effectively. For example, Heyman explains how 3-year olds also rejected the advice of the Wolf in the sticker-finding task at rates higher than the below-chance level seen in similar studies” (Heyman 663) namely explaining how it was hard to respond through communication to the deceptive character. A factor to why the child  didn’t connect to the puppet can be that, maybe a child has learned to “avoid risky actions such as getting into a car with a stranger or posting personal information on the Internet” (Heyman 646), which can be a reason to not talk or understand this puppet the child may see a harm. The puppet may not always work since kids learn at a young age to not communicate with strangers which you can say not trust puppets. This allows another side to why parents, teachers, or researchers may disagree with using puppets for language acquisition.

Puppetry in language acquisition has enhanced a child’s fluency and has become more comforting than learning from a teacher. For example, Sicilianos demonstrates how effective this practice is in a classroom for a teacher, as it allows the teacher to teach in a more visual way. Then, we see how Andersen illustrates through an experiment the use of puppetry in language acquisition, giving us an insight into how these children could conversations showing their skills in speech advanced. These pieces of evidence allowed us to see how effective this practice is as we saw how it has been tested on children with disorders, there had been articles describing tips to do this, and even there have been new shows like Shalom Sesame.  Puppetry in language acquisition has been shown to be a practice helpful for children from preschool to kindergarten. What may be a wonder if it can help high schoolers too, and if the students themselves will accept it. Thus, it has been shown how effective puppetry  in language acquisition is, as it has helped develop oral skills for children through a safe and imaginative play.

Annotated Bibliography

Andersen, Elaine S. “The Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Knowledge: Some Evidence from Children’s Verbal Role-Play.” Western Journal of Speech Communication: WJSC, vol. 48, no. 2, Spring 1984, pp. 125–144.Communication & Mass Media Complete,doi:10.1080/10570318409374149. Accessed 23 March. 2019.

Anderson  offers an in-depth look at the speech in children as they socialize with puppets. He shows this perception by how children, create social roles through the improvisation of puppets. This article consists of a study of twenty-four children who were to socialize with their baby puppet to see how it influenced them. The study has positive results as the kids presented knowledge in the grammatical pattern, leading to an increase of topics to discuss to the puppet. It provides support for my proposal as it proves that puppets enhance a child’s language acquisition. The knowledge these puppets give to the children in Anderson’s study confirmed that language acquisition is successful through role-playing with puppets.

Berkman, Jacob. ”Shalom Sesame’ debuts in the U.S.”, Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, vol. 48, issue.63, 2010, p. 7. Ethnic NewsWatch. 48, issue.63, 2010, Ethnic NewsWatch, https://searchproquest-com.ccny proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/docview/821687180?accountid=9967. Accessed 23 March. 2019.

Berkman narrates how a Jewish version of Sesame Street has debuted in the United States will help young Jews in an intro to Hebrew-language learning. Berkman gives a quote from the vice president and project director Shari Rosenfeld, how this show will “provide building blocks of Jewish literacy,” proving how puppets in entertainment will help Jewish children with paying more of this language that connects to them. It proves my claim that puppetry in language acquisition will help a child learn a language but connect to a one, that focuses on them only. It shows how a form of entertainment like puppetry and television can be a learning tool too.

Church, Ellen Booth.. “Using Puppets as Language-Building Partners.” Scholastic Early Childhood Today, vol. 16, no.2, 2001, pp. 45-46.  Professional Development Collection, https://web-a-ebscohost-com.ccnyproxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=e004afca-1770-4b32-98aa5757b8e4fe0c%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=7003734&db=tfh. Accessed 23. March 2019.

Church’s “Using Puppets as Language-Building Partners” asserts how kids can build language skills with the magic of puppets. This article allows us to understand how children are often reluctant or talk to an adult and easily talk to a puppet that’s their “friend.” The interactions have given relevance for my research is a success in language skills, that puppets can be seen as a friendly taught buddy in the eyes of children.

Heyman,  Gail D., et al. “Young Children’s Trust in Overtly Misleading Advice. Cognitive Science, vol.37, no. 4, 2013, pp. 646–667. Willey Online Library,https://doiorg.ccnyproxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1111/cogs.12020. Accessed 23. March 2019.

Heyman, Sritanyaratana, and Vanderbilt argue that instead of puppets helping a child’s letter skills they reject it as it is uncomfortable for them. This proves that puppets instead of enhancing language acquisition it pushes back a child’s understanding as they don’t comprehend to the puppet. We see how a big bad wolf puppet’s advice is rejected by the kids. It allows us to see that if kids don’t listen to these language skills puppets what will advance in a child’s language abilities. It gives my essay a different side of puppets  as a teaching tool and the negative effects as well.

Servizzi Kelli “Fixing Puppets so They Can talk”:  Puppets and Puppet Making in a Classroom of Preschoolers with Special Needs.” Early Childhood Research & Practice, vol. 10, no.2, 2008, pp. 8.  Free Medical lJournals,https://onesearch.cuny.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_ericEJ848834&context=PC&vid=cc&search_scope=everything&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US. Accessed 23. March 2019.

Servizzi helps demonstrate ways puppets were used in two preschool classes that had disorders including delayed communication. It includes studying children’s involvement with puppets and if it will enhance the children’s language skills. The teacher’s reflected on how children engaged in self-initiated dialogue with the puppet. This study allows me to see how effective it is to my proposal since evidence forms a study is given that allows us to confirm how puppetry is helpful in a child’s acquisition

Siciliano, Linda. “Speech-Language – Puppetry?” ASHA Leader, vol. 21, no. 6, 2016, pp. 42–43 Health Reference Academic, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A454730432/HRCA?u=cuny_ccny&sid=HRCA&xid=98aa9d34. Accessed 7 Apr. 2019. Accessed 23 March.2019.

Siciliano through her article shares about puppets in a classroom. It allows teachers who may not be masters of puppetry the ability to have dramatized learning concepts, and rules of conversation for children. Siciliano gives an example of a puppet named Peggy Jean and Bobby that conversation with pragmatic language. She discusses that puppets create comfort for children to share their interaction proving how effective my point is because it will give examples of puppets being used in a classroom and the positive impact.