Visual arts, such as drawings, are attractive to
most young children. Marks left on paper by young children
contain meaning. Although it is known that children’s oral
language could be enhanced through communication with
adults, rarely is there a series of dialogues between adults and
young children about their drawings. Often heard instead are
simple comments given by adults like ‘‘It is a neat picture!’’
‘‘You did a great job painting!’’ Yet, dialogic communication
between adults and young children could not only help
facilitate children’s oral language, but also bring about many
other merits. Regrettably, little literature addresses oral language
facilitation about visual arts. This article describes the
significance of facilitating children’s oral language via adults’
talking with young children about their visual arts based on
Otto’s (Literacy development in early childhood: reflective
teaching for birth to age eight, 3edn. Pearson Education Inc,
Upper Saddle River, 2008) linguistic scaffolding strategies
andHalliday’s (Language in a social perspective: explorations
in the functions of language. Edward Arnold Model of Language
Functions, London, 1973). Implications and suggestions
for future research are given at the end of this paper.

J60

372.6 CHA c

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Tersedia

• Conversations about Visual Arts: Facilitating Oral Language

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