The Linguistic Construction of Dramatic Play: A Study in the Homes of Young Children From Middle Income and low Income Populations in Buenos Aires, Argentina

MIGDALEK, MAIA JULIETA; ROSEMBERG, CELIA RENATA; ARRÚE, JOSEFINA

Seattle

Congreso; Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development; 2013

Society for Research in Child Development

This study analyzes dramatic play situations in the homes of young children from two social groups of Argentina: middle income families (MI) and families living in urban marginalized populations (UM). The analysis focuses on the construction process of the fictional setting in the play considering the use of the linguistic resources in this process. It is assumed that language and play are bidirectionally related (Nelson, 1996, 2007; Seidman, Nelson & Gruendel, 1986). On one hand, play is sustained through language in social interaction. On the other hand, since play usually requires the use of more complex linguistic resources, it gives children the opportunity to develop them. Indeed, prior research, mainly with MI children, has shown that certain characteristics of play situations can promote the development of narrative discourse and the use of decontextualized and explicit language, with precise vocabulary and complex syntax, like that which characterizes writing (Dickinson et.al, 2004; Howe et.al, 2005; Pellegrini, 1985, among others). 164 audio-recorded dramatic play situations in the homes of 40 children -20 MI and 20 UM- were observed. Through a qualitative procedure (Strauss & Corbin, 1991) we developed categories focused on the discursive construction of an imaginary world in play. The use of these linguistic resources was quantitatively analyzed considering the social group. The results showed three types of dramatic play situations that involved the use of different discursive resources: T1, situations in which children move around on two explicitly differentiated planes (the fictional world and the real world); T2, situations in which through dolls or characters the fictional reality is constructed through the actions and contextualized language in ?the here and now?; T3, situations in which children put themselves in a fictional world without establishing distinctions, nor signalling ties between the activities and the objects of the play and the reality. The analysis showed the effect of the social group and of type of play in the quantity of the linguistic resources used by the children such as verbal constructions of obligation (MI: T1:7.54, T2:1.22, T3:4.30; UM: T1:1.55, T2:0.07, T3:1.14; effect of social group: F(1, 150) = 9.52, MSE = 32.48, p < .01; effect of type of play F(2, 150) = 5.41, MSE=32.48, p < .01); the connector ?because? (MI: T1:5.29, T2:1.33, T3:4.97; UM: T1:0.95, T2:0.27, T3:0.43; effect of social group: F(1, 150) =13.30, MSE=21.67, p < .001; effect of type of play: F(2, 150) = 3.11, MSE=21.67, p < .05) and substantive subordinate clauses to specify the referent (MI: T1:2.42, T2:0.92, T3:1.41; UM: T1:0.73, T2:0.07, T3:0.43; effect of social group: F(1, 150) = 7.86, MSE = 4.60, p < .01; effect of type of play: F(2, 150) = 2.94, MSE = 4.60, p = .05) and the fictional framework (MI: T1: 3.63, T2: 0.41, T3: 0.51; UM: T1:0.45, T2:0.00, T3:0,00; marginal effect of social group: F(1, 150) = 2.93, MSE = 16.62, p = .09; marginal effect of type of play: F(2, 150) = 2.71, MSE = 16.62, p = .07).