The purpose of this study is to help two-year-olds gesture and their vocabulary by developing gesture language program using picture books, so that they can communicate effectively with others.
To verify the effect of developed program, implemented pre-post-following test and designed for the test and controlled group. I Arranged 42 toddlers of two years old, in two day care centers located in Incheon, for the test and controlled group. For 21 toddlers in the test group, implemented 24 sessions of program and for 21 in the controlled group, implemented the education according to general program. As the measuring instrument, used PPVT-R (Lloyd & Leota, 1981) for vocabulary test and CSBS scale for gesture test. To use CSBS scale properly, amended and supplemented the scale of Kim eui hyang (2006) and then tested the content’s validity with experts. And also implemented t-test and ANCOVA with SPSSWIN 12.0 of statistical program to analyses the effect of the research.
When summarizing the results of this research, they are as followings.
First, it was shown that the average score of test group, which took the treatment with gesture language program using picture books, was higher than that of controlled group both in gesture and vocabulary and there was statistically significant difference between two groups. There was shown significant difference in all sub-factors of gesture including deictic, conventional, and representational gesture, and among them, representational gesture showed greatest difference in average score.
Second, as the result of pre-test and post-test, the treatment-received test group showed higher average score both in gesture and vocabulary than that of the controlled group in the post-test, and there was statistically significant difference within the group. There was shown significant difference in all sub-factors of gesture including deictic, conventional, and representational gesture, and among them, representational gesture showed greatest difference in average score.
Third, I implemented following test for vocabulary to verify the effect of increased gesture by the program on toddler’s ability with maintenance. As the result of this, I could see that the test group showed higher average score in vocabulary than that of the controlled group, and there was statistically significant difference between groups. That is to say, The developed program by this research showed positive effect on toddler’s gesture and vocabulary, and this increased gesture implies that it has the sustained effect on following vocabulary.