Comparison of children's communicative behaviors depending on the language used by their mothers during the interactive play

This study aims to comparatively analyze children's communicative behaviors based on the language (Korean or English) used by their mothers during the mother-child interactive play task. Twelve children aged 19 to 31 months participated. The play task included a free play phase (1 minute), first Korean play phase (3 minutes), English play phase (3 minutes), and a second Korean play phase (3 minutes). Mothers completed pre- and post-experiment questionnaires. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test examined differences in children's communicative initiations, breakdowns, response rates, and communication forms depending on the language used. No significant differences in communicative initiations were found across phases. Communicative breakdowns were significantly higher during the English phase compared to the second Korean phase. Response rates and languagebased communication were significantly higher in the Korean phases. Most mothers reported varied communication styles and discomfort during the English phase. The study demonstrates that children's communicative behaviors vary with the language used by their mothers, emphasizing the importance of using a mother's native language for effective communication and development.