The efficacy of a guided play intervention on young children’s self-regulation and language skills

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

The influence of play on children’s cognition has gained interest lately. This study examines the efficacy of a guided pretend play intervention on the self-regulation and language skills of 4- to 5-year-olds with English as an additional language. During pretend play an individual uses one’s imagination to project a mental representation onto reality (Lillard at al., 2013). The sample included 151 children from diverse ethnic groups in schools in deprived neighbourhoods in a city in England. The inclusion of self-regulation and language skills as presented in the format of a pretend play was hypothesized to relieve the pressure of the learning environment and allow for development in these areas.

The children were randomized into two groups: (a) Experimental group – Pretend play intervention; and (b) Active control group – Art activities. A third passive control group was also included who were exposed to the typical curriculum without interruption. The design of the guided pretend play intervention was based on storybook reading with an adult, and subsequent role-playing with props related to the story (Pentimonti & Justice, 2010). The intervention specifically included sixteen 30-minute sessions over 13 to 15 weeks, in groups of five to six children. Each session included: (1) shared storybook reading; (2) role-playing; and (3) review.

During the 10-minute shared storybook reading component, the children received explicit phonological awareness and vocabulary instruction for six target words that included both nouns and adjectives which were critical to the comprehension of the story and were unlikely to be familiar to the children. The children received exposure to four books during the intervention as each book was read four times. Although the children were exposed to one book for four sessions, the shared storybook reading component of the first session for each storybook did not include explicit phonological awareness and vocabulary instruction for the target words as it allowed the children to become familiar with the contents of the book in its entirety. Following the shared storybook reading component, the children were provided with props that were related to the storybook in the first component. The children were able to engage in guided role-play with the props in different contexts which has been shown to have a positive effect on their language skills (Pentimonti & Justice, 2010). Lastly, during the 10-minute review component the phonological awareness and the vocabulary for the target words were revised, and the children were provided with corrective feedback to further develop their learning.

The children in the art activities group also received 16 sessions that had the similar setup as the children in the pretend play intervention group, but instead of engaging in role-playing activities following story reading, they participated in art activities unrelated to the book. Several measures were used pre- and post-intervention to evaluate children’s self-regulation and language skills. The findings indicated that children in the guided pretend play group had significantly greater improvement in their phonological awareness skills post-intervention compared to children who were exposed to the typical curriculum (β = -20.43, p < .001).

Authors

• Tanya Maria Paes, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Memphis
  Presenting Author

• Michelle Ellefson, University of Cambridge
  Non-Presenting Author