| Although research claims that decontextualized language skills are related to literacy, limited research exists on the observation of such language in naturalistic settings.;In the present study the language of thirty-six children in kindergarten was observed during teacher-directed and peer activities. Language was also elicited from the children with a picture description task. In addition, a parent questionnaire was administered to the parents of the children, in order to collect information about the children's home environment. Results revealed that, (a) children came from high literacy homes; (b) the language that emerged during teacher-directed activities and peer activities was significantly different; (c) teacher-directed activities promoted more decontextualized language than peer activities; (d) elicited language can be classified as decontextualized and contextualized. However, this dichotomy of language does not always apply when observing naturalistic language. |
