The Development of Semiotic Functions in Early Childhood
Wilma Plevano, Giorgia Cannarsa, Benedetta Fiorenza
We conducted an observational study on typically developing children to trace the appearance of different semiotic forms—indexical, iconic, and symbolic—and their coexistence, in relation to the development of language in its systemic and arbitrary components. The aim of this research is to deepen our understanding of the evolutionary functioning of some multimodal linguistic-communicative connections. A cohort of 42 children, between 13 and 35 months of age, including a total of 18 males and 24 females, was observed longitudinally across two consecutive interactive sessions 5 months apart. We carried out an ethnographic observation, by means of play sets suitable for the age of the participants. The interactions were video-recorded and subsequently analysed based on accurately selected observation indices: pointing; prosodic vocalizations; evocative vocalizations; words; evocative vocalizations coupled with body and/or representative gestures; pointing and words; words and representative gestures and/or evocative vocalization; and phrases. Parameters were assigned a value based on their frequency of occurrence: 0 for no occurrences, 1 for some, and 2 for many. Given the great developmental variability expressed, the cohort was further divided into three subgroups: the 1st group with 7 children aged 13-14 months [4f, 3m]; the 2nd group with 18 children aged 14-20 months [11f, 7m]; and the 3rd group with 17 children aged 21-30 months [8f, 9m]. A Spearman’s coefficient test was then employed to assess correlations between variables. Among the most relevant results, our analysis revealed the concurrent development of pointing, prosodic and evocative vocalizations, and gestures. This coevolution promotes an increase in words and a complementary/vicarious and/or parallel use of gestures and phonosymbols (depending on the immediate or displaced nature of the context). Symbolic play and phonosymbolism proved interdependent, significantly contributing to lexical and morphosyntactic development. This study provided the foundation for the development of applicative approaches to early multimodal interventions in late talkers and cases of developmental language disorder (DLD).
Keywords
Iconicity, Multimodal linguistic-communicative connections.
