Developmental trends in play speech of preschool children

Abstract

In an investigation of the developing speech processes of preschool children in play, play dialogues of same age & sex dyads (N = 60) were observed & audiotaped during 15-minute sessions. Data were analyzed using two kinds of categories simultaneously - one analyzing the mode & the other the communication style of play speech. Results indicated that transformation-mode utterances (mentioning nonliteral or transformed objects, persons, &/or situations) were the most prevailing. The "turnabout," 1 of 10 communication styles, is seen as providing a response to the idea established by the previous speaker & adding a new idea to create the next play episode. The number of continuations of turnabout in transformation-mode utterances increased with age, especially for females. Findings suggest a developing ability in preschool children for mutually acceptable ways of representing the transformed world & for collaborative skills of constructing such worlds. 2 Tables, 2 Figures, 20 References. Adapted from the source document