COVID and changing vocabulary of children
The Hindu
Virus, mask, sanitiser, and lockdown are among words that they now commonly use
In four-year-old Rachel’s world, A is for ‘asymptomatic’, though she stumbles over the word and doesn’t quite understand what it means. Similarly, ‘B’ is not for ‘ball’ but for ‘bath’, and ‘C’ is not for ‘cat’ but COVID. In her world, learning happens via a computer screen, and football or playing catch with friends is something that she has never experienced. While the pandemic has changed the reality of older children and adults, for toddlers this is the only world they know. One where their parents put on masks, and social distancing is the norm. And this is reflected in the nascent vocabulary, which has seen a significant change in the last year and a half — a trend that kindergarten and nursery school teachers have observed. “Listening is the first learning skill that every child develops, which is why they are picking up words related to the pandemic,” said Roopa Aradhya, senior mistress, Kindergarten, Delhi Public School, Bengaluru East. “Children are able to only store a few words. They catch words that are spoken or repeated a lot around them,” she said. In the physical classroom, teachers rely not just on words, but on body language as well to communicate. But, as Ms. Aradhya pointed out, now that classes are virtual, they have to rely on words.More Related News