Observation #3: Preschooler in Communication

Participants: Tony – age 29 months (T), Mom (M), Grandma [A (pronounced

“Ahma”)], Alysia [S (Tony’s sister; pronounced “Sissy”)]

Setting: Ahma is watching television while Mom is in the kitchen preparing dinner.
Tony sits beside the family room coffee table playing with assorted toys. Tony’s Sissy
approaches from her bedroom.

Description of Interaction:

Interaction Communication Acts / Morphemes

1. T: Oh no! Imagining / 2M

S: Hey! That’s my bear! Reprimanding

2. T: No, mine! Defending / 2M

S: Give it back, Nony. (referring to Tony) Demanding

A: Hey! You kids play nice! Attention Getting

Directing

3. T: Sissy not stop! (directed to Ahma) Persuading (tattling) / 3M

S: Here, Nony, play with this one. Directing

4. T: This one? Confirming / 2M

M: Alysia, take him to the living room, please? Directing (in the form of a question)

(Alysia collects Tony’s toys and moves them to the living room)

5. T: I no wan it, sissy! Rejecting / 5M

S: Mom said yes, baby. Informing

(Tony begins to cry)

S: It’s okay, I’ll play with you. Consoling

Sharing Feelings

6. T: I NO WAN IT! Exclaiming / 4M

Rejecting
M: Do you want a time out!? Scolding

7. T: Nooooo. Complying

M: Then play nice! Say sorry to your sissy. Reprimanding

Directing

8. T: Saee, sissy. Persuading (apologizing) / 2M

S: It’s okay, baby. Let’s play, okay? Sharing feelings

Directing (guiding)

S: Look out, here comes the dinosaur! Role-playing

9. T: (gasps) Oh no! Dinosai! Imagining / 3M

S: What does the dinosaur say, Nony? Inquiring

10. T: Dinosai say, “Raaaaaah!” Role-playing / 3M

S: Oh no, he’s gonna get you! Playing

11. T: Oh no, na get you! Reiterating / 5M

Role-playing

S: Wait, where’s the caveman? Questioning

12. T: Cayman oh dere! Showing / 3M

Pointing

S: Is he next to the pterodactyl? Inquiring

13. T: Huh? Clarifying / 1M

S: Never mind, I’ll get it. Declaring

14. T: Mom! I Wan juice! Demanding / 4M

M: What do you say? Correcting

15. T: Tankoo! Ritualizing / 2M (thank you)

M: No, not thank you. Correcting

16. T: Peeeez? Confirming/ 1M

Ritualizing
M: Good boy. Here you go. Rewarding

17. T: Tankoo! Ritualizing / 2M

My Thoughts

Tony, scoring an mLU of 2.58, falls under the category of Stage II in Brown’s

Stages of Development. Many of his semantic relations occur through objects, but he

shows strong development in the use of pronouns (ex: I wan juice.). His understanding of

SVO form is only barely surfacing, as demonstrated in the sentence, ‘I no want it,’ but

has yet to understand the connective uses of copulas such as is (ex: Cayman oh dere =

The caveman is over there.). In the one example of temporal relations, the utterance was

merely reiterated, so it does not seem that Tony has yet developed a sense of time.