The relationship between young children’s linguistic ability, home language, and their adaptive modifying strategies in peer conflicts

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study of conflict strategies in 96 two- and three-year-old children in multiethnic childcare centers. The main question was whether young children’s use of psychologically complex strategies in conflict management depends on language development. It is hypothesized that 2-year-olds rely on verbal adaptive modification strategies less often than 3-year-olds; and that children with a home language different from the dominant one in the childcare center also use verbal modification strategies less often. The overall conclusion is that the use of psychologically complex strategies in conflict management does not totally depend on language development. Age seems to contribute most to the use of psychologically and linguistically complex modification strategies. A description is given of the diverse forms of verbal adaptive modifying behavior that was found in 2- and 3-year-olds.