Evie Questions

To what extent is this an example of child-led discourse? What is characteristic of the two participants' language?

I think that the video, to an extent, is a great example of child-led discourse. An example is when Evie’s grandma keeps the conversation along.

“G           two cats (2) how many things have we got now in the picture?

E              (inaudible)

G             how many? count them”

There’s over 16 of these strategies that show Evie’s grandma moving the conversation along. It is used to keep Evie talking instead of letting her just be quiet. These are important because it is a great example of child-led discourse. It’s also important because it shows that it triggers Evie to talk which could lead to her talking more and so getting a grasp on correct language. This is another example of the video showing that it is child-led discourse: her grandma trying to get her to understand language. She adds words to make a sentence that Evie will understand, although it might not be grammatically correct. The below section of the transcript shows this:

“E            (2) cat

G             cat           

E              in the picture

G             we want cat in the picture okay”

By repeating what Evie is basically saying, but in a sentence, she’s showing Evie what to say in the future. This could lead to Evie learning language quicker than she might have on her own.

 

I think what’s characteristic of Evie’s language is that she’s trying to take charge of the conversation instead of her grandma leading it, although she does at points during it.

“E            some more

G             some more things

E              (.) sho-o-o-w

G             you choose

E              (2) this

G             what’s that? (2) who is it?

E              tigger”

This shows that she’s trying to choose what to do. She attempts to say “show” which shows that she’s trying to understand language. Her grandma is characteristic to trying to get her lead and talk. I have explained this above.