The development of the ability to recognize the meaning of iconic signs

Early developmental psychologists viewed iconic representation as cognitively less complex than other forms of symbolic thought. It is therefore surprising that iconic signs are not acquired more easily than arbitrary signs by young language learners. One explanation is that children younger than 3 years have difficulty interpreting iconicity. The current study assessed hearing children's ability to interpret the meaning of iconic signs. Sixty-six 2.5- to 5-year-olds who had no previous exposure to signs were required to match iconic signs to pictures of referents. Whereas few of the 2.5-year-olds recognized the meaning of the iconic signs consistently, more than half of the 3.0-year-olds and most of 3.5-year-olds performed above chance. Thus, the ability to recognize the meaning of iconic signs gradually develops during the preschool years. Implications of these findings for sign language development, receptive signed vocabulary tests, and the development of the ability to interpret iconic symbols are discussed.     

谈谈如何总结和推广先进教育经验

教师们整天埋头工作,有时觉得自已的工作没有什么独到之处,没有什么经验可谈,其实,任何一个认真工作的人,都一定会在他的工作中积累一些值得别人学习的东西。有时教师又觉得自已工作得已经满不错了,于是就产生了沾沾自喜的情绪,不去严格要求自已,但当他看到了别人的先进经验,并把它拿来衡量自己的工作时就会发现,原来自已的工作还不足     

阿尔泰语民族树木崇拜概略

中外学者们早就注意到了阿尔泰语系各民族那早还在保留着一种原始的树木崇拜的现象。这种现象存在于东起兴安岭、长白山,西至阿尔泰、天山,北及西伯利亚、北冰洋,南延内蒙古高原的广阔地域。     

关键词:语法教学

如果你希望一个写文章不通的人看了两本语法书就把文章写通,一个不会写文章的人看了两本语法书就会写文章,那你一定要失望.语法万能和语法无能是两种极端的看法,但后者常常是由前者转变过来的. ——吕叔湘《语法三问》,《语文学习》,1953年第8期     

课堂纪律与课堂管理

搞好教学必须要有良好的课堂秩序,这就要求教师在课堂上管理得当。然而,不少教师对课堂纪律与课堂管理深感头痛,这也许是教师碰到的最为棘手的问题。在有些学校里,学生不遵守纪律的现象特别严重。但     

猫和两个麻雀

有一只猫,他和一个很年轻的麻雀同年出生,从小就跟他住在一起。鸟笼和猫篮都有同样的家神庇护着。猫往往和麻雀嬉戏:一个用嘴奋击,一个用爪相戏。可是猫总是饶恕他的朋友,只给他很轻的处罚:他不忍使用利爪,惟恐伤害     

Beyond words: the importance of gesture to researchers and learners

Gesture has privileged access to information that children know but do not say. As such, it can serve as an additional window to the mind of the developing child, one that researchers are only beginning to acknowledge. Gesture might, however, do more than merely reflect understanding-it may be involved in the process of cognitive change itself. This question will guide research on gesture as we enter the new millennium. Gesture might contribute to change through two mechanisms which are not mutually exclusive: (1) indirectly, by communicating unspoken aspects of the learner's cognitive state to potential agents of change (parents, teachers, siblings, friends); and (2) directly, by offering the learner a simpler way to express and explore ideas that may be difficult to think through in a verbal format, thus easing the learner's cognitive burden. As a result, the next decade may well offer evidence of gesture's dual potential as an illuminating tool for researchers and as a facilitator of cognitive growth for learners themselves.     

心路历程--流逝的岁月

Old age gives us the privilege to explore, to innovate, to challenge.Dear Friends,This is our twelfth monthly column and the first-year anniversary of our conversation together in the pages of Overseas English. We call this a milestone in English. Is there a Chinese word for it?I would like to begin our column with one of my own poems.     

假如今天是我生命中的最后一天

假如今天是我生命中的最后一天。我该如何利用这最后、最宝贵的一天呢首先,我要把一天的时间珍藏好,不让一分一秒的时间滴漏。我不为昨日的不幸叹息,过去的已够不幸,不要再赔上今日的运道。