The relation of language functions to sociodramatic and thematic -fantasy play in preschool children
Abstract
The process by which 5-year-old children use language within the context of their play interaction and how they communicate their transformations during play was studied. The subjects for this research were eight children who attended kindergarten at a Department of Defense school in Puerto Rico. The children participated in two types of play: sociodramatic and thematic-fantasy play. Each play type consisted of two themes. The subjects were videotaped in dyads while interacting during 20 minutes per theme. The language functions expressed and the metacommunicative statements used by the children were then analyzed.^ The findings were as follows: (1) The language functions displayed by the children within sociodramatic play were expressed in the following frequency order: informing, controlling, asserting, and forecasting. (2) The language functions displayed by the children within thematic-fantasy play were expressed in the following frequency order: informing, controlling, asserting, and forecasting. (3) The metacommunicative statements used in sociodramatic play were expressed in the following frequency order: enactment, prompting, underscoring, and ulterior conversation. (4) The metacommunicative statements used in thematic-fantasy play were expressed in the following frequency order: enactment, prompting, implicit pretend, and story telling. (5) In both types of play the rank order for the combined sample was the same. (6) In both types of play enactment and prompting occurred first and second. The frequency of the other metacommunicative statements differed for each play type.^ The results indicated that both sociodramatic and thematic-fantasy play may be used for assessing and eliciting language within therapy or within the classroom. Play is demonstrated once more to be an appropriate and motivating context wherein language may be observed, described, and taught. ^
Subject Area
Speech therapy|Early childhood education|Special education|Developmental biology
Recommended Citation
Tomassini, Daisy, "The relation of language functions to sociodramatic and thematic -fantasy play in preschool children" (1989). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9007196.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9007196
