A Child's Say in Parent—Teacher Talk at the Pre-School: Doing Conversation Analytic Research in Early Childhood Settings

Abstract

In this article the authors analyse how one child actively participates in a particular occasion of home—pre-school communication conducted in a pre-school setting. A conversation analytic perspective is adopted to analyse the three-way parent—teacher—child conversation. This instance shows how a child becomes a speaker in the talk rather than being only a topic of talk between adults. The analysis provides an understanding of how the participants collaboratively construct and produce ‘the competent pre-school child’ and ‘the competent conversational member’ in, and through, their talk. It also examines how the teacher's version of social order is challenged by the child in the conversation. In addition, by proceeding from a distinctly different theoretical perspective, that of conversation analysis, it is possible to show how qualitative research can provide new understandings of an important dimension of early childhood practice.