Popularity and Communication Skills of Preschool Children

Summary

The focus of the study was to examine the relationship between communication skills and popularity of preschool children (N = 60) in mixed-age (3 years 2 months to 6 years 6 months) classrooms. Communication skills were measured by assessing children's describing and listening skills utilizing a modified Dickson's Notebook Communication Game. Classroom teachers rank ordered the children in their classrooms from most to least popular. PPVT was utilized to measure children's vocabulary level.

Partial correlations controlling for classroom membership resulted in ranked popularity correlating with listening skills but not with ability to describe or with sex of the children; teachers perceived older children to be more popular than younger children. Partial correlations between popularity and each variable controlling for all other variables yielded one significant relationship with age. Implications for mixed-age preschool groups are discussed.