| This study examines the art making processes of young children and the function of language during art making, focusing primarily on those experiences that are free or voluntary, where the children choose their own subject matter. This study supports the view of social interaction as an integral part of the learning process in early childhood art education. Implementing artistic research design methods, a conceptual framework based on linguistics theories was constructed and utilized in order to better understand the cognitive, social and emotional aspects of young children's artistic behavior. The following research questions were posed and answered: (1) How does language function in preschool and kindergarten children's drawing events? (2) How can adults take advantage of this phenomenon to scaffold or facilitate children's learning? Meaningful patterns were uncovered in the language and behaviors of the children at work and in the artifacts they produced. Categories of knowledge unique to artistic activity were created based on observations and analyses of the content of artworks: factual knowledge, fictional knowledge, affective knowledge, autobiographical knowledge. Through an examination of video segments and their transcripts, various functions of language were identified and examined. The study's findings consist of descriptions, analyses, and interpretations of the children's artworks, language, and social interaction in the context of a preschool/kindergarten art class at a university lab school. The following topics are among those discussed as findings of this study: artistic experience as a mutual focus for social engagement, the influence and role of more capable peers in scaffolding, various forms and functions of self talk, the presence of peer and private evaluation during art making, and oral and written language to supplement or enhance imagery. The following practical applications are also discussed: providing opportunity for social interaction, the role of the teacher, scaffolding, authenticity of artistic experience, the concept of structure vs. freedom in the classroom, and the cultivating of dispositions in young children. |
