ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to explicate dimensions of social context which afford children opportunities to decenter, and to reflect upon cognitive and linguistic states. Peer influences on cognitive development are often rooted in J. Piaget's equilibration theory where the conceptual conflict characteristic of complementary relations spurs cognitive development. Different peer relationships, and their corresponding emotional dimensions, may be differentially important in this reflective process, and consequently, early literacy development. Different relationships between participants do have implications for the specific of types of interactions that are relevant to literacy. The chapter addresses a number of issues in the literature on social influences on early literacy development. Measures of children's oral language were derived from the audio recordings of the play and literacy observational sessions. Oral language tapes were coded by one of the research assistants according to mutually exclusive categories. All measures of oral language derived from audiotapes were expressed in terms of relative frequency.
