Cartalk! Conversational Topics of Preschool Children En Route Home From Preschool

The conversations of 9 preschool-age children (chronological age [CA] 4:0 to 5:2, years:months) were tape-recorded as they traveled home from school with their parent in the family car. The speech samples (5 to 20 minutes in length) were coded to identify the semantic content of topics the children spoke about most often in this setting. References to specific persons, time frames, and content were noted. Overall, the children spoke most often about the here and now, making frequent references to the present and themselves or their parent. References to past and future events, however, were made more frequently in the car setting than at home or school by the same children (Marvin, Beukelman, Brockhous, & Kast, 1994). The content of most cartalk addressed the children's school projects and play, vehicles, food, and people's actions or positions. Most references to the past and to school projects occurred during the first 5 minutes of travel and often were prompted by the presence of a project remnant in the car or by a parent's questions or comments. References to future events occurred more frequently during the latter portion of the trip. The merits of viewing the family car (and car travel time) as an important setting for advancing young children's decontextual use of language are discussed.