The social and discursive spectrum of peer talk

The study aims to lay the groundwork for systematically investigating children's peer discourse at different age levels with a view to delimiting the role of peer talk for pragmatic development. An interdisciplinary stance to the study of children's peer talk is argued for, considering it...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Discourse studies 2004-08, Vol.6 (3), p.307-328
Main Authors: BLUM-KULKA, SHOSHANA, HUCK-TAGLICHT, DEBORAH, AVNI, HANNA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Age
Child development
Childhood
Communication
Conversation
Discourse
Discourse analysis
Language
Literacy
Peer groups
Philosophy
Preschool children
Preschool education
Pretend play
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The study aims to lay the groundwork for systematically investigating children's peer discourse at different age levels with a view to delimiting the role of peer talk for pragmatic development. An interdisciplinary stance to the study of children's peer talk is argued for, considering it simultaneously as the arena for the co-construction of childhood cultures as well as an arena for development. We propose a four-dimensional model of discursive events, meant to capture both dimensions simultaneously. The model takes into account the dynamic interplay among the type of (imposed, or self-selected) activity children are engaged in, the overall thematic frame of the event, its internal framing by the children themselves (keying) and the genre(s) used. The model is applied to the analysis of natural peer talk at two age levels, preschoolers and fourth graders, focusing mainly on variation along the dimension of keying. The two age groups studied are shown to share a rich repertoire of keyings and genres, but to differ in their relative salience and modes of realization by age. Our analysis suggests that peer talk offers children ample opportunities to listen in, practice and display conversational as well as academic discursive skills, and hence may very well prove a crucial site for pragmatic development.
ISSN:1461-4456
1461-7080
DOI:10.1177/1461445604044291