“Un Niño Puede Agarrar un Perro”: Children’s Use and Uptake of Directives in the Context of Play and Performance

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which Mexican American children use directives in the context of play. There is a range of directives that young children employ as they do pretend play, teach their younger siblings new play skills, and spontaneously invent play. Much of the research discussing the use of directives among young children has not explored the range of directives they may use in mixed-age play but rather has argued that children learn to employ more complex forms as they become older. I argue that age is not the only factor leading children to use directives in complex forms. In mixed-age play, older children may simplify their directives and younger children may utter directives in complex ways to fit the play. Data are drawn from 50 hours of video-recording naturally occurring verbal and nonverbal actions among caregivers and young children in three Mexican American families living in South Central Los Angeles.