Scenario to show first language learning interaction between a mother and a child

Instructions:

Identify the components of caregiver speech and the negotiation of meaning in the following transcript of a father interacting with his 18-month-old child.

A child picks up a book and shows it to his father. This tells the father that he wants him to read the book with him. The book has no words but has many pictures that tell a simple story.

The father takes the book and says, "Do you want me to read you a story?"

The child looks happy, so the father says, "O.K.! Let’s read."

The child points to the picture of the whale on the front cover and looks at the father.

The father says, "That’s a whale!"

The father turns to the next page and they both see a picture of the whale talking to two seagulls. Under the picture it says, "I squirt each time I meet a friend."

The father reads what it says, out loud. He then makes it into a little chanting song that they both enjoy.

The father points to the seagulls and says, "There are two birds."

"He’s making friends with the birds. When he makes friends he squirts." He then pretends to squirt. He uses gestures from the top of his head. The child enjoys his funny faces.

The child points to the picture of the birds and says, "tweet tweet" (making a bird noise). The father says, "Right! Those are birds! They go tweet tweet!"

They begin looking at the next picture. In the picture the whale is squirting as he meets a lighthouse keeper standing in his lighthouse. The father says, "Look, he’s squirting." and points to the water coming out of the spout of the whale. "He’s making a new friend!" He points to the lighthouse keeper.

The child interrupts the story by turning the page.

Eventually, the child finds the picture that he is looking for. The picture shows some monkeys on an island being visited by the whale and making friends. The child points to the monkeys in the picture and says, "Monkey! Monkey! Monkey!"

The father says, "That’s right! It’s a monkey! Look! He’s eating a banana!" He points to the banana that one of the monkeys is holding.

The child points to the monkey, looks at his father and says, "Mung Mung!"

The father says, "No, that’s not a dog. It’s a monkey. A monkey goes o-o-o-ah-ah-ah" (making monkey sounds). The child likes these funny sounds.

The child turns the page again. He finds a picture in which the people are eating ice cream.

He says, "ah ee kee" (trying to pronounce ice cream).

The father doesn’t understand at first. He sees the bird and goes, "tweet tweet".

Then the father realizes what the child is trying to say and says "oh…. ice cream! They are eating ice cream! Look! The monkey is eating ice cream!"

The child points to the whale.

The father says, "He can’t eat ice cream. Whales don’t eat ice cream."

The child points to a koala bear and says "Mung Mung!"

The father says, "No, that’s not a dog. That’s a koala bear."

The father turns to another page on which there is a picture of a dog, points to it, and says, "That’s a DOG." He uses strong intonation and word stress when he says this. He also speaks slowly.

The child says, "dog".

The father says, "That’s right! A DOG!"