Play and its effects on childhood literacy

Play And Literacy

Play and its Effects on Early Childhood Literacy Development

Over the last two decades, a dramatic change has taken place with kindergarten students. Play has been pushed out of the curriculum by a range of factors, including larger class sizes and a focus on standardization of testing and curricula that have reached all the way down to the youngest students. Play has also been marginalized by elementary teachers who in the last generation began substituting words like 'explore' or 'discover' for play. This substitution has been made in an attempt to make literacy and math activities more exciting for students. The traditional classrooms, with their spacious rooms, unlimited time for unstructured art, music, dance, and freedom to take time to practice and improve social skills, have all disappeared. The focus now is on math and literacy instruction.

There is, of course, nothing in any way wrong with wanting to instill strong mathematical and language arts in children. However, it is both true and highly problematic that high-stakes testing and test preparation has deprived kindergartners of the benefits of play. This reduction of time spent just playing (which is, surely, the most important task of early childhood) not only affects the overall development of the child but (according to a wealth of recent research) but in particular affects young children's literacy development: "research suggests that children's creative engagement with reading and writing activities through play has important implications for their literacy development" (Anderson & Stokes, 1984; Isenberg & Jacob, 1983; Jacob, 1984; Pellegrini, 1985; Roskos, 1988).

Nevertheless, even with the formal exclusion of play from elementary schools, many teachers still try to incorporate play into their curriculum. Their inclusion (or re-inclusion) of play into the daily school life might seem to be either a positive or at worst neutral activity. However, the seemingly innocuous and even frivolous activity of play has caused significant controversy in a number of school settings. It is difficult to justify such reactions on the part of educators given the fact that there is such a substantial body of research supporting the idea that play can promote children's literacy development. Pre-primary children differ physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually than do older children. Their different ways of learning and developing are best supported by (and in) an environment of play. Play, unlike formal educations practices, immerses the child in a natural context, a context that can enhance literacy development for the implicit practice of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and knowing.

Recent research supports the premise that young children need programs that motivate them to become active learners; such programs center on play experiences that enable them to develop and build up their own knowledge. By incorporating play into literacy activities, young children can join their peers in dramatic play, a form of play that assists young children to discover and appreciate the complexities of the real world. Dramatic play usually represents the children's life experiences.

Vygotsky (1978 and throughout his work) has provided some of the most important research to date on the ways in which natural play is an essential part of the education of the young child, especially in the arena of literacy development. He argues that most important for supporting literacy skills are supportive play environments that are highly enriched. Such enriched environments highlight the pleasure and play of language. Classroom environments can incorporate aspects of language arts without removing the play from the classroom. A classroom environment conducive for literacy development is spacious and neat, with bulletin boards displaying learning materials and children's work. This allows for a promotion of the importance of literacy without reducing literacy to test preparation.

Play is one of those human activities that are much easier to recognize than to define. Usually when adults observe children together having fun they think of these activities as play, but play is more complex than simply having fun. Vygotsky (1978) described play as a context in which children learned how to use objects and actions as a representation of symbols

. Given this definition of play of his, it should not be surprising that Vygotsky limited the scope of play that he believed to be the most significant to be dramatic or make-believe play. This is, of course, the type of play that is typical of preschoolers and children of primary school age.

Play can provide young children with a meaningful context for learning literacy concepts and skills; this connection between play and literacy was one of the most heavily researched topics in the late 20th century. When adults observe young children at play, we tend to focus on the smiles and laughter that accompany play and assume that these affirm the enjoyable nature of play. What is far less clear to adults is the ways in which play may be educational. According to Bodrova & Leong (1998), adults may be unable to assess the complete range of education that is available through play because they limit their definition of "play" to that of Vygotsky. His definition does not include many kinds of playing such as movement activities, object manipulations, and explorations that should be considered to be important forms of play. Vigotsky (1977, 1978) defines real as only play defined by the creation of an imaginary situation, the assumption of dramatic roles, and the adherence by the child (ren) to a set of rules specified by those roles. While this is certainly a valid form of play, recent research on play demonstrates how very limited this definition is in seeking to understand how play is linked to literacy. The rest of this paper examines some of the recent research in this area helps contextualize the importance of play as a necessary element of the environment in which young children acquire literacy skills.

1. Mary Williams & Hilma Rask. Literacy Through Play: How Families with Able Children Support Their Literacy Development.

The researchers examined how teachers can create an environment in which children help to work with their teachers to develop their own literacy skills. The researchers in this case focused on the importance of aural learning: They found that children are likely to have superior literacy skills when both home and school environments focus on an emphasis on "phonemic awareness." That is, children acquire literacy skills by focusing on the sounds in words, which is precisely the kind of learning that occurs when children listen to and verbalize nursery rhymes. This skill may also be refined by the kinds of dramatic play activities that Vygotsky (1978) focused on.

2. L.S. Vygotsky. (1933). Play and its Role in the Mental Development of the Child.

Vygotsky's described his perspective on play: "Let us now consider the problem of play itself. We know that the definition of play on the basis of the pleasure it gives the child is not correct for two reasons -- first, because we deal with a number of activities which give the child much keener experiences of pleasure than play." He gave an example of a child getting pleasure from sucking a pacifier even though the child was not being satiated. Second, "we know the games in which the activity process itself does not afford pleasure." The example used was of sporting games or other games with outcomes or results. If the outcomes were not favorable to the child, a sense of displeasure was the result."

Vygotsky argues that children with unfulfilled desires will have temper tantrums. This reminds me of my own students who stomped and/or hollered because of unsatisfied desires and tendencies, students likely to calm down after realizing that even in play there are rules to follow. Vygotsky (1933) wrote that "The play-development relationship can be compared to the instruction-development relationship, but play provides a background for changes in needs and in consciousness of a much wider nature. Play is the source of development and creates the zone of proximal development." Play is vital to the cognitive, social and emotional development of children. When observing students playing, those who comprehended the rules were in the independent performance zone. Students with unfulfilled desires who threw temper tantrums and took special assistance to calm to were in the assisted performance zone. Those in the middle who could control the situation with little assistance were in the zone of proximal development. In Kindergarten literacy we work with children with all three domains of development and just as Vygotsky recognized play as a self-help tool, educators need to recognize that play is not a luxury; instead, it is a necessity.

3. Johnson, J.E., Christie, J.F., and Yawkey, T.D. (1999). Theories of Children's Play.

When I observed the smiles and laughter of children at play, I thought these were outward signs of children's play being fun and exciting. Yet, what was less obvious was whether play was educational, or for that matter, pleasurable

. One aspect of play I had not considered was whether play was enjoyable for students. When talking about play one naturally took it for granted that play meant having fun. However, according to Johnson, Christie, and Yawkey, (1999), "play is an extremely difficult concept to define -- there are 116 distinct definitions listed in the Oxford English Dictionary!"

Some adults think play is trivial while others believe play makes vital contributions to all aspects of child development. While we cannot define play, there are telltale signs of play that are recognizable. Some examples of play involved students freely choosing to play in the kitchen rather than with blocks demonstrated intrinsic motivation because it was their choice. When children moved from writing activities to reading indicated flexibility because students had the ability to move quickly from one activity to another. The writers emphasized that students talking and laughing was a positive affect signifying positive emotions.

The authors described two different groups of theories of play. One of the theoretical groups, classical theories, which originated before World War I, focused on explaining why play existed and what purpose it served. Johnson et al. (1999) situated the four classical theories into two pairs because the affects were opposites

: Surplus energy v. its elimination; recreation v. regeneration of energy expended in work; recapitulation v. The elimination of ancient instincts; and practice v. perfect instincts needed for adult life

The second group was modern theories, which tried to ascertain play's role in child development and the circumstances that lead to play behavior. Johnson et al. (1999), and others (such as theories based on arousal).

Modern theories have increased educators' understanding of play. Piaget's theory not only reflected a child's level of cognition, but also contributed to the development. When I looked at Kindergarten students play, I have noticed they conform to objects observed in reality, not in the abstract. This aligns with Piaget's theory, "children engage in the type of play that matches their level of cognitive development (Piaget, 1962).

4. Nancy R. King. (1979). Play: The Kindergartners' Perspective

My own experience with students verifies much of what King writes: "The children described most of their classroom experiences as work. Work, for the children, included such seemingly different activities as painting papier-mache sculptures, listening to a story, lining up to leave the room, completing math work-sheets, baking banana bread, and resting at their desks. Each of these activities appeared on the lists of many children, and not one child defined them as play."

She explores how the role of play in education has evolved from being frivolous in colonial times to become standard in most schools for young children

. However, most kindergarten teachers saw play as necessary for healthy mental, physical, and social development. Educators continue to define play instead of Kindergarten children. Recently, I asked my students would they prefer to play or do work. Without hesitation, they chose to play. I set out pens, pencils, crayons, paper, and books. They wrote letters, cards, alphabet, and read books without a single complaint. They accomplished what I wanted for literacy activities; yet, they considered it work because they did not have free choices in what to do. King (1979) notes that the most salient characteristic of play was when it was voluntary, not directed by teachers.

5. Susan B. Neuman & Kathy Roskos (1990). Play, print, and purpose: Enriching play environments for literacy development.

Numerous research studies indicate the physical environment of classrooms has a tremendous effect on children's play behavior. Play environments that enhance literacy by displaying print everywhere increase involvement and interactive play among children. According to Neuman and Roskos, (1989), "Children demonstrated a broad number of uses of literacy on their own and with others in five domains: they used literacy to explore their environment, to interact with others, to express themselves, to authenticate events, and to transact with text

My own experience again supports this finding. I noticed whenever I displayed literacy materials in centers, my students appeared anxious to participate. Although students had assigned centers, this did not diminish their willingness to partake in the centers. In the article, the pre-school teachers and researcher redesigned the centers but did not specifically label them; instead, specific props identified the centers. After completing the centers, teacher did not interfere and allowed students to self-select activities during playtime. They displayed literacy-enriched props in the play areas. Some examples of the props used: the post office had envelopes, pens, pencils, markers, posters/sign, stamps, stamp pads and stationery. The kitchen had a cookbook, play money, blank recipe cards, and food coupons. The office had calendars of various types, index card, play money, note cards, typewriter or computer keyboard; and the library had bookmarks, stickers, telephone, file folder, pens, pencils, markers. These were some of the items found in each of the centers.

Although this research was with preschool students, the results were similar to what occurred in my Kindergarten class. Students engaged in a literacy rich environment could make a difference in literacy behaviors through play. Students reading and writing became more purposeful, they interacted more socially and they maintained focus on their tasks. Neuman & Roskos (1990) wrote: "With well planned design changes in the physical play environment, play can become an important context for the discovery and exploration of reading and writing. It can provide a meaningfully rich context for literacy engagement. Indeed, for young children, it may be the place to play with print with a purpose."

6. Kendrick, M. (2005) Playing house: A 'sideways' glance at literacy and identity in early childhood. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy.

Kendrick's explanation of the ways in which literacy and play are involved takes us back to the model developed by Vygotsky. Kendrick examines the ways in which playing house is a highly effective means by which children become skilled in applying their play to the acquisition of learning language, albeit unknowingly. Her model is this: Playing house requires the development and use of narratives, a fact that helps children understand a sense of self through their ability to tell stories.

7 L.V. Orlando, L.V. (2005). Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education.

Orlando focuses on a key element of the way in which children's play intersects with children's acquisition of literacy skills: That of the child and his or her primary caregivers. She focused in particular on the "read-aloud" through the use of firsthand ethnographic observations. She determined that within this particular dyad, "first hand, personal involvement of the children in an active learning experience associated with interactive texts" helped young children the most.

Within this particular form of play-based interaction, children are "invited to create appropriate actions to accompany the story readings" and this matching of spoken text and dramatic acting-out help children acquire literacy skills. Orlando's model of how interactive texts "appear to hold the key to successful early literacy experiences for preschoolers" thus dovetails nicely with Vygotsky's emphasis on the importance of dramatic play as an aid in the acquisition of literacy skills.

8 O.N. Saracho, O.N. (2001). Exploring young children's literacy development through play. Early Child Development and Care 167, 103-114.

Saracho's study of the literacy development of young children also contains some elements of the model developed by Vygotsky in that she too examines the ways in which certain kinds of play (i.e. those based of dramatic play of children) are positively correlated with the acquisition of literacy skills. She focused on what she calls "literacy- enriched play centers" which are very similar to the classrooms that include a great deal of literacy-based activities, such as the display of children's work on the walls of the classroom. She found that teachers are highly effective (when given the appropriate training) to create a classroom environment that promotes the range of literacy development.

9. E. Miller & J. Almon (2009). Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why children need to play in school. www.eddigest.com.

This pair of researchers provides some of the core data on which the introductory section of this paper is based. They write that in the contemporary classroom "many kindergartens spend 2 to 3 hours per day instructing and testing" and only 30 minutes per day or less for play, with some kindergartens allowing for "no playtime at all." This shift in what educators and parents have assumed that kindergarten should be and what it should teach reflect a "didactic, test-driven approach is entering preschools. But these methods, which are not well grounded in research."

The effectiveness of this relatively new focus in kindergarten have not yet been assessed through standardized testing; however, it is difficult not to posit that there will be a decline in the acquisition of such important skills as relational ones. Given that the majority of research links the acquisition of literacy to other age-appropriate learning, however, there is likely to be a decline in acquiring literacy skills in such an environment rather than an increase in literacy skills.

Indeed, the authors found a significant increase in reporting behavioral problems, including expulsion. These behavioral problems were more noticeable in boys than in girls, reflecting boys' slower development in social skills, and perhaps their slower development of literacy skills as well.

10 N.R. King. (1979). Play: The kindergartners' perspective. The Elementary School Journal 80(2).

King provides a needed and fascinating overview of how early childhood education has been repeatedly rethought over the past two centuries, a process that has reflected changing views of the ideal childhood as well as changes in underlying economic and cultural values. (it is important to note that all of these factors are inter-related.) She combines an assessment of early childhood education (the foundations of which were developed not by educators but by scholars in other fields, such as by the psychologist George Herbert Mean.