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Description:
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This book provides a microanalysis of the interactions between four
children and their parents starting when the children were aged 9 to 13
months and ending when they were 18 months old. It tracks development as an
issue for and of interaction. In so doing, it uncovers the details of the
organisation of the sequence structure of the interactions, and exposes the
workings of language and social development as they unfold in everyday
activities. The study begins with a description of pre-verbal children’s
sequences of action and then tracks those sequences as linguistic ability
increases. The analysis reveals a developing richness and complexity of the
sequence structure and exposes a gap in Child Language studies that focus
on the children’s and their carers' actions in isolation from their
sequential environment. By focusing on the initiating actions of both child
and parent, and the response to those actions, and by capturing the details
of how both verbal and nonverbal actions are organised in the larger
sequences of talk, a more complete picture emerges of how adept the young
child is at co-creating meaning in highly organised ways well before words
start to surface. The study also uncovers pursuit of a response, and
orientation to insufficiency and adequacy of response, as defining
characteristics of these early interactions.
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