2023 Volume 11 Pages 45-66
Who cannot express oneself in words? How can a teacher assess children’s ability to ‘ability to think, make judgements, and express themselves,’ particularly those who are unable to express themselves verbally? To investigate these questions, the author practiced a first-grade class of elementary school and analyzed the language activities that were being conducted in groups. It was found that children can be effectively encouraged to connect to the next trial. To a certain extent, it is possible to observe children’s ‘ability to think, make judgements, and express themselves’ by focusing on the role of expression in addition to sound, music, and the body movement apart from words, and also by analyzing their role in communication. It became clear that it is possible to gain some insight into their ‘ability to think, to make judgments, and to express themselves.’
