Literacy Conversations Between Adults and Children at Child Care: Descriptive Observations and Hypotheses

This study examines the nature of literacy-related, teacher-child talk in the daily routines of child care. The researchers focused on the incidence, features, and patterns of talk on a typical morning at three child care centers. With regard to the incidence of talk, observations indicated that the adults talked about reading and writing to a modest degree, compared to the total amount of talk with children. When adults did talk about reading and writing, it typically involved few children in brief exchanges that primarily gave information about print, or that met practical needs of daily routines. The incidence of the adults' literacy talk, aside from book talk, was primarily intermittent and spontaneous. Analysis of the discourse features of the teachers' literacy talk showed a similar pattern for all three teachers, namely one of getting/giving information and checking for understanding. Overall, the patterns reflected the natural teaching tendencies of telling, asking, and checking, features that are characteristic of transmissive teaching practices. The patterns found do not ignore literacy, but do not promote it either. These findings support the argument for improving and enriching the professional education literacy curriculum as the surest route for enriching and bettering the literacy environment for children at child care.