Conversations between mothers and children from three different cultural groups were analyzed to determine culturally preferred narrative elicitation patterns. The three groups included Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in Japan, Japanese-speaking, mother-child pairs living in the United States, and English-speaking Canadian mother-child pairs. Comparisons of mothers from these groups found that: (1) both Japanese-speaking groups provided less evaluation of their children’s discourse than the English-speaking group; (2) both Japanese-speaking groups gave more verbal acknowledgement than did the English-speaking group; and (3) Japanese mothers in the United States requested more description from their children than Japanese mothers living in Japan. At 5 years of age, Japanese-speaking children, whether living in the United States or Japan, produced about 1.2 utterances per turn, whereas English-speaking children p,:oduced about 2.1 utterances per turn. Thus, whereas English-speaking mothers allow their children to take long monological turns, and even encourage this behavior, Japanese mothers simultaneously pay considerable attention to their children’s narratives and facilitate frequent exchanges. Implications of these findings are further considered in the light of improving cross-cultural understanding. (MDM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY \<<=3 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0 Long Conversational Turns or Frequent Turn Exchanges 1 Long Conversational Turns or Frequent Turn Exchanges: Cross-cultural Comparison of Parental Narrative Elicitation Masahiko Minami Harvard Graduate School of Education U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educafional Research and improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) OtarsScument has been reprOduCed as received from the person or organization originating d C Minor changes have been made to improve relaroducfion quatay Potnts of view or oramons stateo v thm document do not necessarily represent officmt OE RI pusdron or policy Running Head: LONG CONVERSATIONAL TURNS OR FREQUENT TURN EXCHANGES Author’s Address: Harvard Graduate School of Education Larsen Hall Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02138 * An earlier version of this paper was presented by the author at the Boston University Conference on Language Development, January 8, 1994. The research described in this paper was made possible through an American Psychological Association’s Dissertation Research Award and through a travel and research grant from the Harvard University Office of International Education/Harvard Institute for International Development. The author would also like to thank Carole Peterson, Memorial University of Newfoundland, for providing the data that were collected as part of a research project supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant 0GP0000513. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Long Conversational Turns or Frequent Turn Exchanges Abstract Children from different cultures develop differently according to the models that the adults around them endorse. In divergent cultural settings, we can observe dissimilarities in parental expectations and their resultant differing communicative styles (Heath, 1983).
Conversations between mothers and children from three different groups are being analyzed to determine culturally preferred narrative elicitation patterns: (1) Japanesespeaking mother-child pairs living in Japan, (2) Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in the United States, and (3) English-speaking Canadian mother-child pairs. Comparisons of mothers from these three groups yield the following salient contrasts: (1) In comparison to English-speaking mothers, mothers of both Japanese groups give proportionately less evaluation. (2) Both in terms of frequency and proportion, mothers of both Japanese groups give more verbal acknowledgment than do English-speaking mothers. (3) However, Japanese mothers in the U.S. request proportionately more description from their children than do Japanese mothers in Japan. In addition, at five years, Japanese-speaking children, whether living in Japan or the U.S., produce roughly 1.2 utterances per turn on average, whereas English-speaking children produce about 2.1 utterances per turn, a significant difference. Thus, whereas English-speaking mothers allow their children to take long monologic turns, and even encourage this by asking their children many descriptive questions, Japanese mothers simultaneously pay considerable attention to their children’s narratives and facilitate frequent turn exchanges. This comparison demonstrates how, as primary agents of their culture, Japanese mothers, while slightly influenced by Western culture, induct their children into a communicative style that is reflective of their native culture. Implications of these findings are further considered in the light of improving cross-cultural understanding.Children from different cultures develop differently according to the models that the adults around them endorse. In divergent cultural settings, we can observe dissimilarities in parental expectations and their resultant differing communicative styles (Heath, 1983). Conversations between mothers and children from three different groups are being analyzed to determine culturally preferred narrative elicitation patterns: (1) Japanesespeaking mother-child pairs living in Japan, (2) Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in the United States, and (3) English-speaking Canadian mother-child pairs. Comparisons of mothers from these three groups yield the following salient contrasts: (1) In comparison to English-speaking mothers, mothers of both Japanese groups give proportionately less evaluation. (2) Both in terms of frequency and proportion, mothers of both Japanese groups give more verbal acknowledgment than do English-speaking mothers. (3) However, Japanese mothers in the U.S. request proportionately more description from their children than do Japanese mothers in Japan. In addition, at five years, Japanese-speaking children, whether living in Japan or the U.S., produce roughly 1.2 utterances per turn on average, whereas English-speaking children produce about 2.1 utterances per turn, a significant difference. Thus, whereas English-speaking mothers allow their children to take long monologic turns, and even encourage this by asking their children many descriptive questions, Japanese mothers simultaneously pay considerable attention to their children’s narratives and facilitate frequent turn exchanges. This comparison demonstrates how, as primary agents of their culture, Japanese mothers, while slightly influenced by Western culture, induct their children into a communicative style that is reflective of their native culture. Implications of these findings are further considered in the light of improving cross-cultural understanding.
