Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:56:14.978Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dialogue with preschoolers: A cognitively-based System of assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Marion Blank  and
Eleanor Franklin
Marion Blank*
Affiliation:
College of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School
Eleanor Franklin*
Affiliation:
College of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School
*
Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A System is Presented for coding and analyzing dialogue that involves preschool-age children. In the System, each participant is seen, throughout the course of a dialogue, to assume the roles of both initiator and responder. Each role is evaluated according to different scales. As initiator, a speaker's utterances are judged for their level of cognitive complexity and for their “summoning power” (i.e., for their explicitness of a demand for a response). As responder, a speaker's utterances and behaviors are judged for their appropriateness as responses to the speaker-initiator's preceding verbalizations. In assessing dialogue, the scales are interlinked so as to permit one to assess the extent and complexity of the verbal communication that is taking place between the two members of a dyad. The application of the scales is illustrated through the analysis of dialogues recorded between six mothers and their 3-year-old daughters.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , May 1980 , pp. 127 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bates, E.Language and context: The acquisition of pragmatics. New York: Academic Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Bellack, A. A., Kliebard, H. M., Human, R. T., & Smith, F. L. Jr. The language of the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press, 1966.Google Scholar
Berko-Gleason, J. Language input and acquisition: Implications for therapy. Paper presented at New Jersey Speech & Hearing Association. 05 1979.Google Scholar
Blank, M.The cognitive functions of language in the preschool years. Developmental Psychology, 1974, 10, 229–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blank, M. Mastering the intangible through language. In Aaronson, D. and Rieber, R. (Eds.), Developmental psycholinguistics and communication disorders. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 1975, 263, 44–58.Google Scholar
Blank, M. Language, the child and the teacher: A proposed assessment model. In Hom, H. L. and Robinson, P. (Eds.), Psychological processes in early education. New York: Academic Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Blank, M., & Bridger, W. H.Cross-modal transfer in nursery school children. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1964, 58, 277–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blank, M., Rose, S. A., & Berlin, L.The language of learning: The preschool years. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1978a.Google Scholar
Blank, M., Rose, S. A., & Berlin, L.Preschool language assessment instrument. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1978b.Google Scholar
Bloom, L., One word at a time: The use of single-word utterances before syntax. The Hague: Mouton, 1973.Google Scholar
Bloom, L., & Lahey, M.Language development and language disorders. New York: Wiley, 1978.Google Scholar
Bloom, L., Lightbown, P., & Hood, L.Structure and variation in child language. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1975, 40 (2), Serial No. 160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloom, L., Rocissano, L., & Hood, L.Adult-child discourse. Developmental interaction between information processing and linguistic interaction. Cognitive Psychology, 1976, 8, 521–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowerman, M.Systematizing semantic knowledge: Changes over time in the child's organization of word meaning. Child Development, 1978, 49, 977–987.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, R.A first language: The early stages. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dore, J. Children's illocutionary acts. In Freedle, R. (Ed.), Discourse comprehension and production. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1977.Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. J. Frame semantics and the nature of language. In Harnad, S. R., Steklis, H. D., and Lancaster, J. (Eds.), Origins and evolution of language and speech. Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 1976.Google Scholar
Flavell, J., Botkin, P., Fry, C., Wright, C., & Jarvis, P.The development of role-taking and communicative skills in children. New York: Wiley, 1968.Google Scholar
Fredericksen, C. H.Inference and the structure of children's discourse. Paper for Symposium on the Development of Discourse Processing Skills. Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans, 1977.Google Scholar
Garvey, C. The contingent query: A dependent act in conversation. In Lewis, M. and Rosenblum, L. (Eds.), Interaction, conversation and the development of language. New York: Wiley, 1977.Google Scholar
Garvey, C., & Hogan, R.Social speech and social interaction: Egocentrism revisited. Child Development. 1973, 44, 562–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K.Learning how to mean: Explorations in the development of language. London: Edward Arnold, 1975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holzman, M.The verbal environment provided by mothers for very young children. MerrillPalmer Quarterly, 1974, 20, 31–42.Google Scholar
Ironsmith, M., & Whitehurst, G. J.How children learn to listen: The effects of modeling feedback styles on children's performance in referential communication. Developmental Psychology, 1978, 14, 546–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaacs, N. Discussion in S. Isaacs. Intellectual growth in young children. London: Routledge, 1930.Google Scholar
Isaacs, S.Intellectual growth in young children. London: Routledge, 1930.Google Scholar
James, W.Principles of psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1910.Google Scholar
Kuroda, R.On the counting ability of a monkey. Journal of Comparative Psychology. 1931, 12, 171–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luria, A. R., & Yudovich, F.Speech and the development of mental processes in the child. London: Staples Press, 1959.Google Scholar
Miller, G. A.The acquisition of word meaning. Child Development, 1978, 49, 999–1004.Google Scholar
Miller, L.Pragmatics and early childhood language disorders: Communicative interactions in a half-hour sample. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 1978, 43, 419–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishler, E. G.Studies in dialogue and discourse: III. Utterance structure and utterance function in interrogative sequences. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 1978, 7, 279–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moerk, E. L.Processes of language teaching and training in the interactions of mother-child dyads. Child Development, 1976, 47, 1064–1078.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moerk, E. L.Determiners and consequences of verbal behaviors of young children and their mothers. Developmental Psychology. 1978, 14, 537–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moffett, J.Teaching the universe of discourse. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.Google Scholar
Nelson, K.Structure and strategy in learning to talk. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1973, 38, Serial No. 149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newport, E. L., Gleitman, H., & Gleitman, L. R. Mother, I'd rather do it myself: some effects and non-effects of maternal speech style. In Snow, C. E. and Ferguson, C. A. (Eds.), Talking to children: Language input and acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Piaget, J.The language and thought of the child. London: Routledge, 1959.Google Scholar
Piaget, J.Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. New York: Norton, 1962.Google Scholar
Rees, N. Pragmatics of language. In Schiefelbusch, R. L. (Ed.), Bases of language intervention. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1978.Google Scholar
Reusch, J. The tangential response. In Hoch, P. M. and Zubin, J. (Eds.), Psychopathology of communication. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1958.Google Scholar
Seitz, S., & Stewart, C.Imitations and expansions: Some developmental aspects of mother-child communications. Developmental Psychology, 1975, 11, 763–768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shatz, M. On understanding messages: A study in the comprehension of indirect directives by young children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1975.Google Scholar
Shatz, M. On the development of communicative understanding: An early strategy for interpreting and responding to messages. In Glick, J. and Clarke-Stewart, A. (Eds.), Studies in social and cognitive development. New York, Gardner Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Shatz, M., & Gelman, R.The development of communication skills: Modifications in the speech of young children as a function of listener. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. 1973, 38, No. 5.Google ScholarPubMed
Skinner, B. F.Verbal behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M. D.The acquisition of word meaning: An introduction. Child Development. 1978, 49, 950–952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. E. Mothers' speech research: From infant to interaction. In Snow, C. E. and Ferguson, C. A. (Eds.), Talking to children: Language input and acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Snow, C. E., & Ferguson, C. A. (Eds.), Talking to children: Language input and acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Snyder, L. K., & McLean, J. E.Deficient acquisition strategies: A proposed conceptual framework for analyzing severe language deficiency. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 1977, 81, 338–349.Google ScholarPubMed
Stern, D., Joffee, J., Beebe, B., & Bennett, S. Vocalizing in unison and in alternation: Two modes of communication within the mother-infant dyad. Developmental Psycholinguistics and Communication Disorders. Annals of New York Academy of Science, 1975.Google Scholar
Stone, L. J., Smith, H. T., & Murphy, L. B.The competent infant. New York: Basic Books, 1973.Google Scholar
Toler, S. A., & Bankson, N. W.Utilization of an interrogative model to evaluate mothers' use and children's comprehension of question forms. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders. 1976, 41, 301–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van der Geest, T. Some interactional aspects of language acquisition. In Snow, C. E. and Ferguson, C. A. (Eds.), Talking to children: Language input and acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.Google Scholar
Woodrow, H.Discrimination by the monkey of temporal sequences of varying numbers of stimuli. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 1929, 9, 123–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar