To ascertain if there are significant differences in the frequency of use of movables and connectors in the oral speech patterns of mature and immature children from middle and low socioeconomic levels, 60 beginning first grade children were studied. The Warner-Meeker-Eells Index of Status Characteristics classified children into middle and low socioeconomic levels; maturity or immaturity in terms of reading readiness was determined by readiness tests and the teachers' evaluations. The Indiana Conference Scheme was used to divide each child's speech into elements of five movables and connectors, as follows: Movables denoting place, movables denoting time, movables denoting manner, movables denoting cause, prepositions plus indirect objects, and connectors which join a causative subordination to the rest of the sentence. Each child was shown the same five stimulus pictures and asked to tell a story about each picture, which were tape recorded. The sixth taped interviews were transcribed and scored, and a frequency count was made of the number of times each child used each movable and connector. Sub-group totals were analyzed statistically. The data revealed that, among mature first grade subjects, the advantage was shown by the middle-class mature children. The immature subjects of both middle and low socioeconomic levels showed no significant differences. Conclusions are given. (Author/DB)