The impact of language skills and social competence on play behaviour in toddlers

In this study, the relationship between play, language skills and social competence is explored in a sample (n = 1005) of 33- month-old toddlers in a Norwegian early childhood education setting – Barnehages – based on two observational materials (Tras and Alle med). The study has two aims: (1) to investigate whether there is a relationship between social functioning and language proficiency at an early age; and (2) to identify the unique contributions made by language skills and social competence, respectively, to toddlers’ functioning in play. Toddlers with very low language-skill scores were compared with toddlers with very high scores. Each child had been assessed independently by two staff members, familiar with the child in informal situations at Barnehages, over a period of three months. It was found that there is a relationship between toddlers’ functioning in play and their language proficiency, but that toddlers’ functioning in play is better explained by their social competence than by their language skills.