Indicating intellectual and emotional states in narrating
Sound symbolism, gesturing and explicating practices in children’s oral storytelling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rcsi.22085Keywords:
oral storytelling, narrative, emotions, mental state terms, early childhood education and care (ECEC)Abstract
The focus of this study is on how children in their retelling of oral stories indicate their understanding of the intentions and feelings of fictional characters. The method used is video documentation of storytelling activities in a preschool, involving 15 children aged 3–5 years and their teachers. The findings clarify how the children indicate the intellectual and emotional states of the fictional characters of stories in three ways: through (i) explicating, (ii) certain forms of gesturing and facial expressions, and (iii) sound symbolism. The educational implications of the findings are discussed in terms of how sound symbolism and gesturing in storytelling are critical to
social justice – in allowing children not speaking the majority language to participate in storytelling.
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