Child language development and the relation between mother and child on the symbolic play: the importance of speech language pathology support

Abstract

According to the socio-interactionism, the maternal mediation is extremely important for the child language development. The purpose of this study was to investigate, through the analysis of the symbolic play, how the maternal behavior influences the development of a child’s language and to show the relevance of the speech and language therapy orientation. After the anamnesis, the research was divided into four stages. 1 – VHS recording of the symbolic play between mother and son, transcription and analysis. 2 – speech and language therapy orientation based on the socio-interactionism. 3 – Again, recording, transcription and analysis. 4 – Comparing results. In the first recording, the mother attributed to herselfthe task of reorganizing the thought of her son, having him reflect all the time on what was being said. It resulted that the child was restricted to answering innumerable limited questions. The mother interrupted the “make believe “not giving the chance for the abstraction of ideas and hinded the child’s initiative in to insert imaginary situations in the play. After the speech-language therapy orientation, the maternal behavior effectively was modified, the mother started interacting on such a way that allowed the play to flow. After this, the evolution of the child’s linguistic performance was noticed. Through this study, it was possible to conclude that the analysis of the symbolic play in a socio-interactionist basis, enabled the comprehension of the issues related to the child’s development. The speech-language therapy orientation was important to change the mother’s attitude and for an effective process to construct the child’s language.