Abstract
Children's language production during preschool is a strong predictor of future language and literacy outcomes. However, the interactive processes that support children's classroom language production and the extent to which these processes might differ among children with disabilities like hearing loss (HL), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), or developmental delay (DD), remains unknown. Here we examined the relative contribution of peer and teacher language input to children's subsequent language production. Objective measures of location and phoneme production quantified children's vocal interactions with peers and teachers. Participants included 131 preschoolers and 20 teachers. Children produced a higher rate of phonemes with peers than with teachers. The rate of phonemes that children were exposed to from social partners predicted their subsequent rate of phoneme production, an effect that was stronger for peer input compared to teacher input. Teacher input was a stronger predictor of subsequent language production for children with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) children. The effect of peer input on children's subsequent rate of phoneme production did not vary between children with HL, ASD, or DD compared to TD children. Children's rate of phoneme production with peers was a stronger predictor of receptive language abilities for children with ASD compared to TD children, while children with HL or DD did not differ from TD children in this respect. Thus, language input from both peers and teachers influences children's future language production. However, the amplified effect of peer relative to teacher input on children's subsequent language production highlights a unique role of peer interactions in scaffolding children's language skills.