Now listen to part of a lecture in a child development class.
Professor: OK. Young children and art. Research suggests that learning art skills can benefit a young child's development. Umm . . . two of the ways it can do this is by providing a platform to express complex emotions and by encouraging persistence.
Now, what do I mean when I say "a platform to express complex emotions"? Young children have limited vocabulary. So how would 1hey communicate the feeling of pride, for example? A drawing, though, making a drawing of feeling proud ... this is something a young child could do. So a little girl might draw herself jumping up in the air next to her bike. In the drawing, her arms are raised up in the air and she^ smiling. Children can communicate their emotions, whether positive or negative, through the drawing – mm – better than they could with words.
And encouraging persistence? Art skills can help children to develop patience and concentration to persist in an activity... the willingness to keep trying to reach a goal. So suppose there's a little boy who wants to mold a lump of clay into the shape of a car. The first attempt doesn't look too much like a car. He’s disappointed but wants to try again. The second, third, fourth try still don't look quite right, but there’s improvement with every attempt. So, after some time, he gets to the point where he's satisfied with his creation. The newly shaped clay car is an instant reminder of an accomplishment - a success resulting from his persistence. The boy may be able to transfer this lesson toward other situations and activities because, well, he’s had the experience of successfully accomplishing a goal through hard work.
Using points and examples from the talk, explain how learning art can impact a child's development.
In the listening passage, the speaker explains how learning art can influence a child’s development. Two ways can be used to achieve this goal. One is to provide a platform to express complex emotions. Another is to encourage persistence. She gives two corresponding examples. In the first example, children can express their emotions by make a drawing of feeling proud. For instance, a little girl may draw herself jumping up in the air next to her bike. The speaker also gives an example to show how to encourage persistence. A little boy wants to mold some clay into the shape of a car. The first time it doesn’t look like a car. The boy may become disappointed but still wants to try again. There is improvement along with his every new attempt. Finally, the product he makes looks like a car. Then the boy may realize that his success comes from persistent trying.
