This study examined patterns and developments in the communicative strategies of 3-year-old children over the course of their first year in a small, rural playgroup. It also: identified factors in the dynamics of children's playgroup experiences that correlated with the developments observed, investigated mothers' and playgroup staffs' perceptions of the children, and considered how individual identity was created and recreated through the process of acquiring new "voices" in new social domains. Data from interviews with playgroup staff and parents, audio and video recordings of playgroup and home interactions, field notes, and a research diary indicated that playgroup staff viewed children as less confident and less able to communicate than did their mothers. There were significant differences in the quantity and type of talk in the two contexts. In the playgroup, there was a constant buzz of talk made up of a mosaic of conversations. However, compared to home, the children engaged in very few sustained exchanges, and many of their exchanges remained unfinished due to interruptions. At home, children frequently initiated and set the pace of conversational exchanges. Their home interactions tended to be dominated by talk, with body movements for emphasis. (Contains 28 references.) (SM)