Evolution

I observed children between the ages of 3 and 5 in unstructured play. In order to have the opportunity to gather any substantial information I limited my scope to ten children, whom I recognized each visit by the name tag on their back or by a name I mad up for them. I will not, however, use any names in this article.
             The children I observed are still learning how to use verbal communication. I compare the phase of going from an infant to a child to the evolution of humans from other primates. The biggest difference between humans and other primates is language. "The symbolic element of human language is again a vast qualitative expansion over animal communication systems. Speech is infinitely more productive and allows people to communicate about things that are remote in time and space." (Brodley).
             Toddlers communicate non-verbally a lot more and a lot better than they do verbally. This is largely due to their limited vocabulary. In an interview, one of the children's instructors, Jenny Yerxa, said that the children use more non-verbal communication than adults. She said that most of the verbal communication that they do use is taken from cartoons and children's shows such as Bratz and Power Rangers. "The kids are very Pop Culture." (Yerxa, 4-2-04).
             When watching the children, I was struck at once by their limited special distances with each other. When we discussed proxemics in class, we learned that in America in general, family members talk to one another within two feet of each other, while the social distance was between two and four feet. (Hertzberg 3-8-04) These children treated each other the same way as adults treat family. They would stand very close to one another while talking. In fact, they used a lot of touching, such as nudges, to communicate.
             One of the things we take for granted to be true is that we only need to know the language in order to communicate with each other. This is false.