Longitudinal Peer Social Networks and Early Language Development: Transforming Understanding of Critical Features of Young Children’s Classroom Experiences

This project is designed to fundamentally improve our understanding of how peer social networks, in particular the language skills of those within a child’s social network, influences language development in preschool settings. State-of-the-art sensing systems involving location trackers and voice-activated recorders provide continuous data on who children interact with and the precise nature of peer-to-peer talk to examine the nature of peer language networks for their influence on language development over time. We will examine individual differences in children’s peer language networks, the effects of these networks on growth, and also important moderators of the relations between peer language networks and language growth as a function of child-level characteristics. Results of this study are likely to transform understanding of peer-to-peer dynamics in preschool classrooms and support teachers’ use of practices to leverage the role of peers in shaping early language development.