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David López Ruiz and Teresa Colomina Molina: Word = Image: Plastic expression in language acquisition

Projects based on the experimental learning of the child with artistic and avant-garde approaches, generally, are usually subject to the attitude, the type of methodology and the interest with which the teacher works. The proposal presented here implements a pilot experience in the classrooms of the infant education degree at the University of Murcia. More than a hundred students between the ages of 20 and 38 participate in the sample. Its main objectives revolve around the design, elaboration and assembly of activities that allow the student to relate thoughts, words and images. As for the main theme of the proposal, it focuses on finding the meaning of words in the Spanish language that they had never heard. In this sense, terms such as nefelibata, bonhomia, eclectic, serendipity, ataraxia, unfading, maganta, etc. have been chosen, among others. The participants were repeating the word, playing with its sound, experimenting with the corporal expression of the word and finally made a graphic representation of the chosen one. In addition, in this proposal a video has been made that attaches some of the drawings proposed by the students, as well as its own definition by means of audio. In general, these processes help to experiment with language, to fix words in memory, to find the poetics of words, and to visualize and relate mental images to linguistic terms. We believe that it is not enough to teach art to our students, but that we must work from experience and practical experimentation. It is useless to theorize and propose master classes on the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, or show them a host of techniques without anchoring to the essence of a specific art that invites them to explore further.

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