SYMBOLIC PLAY AND LANGUAGE-DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG DEAF-CHILDREN

The development of symbolic play in children has long been a central f ocus for research and discussion. Play development is related to physi cal, linguistic, social and emotional developments and therefore plays a crucial central role in the child's early progress. However, these has not been a great deal of research into the play development of you ng deaf children. This study focused on relationship between play and language development in 39 children when they were aged between 1 and 5 years, who were prelingually severe or profoundly deaf and were bein g brought up in an auditory-oral environment. Their language and play behaviour was recorded and assessed on two occasions 22 months apart. Play was observed to develop to expected levels even in the absence of expressive language but not the other way round. There were significa nt relationships between measures of symbolic play and language abilit ies on both occasions. In particular, children with higher language le vels played more frequently at their highest levels of competence than children with lower language levels.