A dialogic analysis of interaction between mothers and their deaf or hearing preschoolers

Dialogic interaction between mothers & age-matched or linguistically matched hearing & hearing-impaired children is investigated. The intelligible utterances produced in video-taped spontaneous mother-child interactions (N = 32 dyads, deaf & hearing children aged 2 & 5 years) were transcribed & coded following the cognitively based system of dialogic analysis proposed by M. Blank & E. Franklin (see LLBA 15/2, 8101628). Results revealed differences between hearing & hearing-impaired dyads along most dimensions, including the number & form of initiations employed, the complexity levels of initiations, & the appropriateness of the child's responses. The conversational interactions in dyads with deaf children were more restricted due to the impaired linguistic ability of the children & a tendency among the mothers to dominate conversations. 5 Tables, 50 References. Modified HA