THE ROLE OF FOLKLORE IN CHILDREN'S LANGUAGE LEARNING: A RESEARCH STUDY

ٻارن جي ٻولي سکيا ۾ لوڪ ادب جو ڪردار: هڪ تحقيقي جائزو

Abstract

Language is one of the essential tools that help children communicate, express their feelings, develop thoughts, and learn about the world surrounding them. When growing up in their early years, children learn a language not only at school but also in the process of social interactions and in cultural surroundings. Herein lies the importance of folklore as an aid for developing language skills among children. This includes such forms of folklore as folktales, riddles, proverbs, lullabies, songs, and rhymes.

The present research is concerned with the significance of the use of folklore in the language acquisition process of children and their education. The presence of folklore ensures that children learn in a fun and exciting atmosphere, which makes them listen, speak, memorize, and communicate. Children become familiarized with new words, grammatical structures, pronunciation features, idioms, and figurative language through the usage of various stories and songs. Many examples of folklore are characterized by repetition, rhythm, rhyme, and melody, which helps memorize information and acquire new linguistic knowledge.Besides language development, there is another way in which folklore helps with child cognitive, social and emotional development. Through storytelling, children develop imaginative power and creative ability, as well as learn how to solve problems, and listening to and telling stories help children with comprehension and narrative skills. Another role that folklore plays is the connection between language and culture through folklore.Furthermore, this research highlights the importance of folklore in language education. There are various forms of folklore in Sindhi language which include fables, songs, riddles, and proverbs that can be used for educational purposes. The findings reveal that folklore should be considered not only as entertainment but also an important tool for education which would help students enhance their vocabulary, linguistic abilities, culture, and social behavior. Thus, folklore can play an important role in the process of language learning.