Immigrant and nonimmigrant children's social interactions and peer responses in mainstream preschool classrooms

ABSTRACT

The authors examined the social practices and outcomes of 23 immigrant and 16 nonimmigrant preschoolers in English only preschool classrooms. In both classrooms, the majority of the children (nearly two thirds) were immigrant, English language learners. The children's social attempts, social strategies, speech functions, and degree of social success were observed and comparisons were made between nonimmigrant and immigrant peers. There were similarities between groups in their social engagement and social construction strategies; there were differences in social roles, social language functions, and types of social construction strategies. There also were significant differences in the social success of the two groups. Immigrant children experienced rejection of their social bids more than their preschool peers did. Immigrant children also were less likely to be leaders and seemed positioned in a lower social status among their peers did. These results are discussed along with implications for educational practices.

KEYWORDS:

• diverse classrooms
• peer relationships
• early social development