Mexican-American preschoolers as co-creators of zones of proximal development during retellings of culturally relevant stories: A participatory study

Socorro García-Alvarado,María Guadalupe Arreguín,José Agustín Ruiz-Escalante

doi:10.1177/1468798420930339

Abstract

This study explores communication and retelling skills that are revealed after Mexican-American preschoolers engaged in culturally sensitive read alouds. Participants, highlighted in this article, included two four-year-old preschool children in a Spanish/English dual language classroom. The children selected culturally relevant texts and engaged in story retellings with their respective parent. The findings indicate that children co-constructed Zones of Proximal Development (ZPDs) in response to their parents' caring moves. Participants responded as cared-fors and carers as evident in their use of memorization skills and attention to detail to appropriate vocabulary and effectively retell a story. Additionally, preschoolers extended their ZPDs through imagination and inferencing by inserting events into the narrative and reading between the lines to expand and enrich the original stories. These findings have implications for reframing the way in which educators capitalize on young children's communication skills.

Highlights

This study explores communication and retelling skills that are revealed after MexicanAmerican preschoolers engaged in culturally sensitive read alouds
Students in Ms Carrizales’ classroom have just finished an interactive read-aloud of Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales (2008) and Alicia, a Mexican-American four-year-old preschooler, is eager to retell this story to her mother, who connects to the classroom via FaceTime and sees the cover of the book on the screen of her phone: Alicia: Mother: Alicia: Mother: Look at the invitation! Alicia exclaims excitedly as she sets up the stage for the retelling of a tale that begins when Sen~or Calavera, (Mr Skeleton) a key character in the story, finds out that he has been invited to Grandma Beetle's birthday party, which sets him off on a quest to find a perfect gift
This study focused on story retellings that situate preschoolers as agentive narrators and meaning-makers and addressed the following research question: What does retelling of a culturally relevant book reveal about Mexican-American preschoolers’ retelling and communication skills?

Summary

Introduction

This study explores communication and retelling skills that are revealed after MexicanAmerican preschoolers engaged in culturally sensitive read alouds. Participants responded as cared-fors and carers as evident in their use of memorization skills and attention to detail to appropriate vocabulary and effectively retell a story Preschoolers extended their ZPDs through imagination and inferencing by inserting events into the narrative and reading between the lines to expand and enrich the original stories. These findings have implications for reframing the way in which educators capitalize on young children’s communication skills. Research that explores children’s language development through book retelling has often adopted a quantitative focus highlighting literary aspects of children’s

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Conclusion