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Abstract

The language used by preschool children with highly interventive adults participating in their activities could be expected to differ markedly from a peer group with adults acting merely as caretakers. This study set out to examine these differences by recording the speech of two groups of children attending a playgroup. The staff adopted two different roles, participating extensively with one group and adopting a passive role with the other. The language analyses showed the adults' role affected the amount rather than the type of speech addressed to them, though there were certain differences, notably the increased frequency of naming and one word utter ances in their participatory role. Their roles did have an effect on child/child interchanges. Possibly one important factor of the participatory role is the specific direction of children's activities which has consequences for the language used. Differences were also found between the language use of children scoring high or low on the language tests. The high scorers' language reflected certain types of utterances used most frequently to adults.

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The Effect of Adult Role on the Language used by Preschool Children

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