The construction of temporality in mother-child conversations about past and future events. A longitudinal study.

STEIN, A.; ROSEMBERG, C. R. ALAM, F.

Congreso; Biennial Meeting CDS 2015; 2015

The study analyses the construction of temporality in 48 conversations about past and future events that were audioregistered in the homes of 12 middle-income children from Argentina at 2:6 and 3:6 years old. The analysis focused on: the use of temporal terms (TT) by the children and their mothers, changes in the temporal frame of reference of the events narrated, the establishment of the temporal sequence, the use of evaluative devices that suspend temporal sequence. At 2:6 all the participants used several evaluative devices. Participation in exchanges about past events facilitated the use of TT by the children, while adults used more TT in future accounts. At 3:6 children used a greater quantity and diversity of TT, while their mothers only increased the diversity of temporal vocabulary. Changes in the temporal frame of reference where more frequent in future accounts in the two moments considered.