Discourse Patterns in First Language Use at Hcme and Second Language Learning at School: an Ethnographic Approach

Interpretation / 132

something said by the Target Child, but almost never interrupting or
adding to what adults said if not explicitly addressed.

The length of Conversational Sequences varies between 5 and 21 turns per
child. About half of the conversations are of medium length <7 to 21
turns), more than a third are short (3 to б turns) and about 20 are long
(more than 22 turns). There are noticeable differences among children,
and the long conversations are clustered with the 3 most talkative
children.

Table 5.2

Participants in Conversational Sequences

The main topics discussed are household tasks and reports on what is
going on in the village. Children seem to have special roles as
'reporters’ to the adults on many events, both from inside and ouside the
family, and this relies more on the exchange of distant information
than being engaged in a joint activity with the adults (see page 62). As
households are close and life spent mostly outdoors, children are often
sent on errands and are expected to report back. Although it is not the
aim of the study to offer a systematic ethnographic description of the
joint activities of children and adults, the data do provide an insight
into what it means to be a child in that community: the tasks expected,
the rules to obey and the roles to perform in relation to other age
groups (see Table 5.3).

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