EFFECTS OF PLAY GROUP VARIABLES ON LANGUAGE USE BY PRESCHOOL-CHILDRENWITH DISABILITIES

Two experiments addressed the effects of play group composition (segre gated or integrated), type of play materials (functional, constructive , or dramatic), and group size (2 or 4 children) on the amount and div ersity of peer-directed language used by preschool children with disab ilities during play. Twenty-four children with disabilities, along wit h 12 peer playmates with disabilities and 12 typically developing play mates participated in each experiment. Dependent variables were rate o f utterances, number of different words, and mean length of utterance transcribed from videotaped play sessions. Group composition and type of play materials had no significant effects. Group size had a signifi cant multivariate effect on utterance rate and number of different wor ds, with the children speaking more often when playing in dyads, but u sing more different words when playing in quartets.