Preschool Children’s Private Speech and Play Types
Asil Ali Özdoğru and Xiuyuan Zhang
The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between preschooler’s uses of private speech in different play types changing in social involvement. Private speech is the young child’s self-talk without addressing any listener and without any communicative intent. Piaget thought that it stems from egocentric thoughts of children who cannot take the perspective of other people. However, current views starting with Vygotsky support that it is self-regulative and has a social nature, playing significant roles in cognitive development. Twenty-three children (11 three-year-old and 12 four-year-old) were observed in their day care settings, and their play and private speech types were coded with checklists developed by the authors. Results showed no difference between the two age groups and gender groups. Ethnic groups differed in their use of private speech. There was a decline in the vocalization of private speech in more social play types.
Keywords: Private speech, play, Piaget, Vygotsky, daycare setting
Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., & Zhang, X. (2004, October). Preschool children’s private speech and play types. Paper presented at the 35th annual conference of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Kerhonkson, NY.
Asil Ali Özdoğru and Xiuyuan Zhang
Keywords: Private speech, play, Piaget, Vygotsky, daycare setting
Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., & Zhang, X. (2004, October). Preschool children’s private speech and play types. Paper presented at the 35th annual conference of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Kerhonkson, NY.
