Enhancing the Development of Language and Thought Through Conversations with Young Children

Abstract

While much research has documented the lack of dialogue between children and teachers in classrooms, relatively little research has focused on the conversations of teachers who facilitate this type of verbal interaction with young children. This study, based on ethnographic fieldwork in a preschool classroom, was designed to address that gap in the literature, with particular emphasis on one teacher's ability to involve children in meaningful dialogue. The teacher had been evaluated by parents, children, supervisors, and other teachers as particularly sensitive and responsive in her interactions with young children. The study examines these interactions through an analysis of a sample of her questions recorded in formal field notes and selected videotaped dialogues. Results indicated that this teacher asked questions which encouraged open, extended conversations; eschewed questions which solicited brief, factual answers; and maintained relatively long, natural, and child-centered conversations with children as opposed to brief, contrived dialogues.