Comparing Effects of Stay-Play-Talk With or Without Reinforcement on Children's Social Behaviors.

This article focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of Stay-Play-Talk (SPT), a peer-mediated intervention designed to increase social engagement among emergent bilingual learners (EBLs) who are socially isolated in early childhood classrooms. The study compared outcomes of SPT alone and SPT combined with external reinforcement against business-as-usual conditions, finding that both SPT variations increased children's stay, play, and talk behaviors, with SPT plus reinforcement yielding more consistent and higher levels of talk and play duration. Additionally, children showed a preference for the reinforced condition, and classroom teachers were able to implement the intervention with fidelity after brief training, rating it as socially valid and feasible. The study extends prior SPT research by demonstrating its applicability for bilingual children and highlights the potential importance of reinforcement in promoting verbal interactions, while noting limitations related to sample size, language diversity, and setting.