I've said before that I don't really want to turn this blog into a "funny thing our kid did today" blog, and neither do I want to turn it into a "my baby's so smart" blog, but I'm going to make an exception just this once, and for a reason. This is really a post about language acquisition and communication, but it's also about problem solving.
I've recently been mulling over problem solving as a useful skill, specifically because of a particularly knotty issue we've had at work. For me, as an engineer and a researcher with a doctoral degree, a lot of what I do--particularly the really hardcore parts of the job description--boil down to "problem solving." I suspect that, for most other professions, "problem solving" is part of the job to some extent, and probably a large extent.
And so it's been intriguing to me to see Elena use problem-solving skills, particularly in language and communication. As I've said before, Elena seems to value communication pretty highly, and really makes an effort to get her meaning across. However, her pronunciation and grammar are still pretty shaky (she's three years old, after all), and that leads to some problem-solving opportunities as she learns English.
These were most apparent last year, when her vocabulary was still minimal and her pronunciation shakier still. A couple stand-out examples:
1. She wanted to play outside, saying she wanted the "scoor." That might be close enough to understand in context, but with no context, I had no idea what she was talking about. She tried twice, and when I still couldn't figure out what she was referring to, she ran to the refrigerator, where we had a number of pictures posted, and retrieved this one:
She brought it to me, pointed, and said "scoor!" Oho! Scooter! Communication problem solved.
2. We had been watching videos containing people playing musical instruments, many of which fascinated Lena. The next day, she told me she wanted to see the "corryon." I hadn't the faintest idea what she was talking about and told her so. She cocked her head, held up her hands with the palms facing each other, and moved them back-and-forth in opposing directions, bellows-style. Oho! Accordion! Communication problem solved.
As Elena's gotten older, her vocabulary has expanded, meaning that she now has a lot more words to mispronounce, but she's also discovered synonyms. So now her communications problem-solving relies less on non-verbal explanations, and more on rewording her thoughts to explain what she means. For example, a little while after coming home from the store, she asked me where the "gocee" was. I didn't know what "gocee" meant, and told her so. She immediately rephrased, and asked where the "food" was. Oho, groceries! In the fridge, kid.
Likewise, when I didn't understand what "it's nigh outside" meant, she rephrased it as "it's dark outside." "Dada's sorts" became "Dada's not-long-pants." "Lena want scirrs" became "Lena want cut paper." And so on.
I imagine all kids go through a phase like this as they experiment with language and meaning, but still, I find it fascinating to see communication of an idea--"I want to use the scissors" as an example--being approached experimentally, and a problem-solving attitude brought to bear. It's slightly shocking to realize that a two- or three-year old can quickly identify the root cause of a communication issue and figure out a way around it, in approximately the same amount of time it would take me to do the same, were I learning a language.
My baby's so smart.
I've recently been mulling over problem solving as a useful skill, specifically because of a particularly knotty issue we've had at work. For me, as an engineer and a researcher with a doctoral degree, a lot of what I do--particularly the really hardcore parts of the job description--boil down to "problem solving." I suspect that, for most other professions, "problem solving" is part of the job to some extent, and probably a large extent.
And so it's been intriguing to me to see Elena use problem-solving skills, particularly in language and communication. As I've said before, Elena seems to value communication pretty highly, and really makes an effort to get her meaning across. However, her pronunciation and grammar are still pretty shaky (she's three years old, after all), and that leads to some problem-solving opportunities as she learns English.
These were most apparent last year, when her vocabulary was still minimal and her pronunciation shakier still. A couple stand-out examples:
1. She wanted to play outside, saying she wanted the "scoor." That might be close enough to understand in context, but with no context, I had no idea what she was talking about. She tried twice, and when I still couldn't figure out what she was referring to, she ran to the refrigerator, where we had a number of pictures posted, and retrieved this one:
 |
| Scooting, Fall 2011 |
2. We had been watching videos containing people playing musical instruments, many of which fascinated Lena. The next day, she told me she wanted to see the "corryon." I hadn't the faintest idea what she was talking about and told her so. She cocked her head, held up her hands with the palms facing each other, and moved them back-and-forth in opposing directions, bellows-style. Oho! Accordion! Communication problem solved.
As Elena's gotten older, her vocabulary has expanded, meaning that she now has a lot more words to mispronounce, but she's also discovered synonyms. So now her communications problem-solving relies less on non-verbal explanations, and more on rewording her thoughts to explain what she means. For example, a little while after coming home from the store, she asked me where the "gocee" was. I didn't know what "gocee" meant, and told her so. She immediately rephrased, and asked where the "food" was. Oho, groceries! In the fridge, kid.
Likewise, when I didn't understand what "it's nigh outside" meant, she rephrased it as "it's dark outside." "Dada's sorts" became "Dada's not-long-pants." "Lena want scirrs" became "Lena want cut paper." And so on.
I imagine all kids go through a phase like this as they experiment with language and meaning, but still, I find it fascinating to see communication of an idea--"I want to use the scissors" as an example--being approached experimentally, and a problem-solving attitude brought to bear. It's slightly shocking to realize that a two- or three-year old can quickly identify the root cause of a communication issue and figure out a way around it, in approximately the same amount of time it would take me to do the same, were I learning a language.
My baby's so smart.
We have the same sort of language issues with the twins. There is a funny one that I would like to share.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago, Anna said her tummy hurt and would like a "poo poo addict".
Gina: A what?
Anna: A poo poo addict!
Gina: You mean a pro biotic?
Anna: Yeah! A pro biotic!
In the fridge kid...
-Ben