Talk-focused talk in preschools - culturally formed socialization for talk?

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to discuss culturally moulded socialization for talk by examining the characteristics of the talk about talk in which three-year-old children participate in pre schools in two communities in Norway and the USA. Focus is on the types and subtypes of talk-focused talk that are culturally favoured, as well as on teacher-child interaction within such talk. Fifteen Norwegian and 15 American children were tape-recorded in preschool. Data generation captured three types of talk-focused talk: talk about language per se, discourse management and reported speech. The American school conversations included more talk about discourse management, and Norwegian conversations more reported speech. Teacher-child interaction appeared more asymmetric within talk-focused talk in Cambridge, USA, than in Oslo.