Toddler peers: From nonverbal coordinated action to verbal discourse
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Twenty-four toddlers (24 months of age) interacted with an adult play partner who experimentally created two different nonverbal interactive contexts surrounding her speech to the toddlers. One, a nonverbal imitation game, mimicked that hypothesized to facilitate toddlers' discourse with one another. The second mimicked another frequent form of toddler peer interaction, parallel play. After establishing the nonverbal context, the adult verbally described her own or the child's nonverbal action. Being engaged in nonverbal imitation games facilitated toddlers (1) responding verbally to the adult s speech in a topically well-connected way and (2) maintaining topically-connected responses over successive turns. Using nonverbal imitative acts, toddlers appear to nonverbally negotiate a topic for their interactions that facilitates their skill in verbal discourse.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Didow, SM; Eckerman, CO
Published Date
- January 1, 2001
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 10 / 2
Start / End Page
- 170 - 188
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0961-205X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1111/1467-9507.00157
Citation Source
- Scopus