Young Children's Discourse Strategies During Block Play: A Bakhtinian Approach

This study describes the application of Bakhtin's theories of dialogism to nineteen 5-year-old preschool children's communication strategies and the ways children appropriate meaning in block play. The observed frequency of communication strategies used in three different naturally emerging social relationships–1) individuals, 2) dyads, and 3) groups of three or more children–in a culturally diverse preschool program was investigated. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Using Corsaro's (1986) coding system for types of utterances, results indicated significant differences in the communication strategies of 5-year-old children engaged in block play. Significant differences were also found in the communication strategies with regard to social groupings. This study suggests that 5-year-old preschool children use communication strategies and appropriate shared meaning in block play, and is important in that it has implications for encouraging language development.