Young children show the phenomenon of language play in the process of their first and second language learning and development, particularly in their peer talk. Research on language play in English as foreign language (EFL) young learners not yet be investigated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of language play in preschoolers in the Mandarin–English bilingual classroom. This qualitative study presents the characteristics of language play of 44 preschoolers in a Mandarin–English bilingual preschool in Taiwan in which English was taught as a foreign language (EFL). Participant observation of children’s dialogue was the primary data sources for this study. Children’s dialogue in class audiotaped and videotyped for transcription. Key findings revealed that (a) language play created learning enjoyment and participation opportunities for children in the EFL classrooms; (b) (d) language play offer a way for the children to resist authoritative voices, joke with their peers, and use EFL as a living language; (c) children enriched their classroom talk with multilingual language play in Mandarin Chinese, EFL, and Taiwanese; language play demonstrated children’s sense of humor, co-constructing a shared peer culture; (d) Children utilized the teachers’ utterances and daily classroom routines that involve role appropriation for language play. The knowledge gained about peer talk in the classroom context provides insight into changing teaching practice and promote reflection on EFL learning and English curriculum in the early childhood education setting in the Taiwan context. Implications for using language play and humorous talk as EFL pedagogy tool were discussed.
