Talk among the dragonflies and dalmations: an investigation of communicative competence in a pre-kindergarten classroom: a dissertation

2007·4.3 MB·English

by  Goldberg, Lauren Foley

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TALK AMONG THE DRAGONFLIES AND DALMATIONS:
AN INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
IN A PRE-KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM
A DISSERTATION
Submitted by
LAUREN FOLEY GOLDBERG
In partial fulfillment ofthe requirements
for the degree of
Doctor ofPhilosophy
LESLEY UNIVERSITY
October 25
2007

Abstract
A year-long ethnographic study ofyoung children's language was conducted in a
pre-kindergarten classroom. The investigation focused on the teachers' direct instruction
and the children's emerging communicative competence in the rules and structure of
group conversation. The class "Morning Meeting" was recorded once or twice a week for
the entire school year; a subset ofthese recordings formed the data set for analysis. Of
particular interest were communication behaviors that emphasized the growth ofa sense
ofmembership and community within the group as well as evidence that the children had
learned conventions forturn-taking, topic maintenance, and solidarity. Results indicated
that the children's communicative competence improved, and that they learned non-
verbal signals as well as spoken conventions for group conversation.