Discourse topic management and discussion skills in middle childhood: The effects of age and task

Abstract

Discourse topic management and discussion skills are central for intersubjectivity, learning and education, yet there is little understanding of how such skills develop. The reported research comprises two studies, which examined the skills of discourse topic maintenance, shading and hierarchicalisation during middle childhood. Each study compared the performances of same age and same sex dyads of four, six and nine years of age (Study 1 -28 dyads; Study 2 -43 dyads) across two tasks. Overall, topic maintenance varied according to age and task. Study 1 found that task structure constrained the interactions of older children while supporting those of younger children. Older children, but not four-year-olds maintained topics through collaborative discussion.Study 2 examined these differences further by comparing performance on similar tasks but where one required collaborative discussion for successful completion. Results showed that young children use justifications but not counter arguments and suggestions, and do not collaborate in discussion. Development in discourse topic management and collaborative discussion skills is linked to an increasing ability to engage in mutually active dialogue, and to adapt to, connect with and comment on alternative perspectives, as well as to functional changes in the use of justifications during dialogue.

Children's collaborative recall of shared and unshared information

“…Particularly, activities that are meaningful and have a defined shared goal (e.g. pretend play, games) tend to increase inter‐subjective exchanges in peers, whereas education‐like tasks that depend on solving structured problems (such as the task used in the present study) tend to decrease inter‐subjectivity in younger children (Baines & Howe, ; Tudge & Rogoff, ).…”

Early childhood problem-solving interaction: young children’s discourse during small-group work in primary school

“…In other words, they remain jointly oriented to solve the problem at hand. By analyzing in detail how young children solve different problems distinguishably, our study not only provides support for Baines and Howe's (2010) findings that young children from 4-7 years of age are able to manage their topics, but it also, more importantly, demonstrates how they accomplish problem-solving interactions. First, they carry out particular actions and practices in constructing both the problems and solutions, depending on the nature of the problem.…”

“…In the study of Brinton and Fujiki (1984), for instance, children lack a joint orientation in the analyzed casual interactions, which is in contrast to the interactions part of our analysis. Whether young children manage the topic depends on task conditions of the small-group work that influence the extent of children's orientation on joint goals and interdependency (Baines & Howe, 2010). In addition, children's joint orientation and interdependency are enhanced in meaningful and relevant tasks (Ramani & Brownell, 2014).…”

“…Not only are young children able to manage the topic of each problem by discussing joint goals, but they also construct their own problems with a joint orientation in finding a solution. Both activities are regarded in the experimental literature as essential features of beneficial peer interaction (Baines & Howe, 2010;Howe, 2010a). This descriptive study differs from the experimental research on smallgroup work in the line of Howe et al (2007) and Tolmie et al (2005) by showing how young children solve problems: orienting to a clear action pattern with different actions and practices, depending on the kind of problem they must solve.…”

“…First, several formats for the projects according to the Storyline Approach were developed, from which participating teachers could choose one to conduct in their classrooms. By doing so, we not only supported teachers in organizing small-group work in early childhood classrooms, but we also ensured that all of the teachers were able to organize openended and complex problems, with affordable opportunities for shared goal setting and shared planning, which in turn are regarded in the experimental pedagogical literature as essential features of beneficial peer interaction (Baines & Howe, 2010;Howe, 2010b). These choices in organizing small-group work resulted in most instances in the data groups of children having to design solutions to solve problems.…”