Parent child interaction in Nigerian families: conversation analysis, context and culture

the mother in (1c) required a non-verbal response from her child and was expecting the child only
to comprehend a lexical item and attend to her question (although he did also repeat the lexical
item. This is consistent with findings elsewhere that Nigerian mothers use tuitional talk
purposefully, sensitive to their child’s language level and stage of development (LeBas, 1995).

Although the directive and instructional elements are prominent, elicitation of verbal
responses and actions by parents was not at the expense of responsiveness to child initiation. Two
response strategies were apparent: first, child initiations that seek to redirect the talk or activity
away from adult control are treated with pursuit of the child’s topical agenda (4). A second
pattern involves child initiations where the action meets with approval by the adult (3). This is
consistent with the finding that adults monitor children’s talk and orient towards a child’s
utterance as a labelling turn, retrospectively building the child’s turn into a linguistic display
(Tarplee, 1993).

In both categories of response to child initiation, there is evidence of contingently
responsive linguistic input by the parent. Non-verbal actions are linguistically interpreted and
verbal initiations are imitated. As discussed above, a number of researchers have found positive
correlations between features of language development in children and maternal responsivity. It
could be argued, then, that the responses made to the child in our data are sufficient to afford the
level of contingent responsiveness necessary for good language learning.

Recommendations for practice

A key aim of the study was to gain deeper insight into PCI in Nigerian families so that advice can
be given in SLT that is consonant with the given cultural context. It is crucial to enhance and
encourage positive aspects of the Nigerian PCI style, rather than working to reduce or change
well established behaviours. To provide culturally appropriate therapy advice, account must be
taken of the context of an interaction, the parent’s view of the purpose of the activity, and the
cultural beliefs and attitudes underlying these practices. We recommend that a detailed and data-

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