Language As Play: A Case for Playfulness in Language Arts for Gifted Children

Based on the premise that play & playful behavior is the basis of all significant learning in both children & adults, it is argued that lang arts learning for gifted children has become overly concerned with academic enrichment & has subsequently dismissed playful learning. Attempts to enhance thinking in young children through purposeful play are reviewed & compared with identified characteristics of play & its effects on social development through symbolic behavior. The importance of speech-/language-play is emphasized in conjunction with several premises: (1) learning is best facilitated when solutions can be "played with" in an atmosphere secure from error, (2) conceptualization is heightened through playful exploration & manipulation of symbol systems in the environment, & (3) playfulness is the best guarantee against simple, mechanistic interactions with the world. AA