Linking Play and Language in Singapore Preschool Settings

Abstract

Videotaped recordings of 56 three‐ to seven‐year‐old Singaporean preschool children (in a standardised setting in their classrooms) were analyzed using Smilansky and Parten/Piaget play measures, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), and Mean Length of Utterance (MLU). Data analysis indicated a developmental trend in both play and language scores; several significant gender differences in Smilansky's and Parten/ Piaget's play subcategories but no significant differences in the language scores; significant SES differences in Smilansky's play scale but no significant SES differences on Parten/Piaget scores, SES differences in PPVT and MLU scores and correlations between play and language measures.