Manuela Valentini1, Cristina Bernardini1, Alessandro Beretta1, Gaetano Raiola2
1University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Humanistic Studies, Urbino, Italy
2University of Salerno, Department of Human, Philosophical and Education, Salerno, Italy
Movement and Language Development as an Early Childhood Twin Strategy: A Systematic Review
Sport Mont 2018, 16(3), 107-112 | DOI: 10.26773/smj.181019
Abstract
In this review, a critical reading of the literary and scientific production focused on the themes of the body, movement and language learning was carried out, with particular consideration given to alternative teaching methods that use movement to favour the cognitive process. After searching the databases of Pub Med, PsycInfo, Sport Discus, Psyc Articles and Eric electronic, the choice was narrowed down to 8 international scientific studies with publication dates ranging between the years 1999 and 2017 concerning pre-school subjects between 2 and 5 years of age, excluding those regarding other target users and/or particular characteristics such as pathologies, obesity, and nutrition. All of these studies analysed the benefits of motor activity on language, communication, learning and academic performance. Of the 7 filtered studies, 4 examine the specific relationship between motor activity and language, while the other 3 between language and general academic performance. Through the analysis of the filtered reports and some of the bibliographical references used, we conclude that motor activity positively influences language, attention and concentration of the pupils in this age range, with effects on academic performance. Furthermore, it also improves motor skills as a result of decreased sedentary behaviour.
Keywords
movement, language, learning, pre-school
References
AA. VV. edit by (a cura di) Raimondo, S. (2012). Game, drama, martialarts and combatsports [Gioco, dramma, rito nelle arti marziali e sport da combattimento]. Edizioni Exorma, Italy.
Alcock, K. & Krawczyk, K. (2010). Individual differences in language development: relationship with motor skill at 21 months. Developmental Science, 13(5), 677-691.
Assaiante, C., Barlaam, F., Cignetti, F., & Vaugoyeau, M. (2014). Body schema building during childhood and adolescence: A neurosensory approach. Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology, 44(1), 3-12.
Bates, E., O’Connell, B., Vaid, J., Sledge, P., & Oakes, L. (1986). Language and hand preference in early development. Developmental Neuropsychology, 2(1), 1-15.
Brighi, A., Mazzanti, C., Guarini, A., & Sansavini, A. (2015). Young Children’s Cliques: A Study on Processes of Peer Acceptance and Cliques Aggregation. International Journal of Emotional Education, 7(1), 69-83.
Brosch, T., Scherer, K.R., Grandjean, D., & Sander, D. (2013). The impact of emotion on perception, attention, memory, and decision-making. Swiss Medical Weekly, 143, W13786.
Campos, J., Anderson, D., & Telzrow, R. (2009). Locomotor experience influences the spatial cognitive development of infants with Spina Bifida. Zeitschriftfür Entwicklungs psychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie, 41(4), 181-188.
Chaddock, L., Hillman, C.H., Pontifex, M.B., Johnson, C., Raine, L.B., & Kramer, A.F. (2012). Childhood aerobic fitness predicts cognitive preformance one year later. Journal Sports Science, 30(5), 421-430.
Cohen, R. & Otterbein, N. (1992). The mnemonic effect of speech gestures: Pantomimic and non-pantomimic gestures compared. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 4(2), 113-139.
Croom, A.M. (2014). Embodying martial arts for mental health: Cultivating psychological well-being with martial arts practice. Archives of Budo Science of Martial Arts and Extreme Sports, 10, 59-70.
Deniz Can, D., Richards, T., &Kuhl, P. (2013). Early gray-matter and white-matter concentration in infancy predict later language skills: A whole brain voxel-based morphometry study. Brain and Language, 124(1), 34-44.
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750.
Diaz-Williams, P., French, L.S., French, R., & Nichols, L.D. (2015). Effect of Movement-Based Homework Activities on Children with a Phonological Disorder. Palaestra, 29(1). Retrieved from https://js.sagamorepub.com/palaestra/article/view/6379
Dishion, T.J. & Dodge, K.A. (2005). Peer Contagion in Interventions for Children and Adolescents: Moving Towards an Understanding of the Ecology and Dynamics of Change. Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33(3). Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15957566
D’Isanto, T. (2016). Pedagogical value of the body and physical activity in childhood. Sport Science, 9, 13-18.
D’Isanto, T. & Di Tore, P.A. (2016). Physical activity and social inclusion at school: A paradigm change. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 16, 1099-1102.
Engelkamp, J. & Cohen R.L. (1991). Current issues in memory of action events. Psychological Research, 53, 175-182.
Esseily, R., Jacquet, A.Y., & Fagard, J. (2011). Handedness for grasping objects and pointing and the development of language in 14-month-old infants. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 16, 565–585.
Fedewa, A. & Ahn, S. (2011). The Effects of Physical Activity and Physical Fitness on Children’s Achievement and Cognitive Outcomes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 82(3), 521-535. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2011.10599785
Fenson, L., Dale, P.S., Reznick, J.S., Bates, E., Thal, D.J., & Pethick, S.J. (1994). Variability in early communicative development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59(5), 1-173; discussion 174-85. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7845413
Franco, F. & Butterworth, G. (2016). Pointing and social awareness: declaring and requesting in the second year. Journal of child language, 23(2), 307-36. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8936689
Gogate, L. & Hollich, G. (2010). Invariance detection within an interactive system: A perceptual gateway to language development. Psychological Review, 117(2), 496-516.
Goldstein, J. & McCoach, D.B. (2011). The Starting Line: Developing a Structure for Teacher Ratings of Students’ Skills at Kindergarten Entry. ECRP 2011, 13(2), Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v13n2/goldstein.html
Hill, E. (2001). Non-specific nature of specific language impairment: a review of the literature with regard to concomitant motor impairments. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 36(2), 149-171.
Hockema, S. & Smith, L. (2009). Learning your language, outside-in and inside-out. Linguistics, 47(2), 453-479.
Hostetter, A. (2011). When do gestures communicate? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 137(2), 297-315.
Iverson, J. & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2005). Gesture Paves the Way for Language Development. Psychological Science, 16(5), 367-371.
Iverson, J.M. (2010). Developing language in a developing body: The relationship between motor development and language development. Journal of Child Language, 37, 229.
Jacquet, A., Esseily, R., Rider, D., & Fagard, J. (2012). Handedness for grasping objects and declarative pointing: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychobiology, 54(1), 36-46.
Karasik, L., Tamis-LeMonda, C., & Adolph, K. (2011). Transition from crawling to walking and infants’ actions with objects and people. Child development, 82(4), 1199-1209.
Kotwica, K., Ferre, C., & Michel, G. (2008). Relation of stable hand-use preferences to the development of skill for managing multiple objects from 7 to 13 months of age. Developmental Psychobiology, 50(5), 519-529.
Landazabal, M.G. (1999). Assessment of a cooperative-creative program of assertive behavior and self-concept. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 2, 3-10.
Lindgren, R. & Johnson-Glenberg, M. (2013). Emboldened by Embodiment. Educational Researcher, 42(8), 445-452.
Lobo, Y.B. & Winsler, A. (2006). The effects of a creative dance and movement program on the social competence of head start preschoolers. Social Development, 15(3), 501-519.
Mahon, B. (2015). What is embodied about cognition? Language, cognition and neuroscience, 30(4), 420-429.
Marouli, A., Papavasileiou, G.E., Aspasia, D., & Fotini, V. (2016). Effect of a psychomotor program on the motor proficiency and self-perceptions of preschool children. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 16(218), 1365-1371.
Mayorga-Vega, D., Viciana, J., Cocca, A., & De RuedaVillén, B. (2012). Effect of physical fitness program on physical self-concept and physical fitness elements in primary school students 1, 2. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 115(3), 984-996.
Menting, B., van Lier, P., & Koot, H. (2011). Language skills, peer rejection, and the development of externalizing behavior from kindergarten to fourth grade. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(1), 72-79.
Meraviglia, M.V. (2012). Sistemi motori: Nuovi paradigmi di apprendimento e comunicazione, Edizioni Springer-Vergal, Italia, 42.
Michel, G., Sheu, C., & Brumley, M. (2002). Evidence of a right-shift factor affecting infant hand-use preferences from 7 to 11 months of age as revealed by latent class analysis. Developmental psychobiology, 40(1), 1-13.
Müürsepp, I., Ereline, J., Gapeyeva, H., & Pääsuke, M. (2009). Motor performance in 5-year-old preschool children with developmental speech and language disorders. Acta Paediatrica, 98(8), 1334-1338.
Nelson, E., Campbell, J., & Michel, G., (2014). Early handedness in infancy predicts language ability in toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 50(3), 809–814.
Oudgenoeg-Paz, O., Leseman, P., & Volman, M., (2015). Exploration as a mediator of the relation between the attainment of motor milestones and the development of spatial cognition and spatial language. Developmental Psychology, 51(9), 1241-1253.
Perry, L.K., Samuelson, L.K., Malloy, L.M., & Schiffer, R.N. (2010). Learn locally, think globally: exemplar variability supports higher-order generalization and word learning. Psychological Science, 21, 1894–1902. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610389189
Pouw, W., de Nooijer, J., van Gog, T., Zwaan, R., & Paas, F. (2014). Toward a more embedded/extended perspective on the cognitive function of gestures. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 359.
Pulvermüller, F. & Fadiga, L. (2010). Active perception: sensorimotor circuits as a cortical basis for language. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(5), 351-360. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2811
Raimondo, J.V., Kay, L., Ellender, T.J., & Akerman, C.J. (2012). Optogenetic silencing strategies differ in their effects on inhibitory synaptic transmission. Nature neuroscience.
Raiola, G., Tafuri, D., & Altavilla G., (2015). Physical activity and its relation to body and ludic ex
Raiola, G. (2013). Body knowledge and motor skills. Knowledge Cultures, 1(6), 64-72.
Rostagno, E. & Pellegrini, F. (1978). Guide to animation. Fabbri Publisher, Milan, 52.
Scherer, K.R. (1993). Studying the emotion-antecedent appraisal process: An expert system approach. Cognition and Emotion, 7(3-4), 325-355.
Schmidt, M., Valkanover, S., Roebers, C., & Conzelmann, A. (2013). Promoting a functional physical self-concept in physical education: Evaluation of a 10-week intervention. European Physical Education Review, 19(2), 232-255.
Sherborne, V. (1990). Developmental movement for children: Mainstream, special needs, and pre-school. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
Sibley, B.A. & Etnier, J.L. (2003). The relationship between physical activity and cognition in children: a meta-analysis. Pediatric Exercise Science, 15, 243-56.
Snyder-Sowers, M. & Kariuki, P. (1997). The Effects of Creative Dance Movement Taught in a Holistic Integrated Approach versus Creative Dance Movement Taught in Isolation. Retrieved10/07, 2018fromwww.eric.ed.gov/?id=ED432551
Spanaki, E., Skordilis, E., & Venetsanou, F. (2010). The effect of a psychomotor program on the motor proficiency of early elementary school children. Inquiries in Sport & Physical Education, 8(2), 132-141.
Strong, W., Malina, R., Blimkie, C., Daniels, S., Dishman, R., Gutin, B., Hergenroeder, A., Must, A., Nixon, P., Pivarnik, J., Rowland, T., Trost, S., & Trudeau, F. (2005). Evidence Based Physical Activity for School-age Youth. The Journal of Pediatrics, 146(6), 732-737.
Tallandini, M. & Morsan, V. (2006).Social competence and linguistic comprehension in preschool and school age. In Giunti & Barbera (Eds.), Evolutive Age: development science magazine, (41-54). Italy
Tomporowski, P., Davis, C., Miller, P., & Naglieri, J. (2008). Exercise and Children’s Intelligence, Cognition, and Academic Achievement. Educational psychology review, 20(2), 111-131.
Toumpaniari, K., Loyens, S., Mavilidi, M., & Paas, F. (2015). Preschool Children’s Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning by Embodying Words Through Physical Activity and Gesturing. Educational Psychology Review, 27(3), 445-456.
Trudeau, F. & Shephard, R. (2008). Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 5, 10.
Valentini, M. & Beretta, A. (2016). Coesione, autoregolazione e self-confidence: le Discipline Orientali come metodo pedagogico riflessivo. In Educational Rreflective Practices, 2, 146-160.
Vauclair, J. & Cochet, H., (2012). Hand preference for pointing and language development in toddlers. Developmental Psychobiology, 55(7), 757-765.
Vauclair, J. & Imbault, J. (2009). Relationship between manual preferences for object manipulation and pointing gestures in infants and toddlers. Developmental science, 12(6), 1060-9.
Volterra V., Caselli M.C., Capirci O., & Pizzuto E. (2005). Gesture and the Emergence and Development of Language. In M. Tomasello & D. I. Slobin (Eds.), Beyond nature-nurture: Essays in honor of Elizabeth Bates (3-40). Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers (123-126).
Wilbourn, M.P., Gottfried, A.W., & Kee, D.W. (2011). Consistency of hand preference during the early years: Longterm relationship to verbal intelligence and reading achievement in females. Developmental Psychology, 47, 931.
Zimmer, R. (2006). Handbuch der Psychomotorik: Theorie und Praxis der psychomotorischen Förderung von Kindern.Freiburg: Verlag Herber.