Childchild discourse during literacy practice: Impact on learning

1
Child-child discourseduring literacy practice
Impact on learning

• Deborah S. Duncan, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

2
The Study

• A year-long investigation conducted in 1
  first-grade classroom as children participated in
  two daily classroom practicesPartnership Reading
  Writers Workshop
• Question
• What is the nature of childrens discourse in the
  margins of the classroomapart from adultsand
  what impact does childrens discourse have on
  literacy learning?

3
Theoretical Framework

• Sociocultural Perspective
• (Rogoff, 1995 2003 Vygotsky, 19671978)
• Key Constructs
• Participation(Cole,1996 Rogoff,19952003
  Wertsch, 1985199519982000)
• Learning (Rogoff, 2003)
• Culture (Rogoff, 2003)
• Community (Rogoff, 2003)
• Literacy (UNESCO,19581978)
• Discourse (Cazden, 2001Gee,1999 Lankshear
  Knobel, 2000 Rogoff, 2003)

4
Empirical Literature Child-Child Investigations

• Most conducted outside the U.S. (in U.K.)
  (Gianotti, 1994 Gillen, 2002 Gregory, Williams,
  Baker Street, 2004 Hyun, 2005 Hyun Davis,
  2005 Kumpulainen, 1996 Lyle, 1999 Mercer
  Fisher, 1992 Murphy, 2004 Philips, 1990)
• Established types of talk as a means for
  gaining insight in to the nature of childrens
  discourse (Fisher,1993 Gianotti, 1994 Hyun
  Davis, 2005 Wells, 1994)
• Related types of talk to childrens learning
  (Fisher, 1993 Gianotti, 1994 Hyun, 2005 )

5

• Reflected child-child talk as a valuable resource
  for understanding childrens learning process
  (Dyson, 2003 Griffin, 2002 Kumplainen,1996)
• Established the value of child-child talk apart
  from adults (Dyson, 1993 Fisher, 1993
  Gianotti,1994 Griffin, 2002 Hyun Davis, 2005)
• Storylines used as a means of positioning (Bomer
  Laman, 2004)

6
Research Design

• Qualitative
• Methodologies Case Study/Discourse Analysis
• Study Context
• Federal Title I Elementary School
• One first-grade classroom (16 students)
• Participants
• Poor/Working-class Families
• White (8), Native American (1), Latino/a (7)

7
Data Collection

• Cases
• 4 Males 4 Females the classroom
• Data Collection Methods
• Participant-Observation
• Fieldnotes
• Audio tape recordings
• Interviews
• Survey
• Collected student artifacts
• Weekly collaboration sessions with teacher

8
Data Analysis

• Transcription
• Fieldnotes
• Artifacts
• Data Reduction
• Data Display
• Triangulation

9
The Nature of Childrens Discourse

• Evidenced in 6 types of talk and patterns within
  those types of talk
• Play Talk
• Personal/Experience Stories
• Self Talk
• Accelerated Reader Talk
• Social Talk
• Warning Impending Adult

10
Childrens Discourse Reflected

• How children viewed their roles and
  responsibilities as readers and writers relative
  to peers
• Process
• Changing participation over time
• The influence of one child to impact change in
  another

11
Discussion

• Cultural community distinctly different from that
  of adults/traditional school
• Types and Patterns of Talk Mediational Practice
• Talk as Text
• Meaning of text Culturally determined
• Text in its broadest sense (Bakhtin,1986)
• Talk as a textual form

12
Implications

• For how we view children/role in learning
• For classroom practices
• For structuring classroom instruction
• For use of commodified educational programs
• For future research

13
Contact Information Deborah Duncan, Ph.D.,
CCC-SLP duncanslp_at_hotmail.com duncand_at_laramie1.k1
2.wy.us
14
References
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). Discourse in the novel. In
M. Holoquist (Ed.), The dialogic imagination
Four Essays by M. M. Bahktin (pp.259-428).
Austin University of Texas Press. Bakhtin, M.
M. (1986). The problem of the text in
linguistics, philology, and the human sciences
An experiment in philosophical analysis. In C.
Emerson M. Holoquist (Eds.), Speech genres and
other late essays (pp. 103-131). Austin The
University of Texas Press. Barton, D. (1994).
Literacy An introduction to the ecology of
written language. Malden, MA Blackwell
Publishers, Inc. Bauman, R., Briggs, C. L.
(1990). Poetics and performance as critical
perspective on language and social life. In
Annual review of anthropology (Vol. 19, pp.
59-88). Annual Reviews, Inc. Bomer, R. Laman,
T. (2004). Positioning in a primary writing
workshop Joint action in the discursive
production of writing subjects. Research in the
Teaching of English, 38(4), 420-466.
15
References
Cazden, C. B. (2001). Classroom discourse The
language of teaching and learning (2nd ed.)
Portsmouth, NH Heinemann. (Original work
published 1988) Cole, M. (1996). Cultural
psychology. Cambridge, MA The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press. Cowley, J. (1998).
Dads headache. New York Wright
Group/McGraw-Hill. Dyson, A. H. (1993). Social
worlds of children learning to write in an urban
primary school. New York Teachers College
Press Columbia University. Fisher, E. (1993).
Distinctive features of pupil-pupil classroom
talk and their relationship to learning How
discursive exploration might be encouraged.
Language and Education, 7(4), 239-257. Gee, J.
P. (1999). An introduction to discourse analysis
Theory and method. London Routledge. Gianotti,
M. (1994). Moving between worlds Talk during
writing workshop. In G. Wells (Ed.), Changing
schools from within Creating communities of
inquiry (pp. 37- 59). Portsmouth, NH Heinemann.
16
References
Gillen, J. (2002). Moves in the territory of
literacy? The telephone discourse of three-and
four year olds. Journal of Early Childhood
Literacy, 2(1), 21-43. Gregory, E., Williams, A.,
Baker, D., Street, B. (2004). Introducing
literacy to four year olds Creating classroom
cultures in three schools. Journal of Early
Childhood Literacy, 4(1), 85-107. Griffin, M. L.
(2002). Why don't you use your finger? Paired
reading in first grade. The Reading Teacher,
55(8), 766-774. Hyun, E. (2005). A study of 5- to
6-year-old childrens peer dynamics and
dialectical learning in a computer-based
technology-rich classroom environment. Computers
and Education, 44, 69-91. Hyun, E., Davis, G.
(2005). Kindergartners' conversations in a
computer-based technology classroom.
Communication Education,54(2), 118-135. Kumpulaine
n, K. (1996). The nature of peer interaction in
the social context created by the use of word
processors. Learning and Instruction, 6(3),
243-261. Lankshear, C., Knobel, M. (2000, April
15). Strategies, tactics and the politics of
literacy Genres and classroom practices in a
context of change. Paper presented at Third
National Conference on Academic Texts. Retrieved
February 15, 2006,from ERIC wysiwyg//58/http//
www.geocites.com/ Athens/Academy/ 1160/
strategies.html Lyle, S. (1999). An investigation
of pupil perceptions of mixed-ability grouping to
enhance literacy in children aged 9-10.
Educational Studies, 25(3), 283-296.
17
References
Mercer, N., Fisher, E. (1992). How do teachers
help children to learn? An analysis of
teacher's interventions in computer-based
activities. Learning and Instruction, 2,
339-355. Murphy, B. (2004). Social interaction
and language use in Irish infant classrooms in
the context of the revised Irish primary school
curriculum. Literacy, 149-155. Philips, T.
(1990). Structuring contexts for exploratory
talk. In D. Wray (Ed.), Talking and listening
(pp. 60-72). LeamingtonScholastic, Inc. Rogoff,
B. (1995). Observing sociocultural activity on
three planes Participatory appropriation,
guided participation, and apprenticeship. In J.
V. Wertsch, P. Del Rio, A. Alvarez (Eds.),
Sociocultural studies of mind (pp. 139-164). New
York Cambridge University Press. Rogoff, B.
(2003). The Cultural Nature of Human Development.
New York Oxford University Press. UNESCO.
(1978). What is literacy? Retrieved February 22,
2007, from UNESCO bookshttp//www.unescobkk.org/
fileadmin/user_upload.ict.e-books/Literacy/Literac
y Section 3.pdf. Vygotsky, L. S. (1967). Play
and its role in the mental development of the
child. Soviet sychology, 5(3), 6-18. Vygotsky,
L. S. (1978). M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S.
Scribner, E. Souberman (Eds.), Mind in
society The development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA Harvard University
Press.
18
References
Vygotsky, L. S. (1981). The genesis of higher
mental functions. In J. Wertsch (Ed.), The
Concept of Activity in Soviet Psychology
(pp.144-188). Armonk M.E. Sharp. Vygotsky, L. S.
(1981). The genesis of higher mental functions.
In J. Wertsch (Ed.), The Concept of Activity in
Soviet Psychology (pp.144-188). Armonk M.E.
Sharp. Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). A. Kozulin (Ed.),
Thought and language. Cambridge, MA MIT
Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). Thinking and
speech. In N. Minick, (Ed. Trans.). New York
Plenum. Wells, G. (1990). Talk about text Where
literacy is learned and taught. Curriculum
Inquiry, 20(4), 369-405. Wells, G. (1994).
Changing schools from within Creating
communities of inquiry. Toronto OISE
Press. Wertsch, J. V. (1985). The social origins
of higher mental functions. In Vygotsky and the
social formation of mind (pp. 58-76). Cambridge,
MA Harvard University Press. Wertsch, J. V.
(1995). The need for action in sociocultural
research. In Sociocultural studies of mind (pp.
56-74). New York Cambridge University
Press. Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind in action. New
York Oxford University Press. Wertsch, J. V.
(2000). Vygotsky's two minds on the nature of
meaning. In C. D. Lee P Smagorinsky (Eds.),
Vygotskian perspectives on literacy research (pp.
19-30). New York Cambridge University Press.