Has anyone else noticed how the Playschool presenters don't use subjects in their sentences. Here are some examples
"(I'm) Putting on a hat now"
"(We're) Going to the beach today"
"(Here are) Some trees in a park"
This particularly annoys me, because omission of subjects is something I treat a LOT as a Speech Pathologist. A friend who has watched playschool for about 8 years says that it has only been going on for a couple of years. I don't know their motives, nor do I think that this is CAUSING the epidemic that I'm noticing, but it would be nice if an educational show like Playschool took some responsibility for the oral language they model to children.
It's been going on for a long time. I know because when I started to write playgroup programs in 2003 I scripted sentences without subjects, thinking that because playschool did it, it was probably child friendly.
ReplyDeleteIt would be strange hearing a kid talk without subjects. Like they were giving a commentary on what is going on around them.
ReplyDeleteWhy do they do it? Do their parents pick it up? Is it associated with any particular disorder?
Why don't you write and ask them?
ReplyDeleteHelen, I'm with you on this one big time. It really annoys me, too! It's been going on at least 4 years (as long as I've been watching). I've never been able to work out if it is deliberate or just a "TV talk" kind of
ReplyDeletething. I especially notice it when they are doing craft stuff..."going to stick the paper on here" etc.
It seems very unnatural to me, and VERY unchild-like. Kids at that age would never miss the opportunity to use a subject - especially "I"!
Let us know what you find out, if you go looking into it. Going to get to bed now.
Yip, it bugs me too. Enjoy getting on the soap-box on behalf of all us mums who are peeved by it!
ReplyDelete