Young Children’s Oral Language Production in Three Types of Play Centers
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1991
Description
This observational study investigated the effects of three types of play centers-blocks, housekeeping and a changing thematic center-on the oral language production of 21 young children, 10 females and 11 males, ranging in age from 4.8 to 6.2 years. Language samples were collected by videotaping four groups of subjects in fifteen-minute play sessions per week for five weeks as the groups rotated through the three play centers. Three hundred minutes of language samples were examined for subjects’ language fluency, number of communication units, mean length of utterance and vocabulary diversity. The findings indicated that: (a) The subjects’ fluency, number of communication units and vocabulary diversity measures were significantly greater in the block center than in the housekeeping center; (b) the mean length of utterance measure of the subjects’ language remained consistent across the three types of centers and (c) no significant difference was found between the language production and vocabulary diversity of males and females in the three types of centers. While the results indicate that language production and vocabulary vary according to the type of center, subjects produced more oral language and used more diverse vocabulary in the block center. This seems to suggest that the block center can be an effective environment to provide young children with opportunities to develop their oral language fluency and use more diverse vocabulary.
Citation Information
Isbell, Rebecca T.; and Raines, Shirley C.. 1991. Young Children’s Oral Language Production in Three Types of Play Centers. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. Vol.5(2). 140-146. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568549109594811 ISSN: 0256-8543