| Popis: |
Children develop, learn, and refine the complex rules of how to have a conversation beginning in their preschool years. Recent work on conversational exchanges and language usage within families has shown differences (and in some cases, similarities) in how mothers, fathers, girls, and boys interact and converse with each other. It has been suggested that mothers contribute more child-oriented and child-driven exchanges, fathers contribute more formal language that includes problem-solving and linguistic manipulation, girls seek to maintain relationships, and boys seek to establish dominance and attract or maintain and audience. These factors may influence the roles each interlocutor plays in a communicative exchange. One aspect of verbal interaction is who initiates a conversational exchange. This study examined 134 daylong audio recordings using automated speech processing techniques to estimate the frequency of conversation initiation for mothers, fathers, girls, and boys. We found that children initiate conversations most frequently, followed by mothers, followed by fathers. We found no rate difference between girls and boys. Results are consistent with the Bridge Hypothesis or Apprenticeship Model in which interlocutors are motivated in part by their social role, in this case by the social modeling parents demonstrate for their children. |
