(Amelia Church) Preference Organisation and Peer D

PREFERENCE ORGANISATIoN AND PEER DISpUTES
Directions in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis

Series Editors: Stephen Hester, University of Wales, UK David Francis, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis are cognate approaches to the study of social action that together comprise a major perspective within the contemporary human sciences. This perspective focuses upon naturally occurring talk and interaction and analyses the methods by which social activities are ordered and accomplished. From its origins within sociology, EM/CA has ramified across a wide range of human science disciplines, including anthropology, social psychology, linguistics, communication studies and social studies of technology. Its influence is international, with large and active research communities in many countries, including Japan, Australia, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden as well as the UK and USA. The International Institute of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis is the major association of EM/CA researchers worldwide. It was set up in 1978 by Prof. George Psathas to provide a forum for international collaboration between scholars working in the field of studies of social action and to support their work through conferences and publications. It published several books in EM/CA in association with University Press of America. Now reconstituted under the direction of Francis and Hester, supported by an international steering committee, the IIEMCA holds regular conferences and symposia in various countries. This major new book series will present current work in EM/CA, including research monographs, edited collections and theoretical studies. It will be essential reading for specialists in the field as well as those who wish to know more about this major approach to human action. Other titles in this series Talk and Social Interaction in the Playground Carly W. Butler ISBN 978-0-7546-7416-0 Ethnographies of Reason Eric Livingston ISBN 978-0-7546-7106-0
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

How Young Children Resolve Conflict
AmELIA ChURCh University of Melbourne, Australia
Amelia Church 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Amelia Church has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court East Suite 420 Union Road 101 Cherry Street Farnham Burlington Surrey, GU9 7PT VT 05401-4405 England USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Church, Amelia Preference organisation and peer disputes : how young children resolve conflict. - (Directions in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis) 1. Interpersonal conflict in children 2. Social skills in children 3. Conversation analysis I. Title 302.3'4'083 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Church, Amelia, 1974Preference organisation and peer disputes : how young children resolve conflict / by Amelia Church. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-7441-2 -- ISBN 978-0-7546-9146-4 (ebook) 1. Conflict management. 2. Interpersonal conflict in children. 3. Interpersonal relations in children. 4. Problem solving in children. 5. Social skills in children. I. Title. HM1126.C49 2008 303.6'90833--dc22 09ANSHT 2008043655 ISBN 978-0-7546-7441-2 e-ISBN 978-0-7546-9146-4
Contents
List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements
vii ix
1 Introduction 2 Defining Child Conflict
1 7 31 53 111 151 187
3 Conversation Analysis 4 Peer Disputes
5 Dispute Outcomes 6 7 Preference and Dispute Outcomes How to Resolve Disputes
Appendix A Observation 1 transcripts Observation 2 transcripts Observation 1 summary Observation 2 summary References Index
197 198 233 253 254 255 273
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List of Figures and Tables
Figure 2.1 Sequences in contradicting routines, Boggs (1978) Figure 6.1 Continuum of account objectivity
23 176
Table 2.1 Categories of opposition Table A.1 Transcription conventions
17 197
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a Monash Graduate Scholarship and the singular supervision of Professor Keith Allan I continue to be grateful for his guidance and support. Publication of this work was assisted by a publication grant from the University of Melbourne. Since completing this study I have had the good fortune to participate in conversation analysis forums with established scholars. In particular, thanks to Professor Susan Danby, Dr Mike Forrester, Professor Bill Wells, Dr Johanna Rendle-Short and Dr Anna Filippi for their interest in this work. I would also like to acknowledge the encouragement given by Professor Li Wei, Professor Trisha Maynard, Professor Bridie Raban, Professor Collette Tayler and Professor Field Rickards. Thanks are most obviously extended to the children and staff of the two childcare centres in Melbourne who participated in the project; without their interest in the research and willingness to participate, this contribution to our understanding of childrens interactions would not exist. The study presented in this monograph was undertaken as doctoral research in the then Linguistics Department at Monash University. Parts or versions of the research presented in this monograph have appeared in earlier publications: Rask: International Journal of Language and Linguistics; Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education; and a chapter in Thomas, N. (ed.) (2009), Children, Politics and Communication: Participation at the Margins. Bristol: Policy Press.
For my parents, for making everything possible.
Chapter 1
Introduction
Conflict between children

Lauren and Fran (aged three) are sitting in the back garden having a tea party. As Lauren pours tea into chipped cups, she accidentally spills some on Frans leg. In response to Frans challenge You poured juice on me, Lauren replies quickly: I didnt. Frans insistence (You did), and Laurens counter-denial (I didnt) is repeated over a number of turns, until Lauren issues the indirect threat Im not your friend anymore. Fran accompanies a later counter-threat (Well Im gonna tell on you) by poking Lauren in the ear. The subsequent claim (I was only tickling) is obviously rejected by Lauren as she kicks Fran, who responds by pulling Laurens dress. The physical struggle escalates until Lauren bursts into tears and runs towards the back door of the house in search of her mother.
In this episode, the young girls are engrossed in their pretend play and the subsequent collapse of co-operative interaction. As adults, our involvement is usually restricted to the collapse of childrens arguments, where conflict has escalated beyond the point of childrens own sociolinguistic resources. Disputes between children, for the most part, are reconstructed from retrospective reports rather than first hand evidence. In the absence of adult supervision or intervention, then, how do young children manage disputes? What resources do young children employ to persuade, assuage or confront their peers in conflict situations? What do they say? How do they respond? What is the most effective way of pursuing ones own goals in the preschool playroom? Fundamentally, how do children go about resolving disputes? Addressing these questions is the overriding aim of this book. The purpose of this chapter is to locate the work in the broader fields of conflict and childrens language development, and introduce the research project which informs the work as a whole.
This footage appears in the documentary Woodbine Place (McEvoy, 1989), which explores childrens friendships and play activities in a neighbourhood of urban Northumberland, UK.
What constitutes conflict? Intuitively we recognise the episode between the two girls described above as a form of conflict. Given the range of interaction encompassed by this term, however, the type of conflict studied in this book needs to be identified. The generic phrase adversative discourse is used to identify stretches of talk (and accompanying nonverbal behaviour) in which children oppose the prior utterance(s) or action(s) of another child or group of children. Opposition is fundamental to this type of discourse. Whilst definitions of verbal conflict are discussed in the next chapter, the terms adversative discourse, conflict, dispute and argument are used throughout to denote mutually articulated disagreement. For the most part, disagreement refers to real (rather than pretend) and serious (rather than joking) opposition which occurs spontaneously in the childrens interaction. The emphasis in this research rests on verbal disputes as illustrative of young childrens developing communicative competence (see below), rather than on argument per se. This work is not concerned with exploration of reasoning, argumentation theory or studies of negotiation processes in the adult world (e.g. Pruitt, 1981; Diez, 1986; van Eemeren, Grootendorst, Blair and Willard, 1991; Pruitt and Carnevale, 1993; Ehlich and Wagner, 1995; van Eemeren, Grootendorst and Henkemans, 2002) nor with related concepts such as game theory (e.g. Schelling, 1960; Rapoport and Chammah, 1965). Here, the term argument refers to opposing interaction between parties; in other words we are concerned with arguing about rather than arguing that (OKeefe, 1977). Negotiation theory falls beyond the scope of this book primarily because it concerns adult interaction. Whilst the overlap between adult and child conversation is acknowledged, I do not support the idea of child language as an imperfect version of adult language. A tradition of identifying children as incomplete, or by their inabilities rather than abilities precludes a comprehensive understanding of childrens social and linguistic competence (Waksler, 1991; Danby, 2002). The social world of young children can be considered an experience distinct from adult perspective (e.g. Corsaro, 2004). Indeed, childhood is attributed with specific social status, a status which exits through contrast with the adult world (Baker and Campbell, 2000). Not only are arguments between adults outside the immediate area of inquiry, adult-child disputes (e.g. Vuchinich, 1984, 1999; Grootevant and Cooper, 1985; Hess and McDevitt, 1984) are also, for the most part, excluded. Our concern here is the talk-in-interaction, specifically adversative discourse, between children. Examining peer conflict affords an opportunity to see how children of similar ages manage to persuade or attempt to manipulate others of essentially equal status and same stage of language development. To this end, the skill and complexity of young childrens talk is uncovered, moving away from the idea of preschool as pre-competent.
Introduction
Adversative discourse as productive interaction Competency is subsumed by the notion of disputing as a complex, rule-governed, constructive, shared activity (Laursen, Hartup and Koplas, 1996: 77; Lein and Brenneis, 1978: 308; Brenneis, 1998). Moving away from viewing children as egocentric, Piaget would propose that argument leads to intellectual co-operation and the increased understanding of self and others (Eisenberg, 1987: 114). In accommodating (or rejecting) the intentions of another speaker, children negotiate locally determined roles and rules, co-constructing the outcomes of disputes. Although disagreements require some sort of resolution for the prior content of conversation to resume (Stalpers, 1995: 288), adversative discourse should not be seen as an aberration or sort of non-conversation. Indeed, the data in this book shows childrens disputes to be the site of co-operative and productive talk-ininteraction. Furthermore, the ability to manage conflict is related to other indexes of competence, including sociometric status, aggression, emotional control, and social adjustment (Chen and French, 2008: 604). Oppositional talk provides an opportunity for children to construct and negotiate their own social world, simultaneously reflecting and constructing their particular cultural experiences. Indeed, conflict among children latently functions to develop their sense of social structure and helps reproduce authority, friendship, and other interactional patterns that transcend single episodes of dispute (Maynard, 1985b: 220). Conflict fosters the acquisition and refinement of social skills (Hay and Ross, 1982: 112), and is related to social acceptance (Putallaz and Sheppard, 1995: 346). Far from causing permanent rifts or discord, arguments between children tend to be quickly forgotten: That stupid Mr. Dan gonna come up there and say (0.4) Yall better (0.2) come on and shake hands. Dont mean nothin cuz we be playing together next day anyway (Goodwin, 1982: 87). Opposition arising in isolated disputes does not permanently disrupt peer interaction, and, moreover, the co-operative benefits of negotiating social relationships are enduring. As Corsaro and Rizzo (1990: 65) summarise, it is clear that disputes and argumentation serve positive functions in terms of childrens development of communicative competence and social knowledge. So whilst language remains the focus of this book, analysis of conflict discourse is also demonstrative of children as competent social agents, actively constructing peer culture. Communicative competence Childrens acquisition of language and developing abilities in social interaction have been studied in a myriad of ways beyond traditional cognitive (Piaget, 1959) and socio-cultural (Vygotsky, 1986) theories from behavioural approaches (Skinner, 1957), structural emphasis on syntax (e.g. Chomsky, 1957, 1965; Brown, 1973), rule-based systems (Bloom, 1970; MacWhinney, 1982), and systemic
linguistics (Halliday 1975, 1978; Fine and Freedle, 1983), to an increasing emphasis on social context (e.g. Ochs and Schieffelin, 1979, 1983; Schieffelin and Ochs, 1986; Romaine, 1984). This study of childrens disputes belongs to the domain of developing communicative competence (Hymes, 1972, 1974; cf. Gumperz, 1986) where ability or performance is recognised not only as linguistic but encompassing broader, culturally-situated aspects of language in use. Although it is not designed to address the concept of communicative competence directly, the research contributes to a greater understanding of childrens developing abilities in language in interaction. As children acquire language for multiple purposes, they are learning to argue (Eisenberg, 1987; Maynard, 1986b). Far from being a disordered activity, in adversative discourse children are playing with structures of embedding and ellipsis in return actions, providing disclaimers disarming the illocutionary force (Austin, 1962) of a prior speakers talk, and formulating logical proofs all without creating rifts in relationships (Goodwin, 1982: 91). Verbal disputes, then, provide children with an opportunity not only to manipulate or persuade their play partners but use increasingly complex language to do so. Viewing verbal conflict as an activity best avoided, one to be ended as quickly as possible (cf. Sackin and Thelen, 1984), fails to acknowledge the opportunity afforded by adversative discourse for children to pay close attention to language. Indeed, dispute contexts provide children with far greater motivation to quickly produce creative structures than could be constructed by the teacher for pedagogic purposes (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987). The ubiquitous teacher instruction for children to use your words during conflict with peers, prompts consideration of the range of strategies employed by young children. Children are encouraged to pursue verbal rather than physical resolution of conflict, yet there is little specification in the preschool classroom as to what words the children should actually use. We need to consider not only what words children use, but what words they use in response to opposition. Moreover, the words produced by children in serial oppositional utterances will be considered in terms of dispute outcomes. What words do children use to resolve disputes? Outline of monograph Existing research in childrens arguments has predominantly focused on types of verbal strategies produced within dispute episodes. As shown throughout
For exemplary work in the area of childrens developing communicative competence see Susan Ervin-Tripp (e.g. 1977, 1978, 1982). Preschool-aged childrens ability to manage conversations with peers is well documented (e.g. Dore, 1979, 1985; Corsaro, 1979; Garvey and Berninger, 1981; Garvey, 1974, 1984; Ochs, 1983; McTear, 1985; Wood, 1989; Foster, 1990; Ninio and Snow, 1996; Thompson, 1997).
Introduction
Chapter 2, earlier studies in peer conflict have identified speech acts in disputes and, in some cases, attempted to establish patterns of subsequent utterances. Whilst illustrative of types, frequency and social context of disputes, these prior studies do not effectively account for the sequential, turn-by-turn structure of adversative discourse. The primary aim of this research is to understand what leads to conflict resolution, or alternatively, to a breakdown of collaborative play, by investigating childrens responses to opposition and the relationship between oppositional turns. The limitations of speech act theory in the study of adversative discourse are addressed more directly in Chapter 3, through juxtaposition with the methodological advantages of a conversation analytic approach. Conversation analysis (CA) is particularly well suited to investigation of childrens peer language given the insistence on recording real interaction, analysis driven by the data in favour of a priori hypotheses, and consequent attention to features of the talk-in-interaction which are salient to the participants themselves. The real interaction in this study was recorded (audio and video) in two child care centres in Melbourne, involving children enrolled in the four-year-old preschool program (attending on average 3 days per week), which generated a dataset of the 60 disputes transcribed for analysis (see Appendix A). Preference organisation, (an ordering principle defined by the asymmetry of second pair parts described in Chapter 3) was found to be prominent in the preliminary analysis. That is, turns in the childrens disputes were typically produced in one of two ways: (1) as short direct opposition (preferred turn shape) or (2) as delayed (by markers or pauses) and justified opposition (dispreferred turn shape). Chapter 4 presents an analysis of preference features occurring throughout the disputes. In order to determine if preference organisation is an organising principle in adversative discourse, a description of the outcome of disputes is required; so Chapter 5 is devoted to exemplifying three types of dispute endings identified in the data: resolution, abandonment and teacher intervention. The function of threats as atypical dispreferred turn shapes is also considered in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 establishes the relationship between turn shape and outcome. The analysis shows preferred turn shapes to be sustaining more likely to promote conflict and dispreferred turn shapes as non-sustaining resolution is only secured through final utterances where the opposition is justified. The quality of accounts (i.e. the reason given for the speakers objection) also proves to be influential in the development of disputes; the more objective the content of the account, the more persuasive the utterance. The micro-analysis afforded by conversation analysis, with particular focus on features of preference organisation, proves effective in uncovering how children go about resolving disputes. Intervention strategies for children to manage relationships with their peers tend to be adult-centric. Children, however, do not necessarily negotiate social relationships as adults would. Empirical evidence, such as provided in the research reported here, is essential to improve understanding of the highly ordered activity of young childrens social interaction. The findings contribute to a greater
understanding of how children function in their own social worlds. Importantly, these social worlds are constructed and maintained by increasingly complex language use, that is, by developing communicative competence.
Chapter 2
Defining Child Conflict

Introduction To position the research reported in this monograph, it is important to identify its departure from prior studies. Throughout this book, the method of conversation analysis (CA) is framed as a novel perspective on this type of childrens discourse although there is increasing interest in CA in childrens interactions more broadly (see Chapter 3). The analytic account presented in this book responds immediately to the unexplored ground in existing research in childrens conflict. As such the existing ground requires some account. Chapter 1 was concerned with identifying our interest in peer disputes and articulating why childrens adversative discourse should be studied. This chapter presents a summary of what has already been studied in child conflict. Each of the sections in the chapter represents a theme identified in studies in child conflict. First, definitions of conflict are discussed, followed by the interdependent classification of types and frequencies of conflict, and interpretation of how disputes begin. Identifying verbal strategies produced during arguments is a prominent concern in existing research, and some attempts have been made to investigate sequences of these strategies (where disputes may escalate or, conversely, be resolved). Few of these attempts have satisfactorily captured the properties of dispute closings. Lastly, the wide interest in gender differences in childrens arguments is discussed. This review is deliberately restricted to studies of conflict between children of the same age. Discussion of arguments between children and their parents (e.g. Maccoby, 1996; Crockenberg and Lourie, 1996), siblings (e.g. Ross, 1995), or children of significantly different ages are, for the most part (with the exception of e.g. Vuchinich, 1990) beyond the scope of immediate relevance. Similarly, research in conflict resolution strategies in atypical populations for example children with specific language impairment (e.g. Horowitz, Jansson, Ljungberg and Hedenbro, 2005) do not feature here. Furthermore, whilst work in developmental psychology extends to examining why children argue and determining the influence of such interaction on developing social cognition, this research is concerned with features of the language used by children to manage conflict with peers. Before the existing work on childrens language in disputes is reported, however, what actually constitutes adversative discourse needs to be established.
Definitions of conflict Argument can be considered a fuzzy concept (OKeefe and Benoit, 1982: 157). As disputes arise in ongoing interaction, identifying adversative sequences is not a straightforward task (Corsaro and Rizzo, 1990: 26). Yet despite the breadth of discourse denoted by the nominal argument and debate about confining episode boundaries, core features of conflict can be identified. Essential properties of disputes are: the central notion of opposition, boundaries of episodes, and mutuality. These properties carry across registers of disputes.
The adversative episode is defined as the interaction which grows out of an opposition to a request for action, an assertion, or an action. It is a social task whose objective is the resolution of that conflict or contradiction. The negating responses include refusals, disagreements, denials and objections. Thus, an adversative episode is a sequence which begins with an opposition and ends with a resolution or dissipation of conflict. Its apparent goal is to work out the initial opposing positions of the participants (Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981: 150).
Oppositional talk (Corsaro and Maynard, 1996) and its various guises (conflict, argument, dispute, adversative discourse, etc.) is fundamentally identified through opposition to some prior objectionable utterance or event. Elsewhere, opposition is described as overt disagreement (Miller Danaher and Forbes, 1986: 544), expressing an adversary position (Coulter, 1990: 185) or counter-assertion that rejects, denies or contradicts the prior assertion (Phinney, 1986: 48). Protest, resistance, or retaliation (Hay and Ross, 1982: 107) are also used to describe the onset and progress of opposition. Conflict, then, denotes an articulated form of disagreement where one party impedes the satisfaction of the wants of the other (OKeefe and Benoit, 1982: 163). We note that disagreement is not necessarily overt; persuasion (Miller, Danaher and Forbes, 1986: 544) is also proposed as a defining characteristic of conflict. That is, conflict can be identified where Child A attempts to influence Child B, Child B resists, and Child A persists (Shantz and Shantz, 1985: 4). Importantly, conflict is viewed as a type of exchange which disrupts the ongoing interaction. In this light, disputes function as a sort of side-sequence in ongoing talk, one which must be resolved if non-adversative talk is to resume.
Misunderstanding and dissent are two manifestations of divergence in common ground.[] When disagreement occurs, common ground must be established before the discourse can proceed. (Establishing common ground does not necessarily lead to a common opinion.) Most often disagreements call for additional interactional work, e.g. repair and insertion sequences, before the
For discussion of common ground, see Clark (1997).
Defining Child Conflict conversation can proceed (that is, before the expansion of common ground can continue) (Stalpers, 1995: 275).
Consequently, the beginnings and endings of disputes are inseparable from the definition of conflict itself. The boundaries of a conflict episode, thus, are identified by the onset and termination of oppositional exchanges (Garvey and Shantz, 1995: 96). As conflict is seen as a halt to non-argumentative conversation, the departure is marked by the onset and cessation of overt objection (OKeefe and Benoit, 1982: 163) to a prior utterance/speaker. Inherent in this idea of resuming co-operative, non-adversative discourse, is the co-operative nature of conflict itself. Identifying conflict as a type of discourse with distinctive boundaries does not signify that disputes are something other than conversation. Conflict, as with all forms of talk-in-interaction, is mutually created. Indeed, opposition must be mutual for argument to continue. A core, defining feature of conflict is the performance of adversary positions (Coulter, 1990: 185) maintained by at least two people (Garvey and Shantz, 1995: 94; Hay, 1984: 2). Mutuality is not limited to opposition (both parties must produce some form of objection), given that mere participation requires more than one party. Consequently, disputes are defined as spontaneously co-constructed by the children themselves (Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981: 150). Definitions also extend to the range of disputes which appear in childrens peer play. It should be noted that while aggression is typically expressed in the context of conflict, it does not follow that all conflict is aggressive (Shantz, 1987: 285). Sprott (1986: 427) points out that contemporary definitions of conflict include exchanges which have a joking or teasing quality or a cooperative, playful quality, in addition to the serious or angry dispute. Manifestation of cultural variation is also apparent in more ritualised forms of conflict such as playing the dozens (Labov, 1972b; Mitchell-Kernan, 1972), the stylised brogez of Israeli children (Katriel, 1985) or other varieties of verbal dueling (e.g. Dundes, Leach and Ozkok, 1972; Corsaro and Maynard, 1996). To this end, Garvey and Shantz (1995) propose four dimensions of conflict talk: orientation (serious/joking); format (ritual/nonritual); frame (pretend/real) and mode (mitigated/ aggravated). Whilst the range of conflict types is considered, for the purposes of the current research, conflict is taken to mean episodes of real or serious opposition. Although other domains of disputes are not discounted (and a degree of shifting between modes is recognised), the primary interest in this study is to understand dispute resolution where non-pretend, non-ritual, non-joking argument serves as the default, unmarked norm of child conflict a norm, at least, for middleclass, English-speaking Australian children attending urban daycare centres. It is proposed that variation in disputing styles according to shifting key or register can then be explored from this platform of standard adversative discourse.
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Conflict openings From the definitions above, we surmise that conflict begins with overt opposition between individuals and continues until opposition ceases. Moves within conflict either continue the opposition or address it with attempts at conciliation or resolution (Ross and Conant 1995: 154). Before moving on to consider the content and outcome of disputes, we should note that the identification of opening moves in verbal conflict is inherently tied to the definition of conflict. A description of adversative discourse needs clear identification of how children begin arguments. Whilst the definitional relationship between conflict and conflict openings can be viewed as bi-directional, in the following discussion, emphasis rests on distinguishing the beginnings of conflict. To nominate the beginning of an argument, establishing what actually constitutes the first move of the sequence is fundamental, because assigning a particular move as the opening of the dispute has implications for the subsequent analysis of the unfolding argument. A prominent disparity in studies of young childrens conflict lies in identifying either (a) the first act of overt (verbal) opposition as the beginning of the dispute, or (b) the action or utterance which provokes the initial opposition. The following summary outlines the differing justifications offered in labelling specific turns as the beginning of arguments. The first turn of adversative discourse can be marked as the initial statement of opposition to an antecedent event. Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) propose that the central definition of argument is the action of opposition, so it follows that they propose argument begins with this action. Phinney (1986: 50) also claims that an argument does not begin until a statement or action is challenged by another speaker; consequently, the first move of the quarrel is identified as the first counterassertion made by another child. Corsaro and Rizzo (1990: 26) do not view the antecedent event as part of the dispute per se but rather as its source. Similar to Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) then, the authors view initial opposition moves to be the defining characteristic of conflict openings. In contrast, Brenneis and Lein (1977) propose that the beginning of an argument is marked by the statement or action which is refuted by a next speaker, thus instigating conflict. The debate, therefore, is not limited to determining which move constitutes the beginning of the dispute, but involves classification of which acts or moves are considered as part of the conflict at all. Within these discrepancies of identification lies the problem of denoting verbal turns as exclusively intrinsic to the opening of disputes. That is, ignoring properties of non-verbal turns. Maynard (1985a) criticises Eisenberg and Garveys (1981) concept of antecedent event for being primarily linguistic. By focusing on the semantic continuity of disputes (Brenneis and Lein, 1977), challengeable nonverbal actions are overlooked in instigating the argument. That is, the presupposition that antecedent events are verbal often fails to account for what may actually constitute the initial opposition. Maynard argues that recognising actions as well
11
as utterances as antecedent events (or arguables as he prefers to label them) has significant implications for the interpretation of the structure of disputes. The following episode appeared in Eisenberg and Garveys (1981) data and is reproduced here as the example used by Maynard to demonstrate the repercussions of ignoring nonverbal actions as possible opening moves.
((B has been screaming)) A:Dont be so loud B: ((shouts)) YES! A:Dont be so loud B: Why? A: Because it hurts my ears, yes, it does ((B is quieter))
Maynard (1985a) argues that the screaming serves as the antecedent or arguable event and that As opposition (Dont be so loud) should be numbered as the first opposition in the adversative episode. It appears not only reasonable, but essential to recognise the role of nonverbal actions in disputes if the structure of the discourse is to be understood. Attributing opening status to a particular action or utterance has an additional analytical influence on the allocation of speaker roles. That is, opening moves not only instigate argument, but also function to nominate specific roles for the participants in the dispute. Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) propose that the beginning of conflict establishes the role of each participant, roles which are held throughout the episode. The Opposer makes the initial statement of opposition, while the interlocutor is the Opposee by default. The authors claim that these roles are significant in the choice of strategies used by each child in that the Opposee is trying to influence his partner while the Opposer is resisting influence (1981: 152). As these roles are determined by attribution of the initial move of the conflict, the analytical significance of assigning the first point of opposition is twofold (assigning both the opening move and speaker roles). Most closely related to earlier definitions of conflict, is the response to the first opposition move, that is, the next utterance in the exchange. The definition of conflict obviously influences which episodes constitute the data for a particular study. For example Laursen and Hartup (1989) follow Shantz (1987), and include interactions consisting of only two turns: a statement or action and opposition to this prior move. However, as most data in research on childrens conflict comprises episodes of three or more turns (e.g. Dunn and Munn, 1987), it can be argued that
12
a sequence of two turns is not indicative of disputing but is rather an example of repair (i.e. a correction of sorts). Consequently the original speaker has the option of treating the initial opposition as a prompt for self repair and to diffuse the possibility of conflict by letting the opposition pass (Maynard, 1985a: 7). The situation escalates, however, when the opposition is treated by the original speaker as a challenge of some sort and the argument unfolds (Maynard, 1986a). It follows then, that conflict takes hold in the third turn, where the original action (the antecedent event or arguable) is defended by the first speaker. If the first speaker accepts the challenge or correction made by the second speaker, argument dissipates and the episode is one of repair. Although the earlier two turns become established as the beginning of the conflict retrospectively, they do not constitute a dispute in isolation. Maynard (1985a: 8) states this position as follows:
initial opposition does not constitute an argument. An utterance may oppose a prior action, but its status as part of an argument is dependent on whether it is treated as a legitimate repair initiation or whether it is let to pass or whether it is itself counteracted. Thus, in addition to the notion of the antecedent event, as an arguable utterance or action that can potentially be opposed, we also need a concept of an argumentative which would capture how an initial statement of opposition is only contingently turned into an element of an argument or dispute episode.
It has also been found that particular pairs of utterances are more likely to function as the beginning of an argument. OKeefe and Benoit (1982: 172) found that amongst 2-5 year-olds, the majority of disputes began with request-refusal, orderrefusal, need statement-refusal and assertion-denials. Furthermore, the manner in which the dispute is begun (e.g. aggravated or mitigated objection) not only influences the development of the dispute, but determines how the hearer responds to the initial opposition (e.g. probable threat to face as mentioned by Benoit and Benoit, 1990: 171-172). In this research, the beginning of the dispute is taken to mean the first point of overt opposition (be it verbal or non-verbal), as conflict does not exist until this occurs. In the transcripts (Appendix A), however, this opposition is not necessarily marked numerically, i.e. identified as line 1 in the episode. In some cases, prior utterances (antecedent events) are recorded to provide contextual cues to the reader. Indeed, for the most part, the antecedent event that directly precedes the primary opposition appears as the first line of the transcript. Only episodes which consist of three or more turns are included as data for the present analysis. Problems associated with defining the openings of disputes are not the preoccupation of this study, as it attempts to detail the closings of conflict episodes. Before reviewing existing research on dispute endings, however, we need to consider what constitutes the substance of disputes, what happens between the beginning and the end. Our discussion moves, therefore, from the initiation of conflict to consider the frequency and types of conflict in young childrens peer interaction.
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Frequency and types of conflict Given the range of studies in childrens peer disputes, we presume that arguments are a regular feature of childrens interaction. Intuitively, we perceive disputes between children to be common events. In moving from general perception to quantification, however, problems are encountered. It becomes clear that frequency of conflict evades objective calculation: the manner in which conflict is defined determines the number of instances or episodes recorded in a specified period of time. Consequently, the incidence of disputing in the preschool environment is inherently dependent on the theoretical approach of the researcher. Also, practical concerns of available resources, number of children, dimensions of play space and so on influence the prevalence of arguments. Given that the working definition of conflict determines the values of frequency, and that this definition shifts from one study to another, it is unreasonable to contrast the various findings. Likewise, variation in methodology (e.g. naturalistic observation vs. contrived episodes recorded in laboratory settings) precludes viable comparison. This summary, therefore does not attempt to collate the frequencies reported in each study, but rather identifies the occurrence of conflict within other domains. That is, a more meaningful overview of the prevalence of childrens conflicts exists in the relationship between frequency of conflict and (1) age of participants, (2) friendship relations and (3) activity type. Frequency of conflict and gender of participants also receives attention in extant research, as described later in this section. Frequency of conflict is associated with the age of the disputants. Although longitudinal studies are not common in research on preschool childrens interactions, uncontroversial findings point to fewer disputes among older children. In one of the earliest studies in this area, Dawe (1934) recognised a tendency for fewer quarrels amongst the older children in her observation sessions, suggesting a decrease with age. Chen et al. (2001) similarly report that insistence in disputes declines with age and that instances of resolution increase as children get older. OKeefe and Benoit (1982) comment that if a relationship exists between age and frequency of conflict exists, it is a negative one. That is, rather than learning to disagree, children ultimately learn not to disagree so often (p.170). A distinction is also evident in relation to friendship categories. Given the interest in interpersonal relationships in developmental psychology, considerable attention in conflict research has been paid to the frequency of arguments between friends and between to non-friends. A correlation was described in the early work of Green (1933) who claimed that there are more quarrels between mutual friends, suggesting that quarrelling is a part of friendly social intercourse (p.251). Indeed, amongst some groups of children, initiating conflict can be equated with fostering friendship (Corsaro and Rizzo, 1990). The greater number of disputes between children who nominate each other as friends can also be explained by increased contact between friends, and underscores the idea that disagreement is not problematic in the maintenance of peer relationships (Ross and Conant,
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1995). The form or structure of arguments between friends may differ in structure, however, as there is increased motivation to sustain or resume shared play, to sustain the relationship. Frequency of conflict is also related to the specifications of the play environment and the type of activity in which play partners are engaged. The number of disputes is higher when children are indoors, in contrast to play outside (Dawe, 1934), a proportion which can be attributed to a restriction of play space. The greater frequency of disputes indoors (a discrepancy not often recorded because the large majority of studies are conducted inside preschools or laboratories) can also be ascribed to the necessity of sharing resources. Particular activities are also more or less likely to serve as environments in which disputes unfold. Where children are engaged in parallel play (activities such as drawing, painting, cutting and pasting), where resources are not restricted, conflict is less frequent. The influence of play activity is not limited to the frequency of disputes. The type of dispute is in some ways constrained by the play environment and play materials. Object conflicts, for example, are obviously more frequent in activities which demand the sharing of resources, such as playing with building blocks. This brings us to the content of childrens disputes and attempts to categorise the cause of conflict. Parallel with the variation in reporting the frequency of conflict, the identification of dispute types is dependent on the focus of the research, where classification is generated by the researchers themselves. Again, the focus of the research dictates the working definitions employed, in this case, the categories of conflict observed. Dawe (1934) proposed four categories of quarrels amongst preschool children: possessions, physical violence, interference with activity and social adjustment. Genishi and Di Paolo (1982) proposed the following as major themes of argument: possession, number, conduct, truth, role, opposition to request, and exclusion. Phinneys (1986) study of 5-year-olds arguing with siblings and peers categorised six types of disputes (frequency given in brackets) as follows: procedure (44 per cent), fact (28 per cent), possession (11 per cent), intention (11 per cent), attribution (5 per cent) and opinion (2 per cent). In their study of an integrated early childhood classroom, of typically developing children and children with disabilities, Malloy and McMurray (1996: 191-192) identified seven social goals associated with conflict that have been identified by previous researchers. These were object acquisition, annoyance, group entry, change in the course of play, invasion of space, defying school rules, and stopping others actions (Krasnor and Rubin, 1983; Shantz, 1987; Wilson, 1988). The most prevalent type or category of recorded child peer conflict involves object disputes of some kind. Indeed, these types of arguments typically make up the greatest percentage of preschool conflict (Shantz, 1987). Disputes involving objects are not solely driven by desire for the article in demand, as the object may assume a social significance, depending on who maintains possession. That is, a toy may appeal to a child as a valuable commodity if it has been seen to be enjoyed or owned by another child (Hay and Ross, 1982). Additionally, as Bakeman and
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Brownlee (1982) found in their work with children aged 12-48 months, possession of an object is not simply determined by the power status of the children involved in the study. That is, conflict is not only influenced by individual dominance, but by possession rights established prior to the dispute. If one child had the object in his or her possession at some earlier time, his or her claim to it is reinforced. Although object disputes predominate most studies involving young children, this prevalence is not claimed universally. Corsaro and Rizzo (1990) found an inverse proportion of nature of play disputes to object disputes as reported by Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) and Genishi and Di Paolo (1982). However, this difference may be explained by varying definitions (Corsaro and Rizzo included all opposition to the action of others in nature of play disputes). The disparity may also be accounted for by methodological differences (specifically resulting in an absence of disputes over access to play in Eisenberg and Garveys (1981) and Genishi and Di Paolos (1982) research). The greater frequency of claim disputes amongst Italian children could also be attributed to the childrens apparent enjoyment of the discussione as a verbal routine (Corsaro and Rizzo, 1990; see also Eisenberg, 1990). That is, the children enjoy the (culturally specific) format of the argument, similar to participation in other ritualised games (e.g. sounding or playing the dozens; Labov, 1972b; Kochman, 1983). Indeed, cultural imperatives influence the purpose, content, and management of conflict (e.g. Medina, Lonzano and Goudena, 2001; French, Pidada, and Victor, 2005). Furthermore, in the earliest studies by Green (1933) and Dawe (1934), a positive correlation was suggested between gender and frequency of quarrelling: boys were involved in more disputes with their peers than girls. Contemporary research, however, does not point to discrepancies in frequency, but rather a different focus or purpose in girls compared with boys disputes. Goodwin and Goodwin (1987: 227) note that although they had much in common, when the boys and girls on Maple Street interacted in same-sex groups they displayed different interests, engaged in different activities, and constructed different types of social organization. This had consequences for the types of disputes that occurred within each group. Differences in the underlying social structure of the groups, then, influence the types of disputes in same-sex interaction. The analyses of both object and person control conflicts indicate that ones gender predisposes one toward becoming involved in conflicts over particular issues (often objects for boys, and others behavior for girls) in ways that are not accounted for by differences in social-cognitive functioning (Shantz and Shantz, 1985: 12). This does not suggest that children engage exclusively in these types of conflict according to gender, but rather that disputes function differently depending on the goals or underlying motivations of the group. Boys appear to be more concerned with power and status during their interactions with other children, girls with relationships and sustaining harmonious interaction (Putallaz and Sheppard, 1995: 344). Differences can be viewed through the contrasting social organisation of each group. That is, the comparisons made by girls characteristically deal with ties they
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have to others or their appearance, whereas the boys employ a variety of criteria to explicitly rank themselves against each other (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987: 229). Consequently, the boys disputes are frequently centred around issues of relative power while the format of the girls challenges reflects their concerns with what others say about them (p.230). This latter format of reporting and challenging accusations is discussed in detail by Goodwin and Goodwin (1987), emphasising the highly structured pattern of he-said-she-said disputes. Given the embedded sequences in these arguments, they constitute a much greater complexity than exists when only two positions to an argument are debated, the general situation in most boys and cross-sex disputes (p.238). The indirect style of disputing attributed to girls can be seen as multi-layered, enhancing the speakers position while maintaining solidarity within the group. Sheldon (1992, 1996) identifies the concept of double-voice discourse where the speaker promotes her own agenda whilst sustaining social harmony. Sheldon (1992) also notes that the framework of pretend play allows girls an indirect form of opposition which in turn allows a greater number of alternatives for solving an incompatibility of intentions. The difference in girls and boys production of double-voice discourse should not be attributed to ability (boys are as capable of recognising the perspective of other) but rather it is more likely that that the difference in usage is due to discourse norms in solidarity-based groups (Sheldon, 1992: 113). Sheldon concludes by returning to the acceptability of direct confrontation in boys conflict in contrast (but not in opposition) to the expectation of girls to attend to the needs of the social group. In an earlier paper, Sheldon (1990) comments that dispute episodes involving girls were typically constructed of strategies that asked for or provided clarification of the speakers intentions. Sheldon relates this finding to Maltz and Borkers (1982) claim that girls maintain relationships based on closeness and equality, and to the concept of care orientation put forward by Gilligan (1988). Goodwin and Goodwin (1987) challenge such an orientation by stating that in contrast to the prevalent stereotype that female interaction is organized with reference to politeness and a dispreference for dispute (Gilligan 1982: 9-10; Lever 1976: 482; Piaget, 1965: 77), we find that girls are not only just as skilled in argumentation as boys but have types of arguments that are both more extended and more complex in their participation structure than those among boys (p.201).
Verbal strategies It becomes apparent that subjectivity is not restricted to defining openings, frequency, and types of conflict. Categorising verbal strategies produced in childrens adversative discourse is also dependent upon the researchers bias strategies are imposed by the researcher rather than necessarily identified as such by the children themselves. Although there is considerable overlap in the classification of argumentative moves put forward in various studies, there is a
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lack of uniformity which precludes any direct correlation of findings. Furthermore, quantification of types of verbal strategies used in conflict episodes (e.g. Haslett, 1983) does not tell us how children are producing these strategies. However, some description of the repertoire of verbal strategies identified across young childrens peer disputes is called for. Predominantly, verbal strategies produced throughout episodes are grouped according to illocutionary intent. Occasionally, opening moves are distinguished from later oppositional turns. Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) identified five types of initial opposition: simple negative; reason or justification; countering move; postpone (temporise); and evade. Of these the most common was supplying a reason (101/208), followed by a simple no (73/208). Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) then classified nine types of objection which are performed after these opening moves. As these categories of reaction to opposition are replicated elsewhere (e.g. Genishi and Di Paolo, 1982), Table 2.1 (below) serves as a summary. Table 2.1 Categories of opposition
Insistence Mitigation/Aggravation Reasons Counter Conditional directive Compromise Requests for explanation Physical Force Ignores Repetition or reinforcement of previous utterance (adding no new information). Paraphrases of original requests by either increasing indirectness or increasing directness. Statements providing explanation or justification for refusal to comply, or to influence other speaker. Speaker offers an alternative proposal. Composed of two linked, complex propositions: (1) a promise and (2) a directive. Proposal for some form of sharing. Used to elicit a reason or justification when partner has failed to provide either. Includes grabbing, taking object that partner has not released, hitting, struggling, and pushing. No response is made within 1.0 second.
Source: Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981.
Elsewhere, in their study of role-play-elicited conflict involving early primary school children, Brenneis and Lein (1977) used the following categories to identify moves in the disputes: threats, bribes, insults, praise, command, moral persuasion, negating or contradictory assertion, simple assertion, denial, affirmative, supportive assertion, demand for evidence and non-word vocal signals. In his
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study of disputing amongst part-Hawaiian children Boggs (1978) identified ten distinct verbal strategies: assertion, claim allegation, contradiction, challenge, insult, supporting argument/allegation, appeal to authority, and counter insult/ threat/trial. Genishi and Di Paolo (1982) borrowed these categories to distinguish verbal strategies employed by children. The categories were designed to be mutually exclusive, and were grouped according to Eisenberg and Garveys (1981) definitions of (1) antecedent events, (2) initial oppositions and (3) resolutions. The categories are listed as (1) action, assertion, claim, request, (2) challenge, contradiction, denial, insult, refusal, threat and (3) acceptance, appeal to authority, compromise, supporting argument. A prominent strategy in childrens adversative discourse is stating references to social rules. These rules are not necessarily invoked for their own sake, i.e. by a law-abiding speaker, but constitute a means-end approach. Maynard (1985a: 19) observes that in disagreement episodes, while rules may be related to extraneous cultural values, they are not necessarily invoked because of a basic concern to support these values, even though that may be the unintended consequence. Primarily, rules are used to manage local social concerns which are indigenous to the childrens own social group. Also, in each collection of data, threats emerge as a distinct category of opposition. An inherent aspect of conditionality distinguishes threats as type of argumentative move, as they express the intention to hurt or punish the hearer with the purpose of altering the hearers behavior (Benoit, 1983: 315). Essentially, then, threats invoke undesirable outcomes. Benoit points to the importance of considering the hearers role (see Grimshaw, 1980) in response to a threat. The hearer is obliged to produce an appropriate response to the threat to complete the unit (1983: 306). She further emphasises the collaborative nature of threats, rather than identifying threats as isolated utterances, because threats as structural units contribute to the sequential organization and collaborative development of discourse (Benoit, 1983: 307). Haslett (1983) found that threats were used more frequently by four and five year-olds than two and three-year-olds; not surprisingly, given the prerequisite level of linguistic complexity. Threats are most powerful when the speaker controls the projected outcome (e.g. harm-threats, withholding action/outcome), whereas threatening unspecified consequences or teacher retribution is less forceful. The response to a threat is typically rejection by the hearer: the nature of the conversational unit does not promote open discussion between the interactants (Benoit, 1983: 327). Consequently, cycles of threats and counter-threats are implicated in escalating disputes (OKeefe and Benoit, 1982; Haslett, 1983; Benoit, 1992). It is not only the content and function of verbal strategies which have been reviewed in existing research; suprasegmental features in the discourse have also prompted investigation. Brenneis and Lein (1977), for example, observed a number of stylistic tactics which accompanied the verbal strategies used by the children, namely volume (most frequent amongst the younger children), speed,
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stress and intonation. The distribution of these paralinguistic features was parallel to that noted by Boggs (1978): a pattern of escalation was characteristic in each. Visual cues (Camras, 1980), pitch leaps, vowel lengthening and dramatic contours have all been shown to be meaningful in challenges made in the course of play (Goodwin, Goodwin and Yaeger-Dror, 2002). Recycling the content of a prior turn constitutes a particular type of opposition strategy in childrens adversative discourse. As discussed in the previous section, Maynard (1985a) distinguished between mutual opposition as conflict, and twoturn sequences identified as occasions of repair. Once the argument has begun, however, what may constitute repair in adult speech can function as a conflict strategy among children. That is, partial repetition is a type of oppositional move used by children (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987), a form of overt opposition which is distinguishable from the notion of correction used within the broader framework of (adult) repair. Partial repetition as an opposition move is distinct from other-initiated repair by difference in performance: no hesitation and no rising intonation. This type of opposition not only creates a challenge to the content of the preceding utterance, but also challenges the authority of the previous speaker. Opposition can thus call into question not only what has been said, but also the general competence of someone who would produce such talk (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987: 210). Similarly, in her work with African-American children living in inner cities, Goodwin (1983) identified types of aggravation and mitigation strategies produced in argumentative sequences. The first of these are identified as aggravated partialrepeat correction formats: In contrast to repair operations performed in adult conversation in a mitigated way, among children, pointing to the trouble source and supplying the correction may be collapsed into a single turn (p.659). Goodwin moves on to consider aggravated contradiction and replacement correction formats: Both of these formats can be considered more aggravated than the partial repeat formats discussed above in that they provide unquestionable opposition to a prior turn (1983: 662). Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) refer to the function of aggravation and mitigation in adversative episodes, in that they raise or lower the status of the speaker, and consequently manipulate the participatory role (see Labov and Fanshel, 1977). The term mitigation denotes the speakers attempt to soften the unwelcome effect of the utterance (Fraser, 1980). Aggravated disagreements, on the other hand, are bald-on-record (Brown and Levinson, 1987) and are particularly salient in the peer culture of Italian preschool children (Corsaro and Rizzo, 1990). This strategy, one of augmenting the previous action, was most common in claim disputes and ritualised dispute routines.
Fraser makes the point that mitigation is distinct from politeness: Mitigation entails politeness, while the converse is not true (1980: 344).
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Strategies and friendships The relationship between strategy choice and social relationships has also generated considerable interest (e.g. Hartup, Laursen, Stewart and Eastenson, 1988; Hartup, 1995; Fabes and Eisenberg, 1996). The type of strategies chosen by children during disputes is influenced by the relationship existing between the participants. The relationship is not only defined by the relative power status but also by the degree to which each child nominates the other as a friend. The point is not that close peers always avoid disruptive behavior; coercion prevails in voluntary and involuntary close relationships alike. Instead, we suggest that close peers avail themselves of mitigation often enough during critical instances to preserve future rewarding exchanges (Laursen, Hartup and Koplas, 1996: 87). Laursen, Hartup and Koplas (1996) do not claim that friends engage in fewer conflicts than non-friends, but rather that children are aware that aggravated strategies are not conducive to maintaining close ties over a period of time. Children are motivated to negotiate their position during disputes with friends, because they have a vested interest in an outcome which is satisfactory to both partners. Consequently friends are more likely to use softer conflict management strategies than non-friends. It is interesting that a preference for negotiation rather than coercion exists between friends but not between family members (Laursen, Hartup and Koplas, 1996). It could be argued that the relationship with siblings and parents is sustained regardless of the childs behaviour, but the relationship between peers will not withstand disregard for the other childs wishes. In sum, studies are compatible with the conclusion that close peers try not to allow conflict to interfere with previously established patterns of rewarding exchange. According to Rizzo (1992), the absence of observed negative conflict outcomes suggests that scholars overestimate the actual threat of conflict to friendships (Laursen Hartup and Koplas, 1996: 90). An additional aspect of childrens arguments is that help is seldom sought from the teacher, or at least rarely, by children who are more competent:
Elementary-aged children who experience interpersonal conflict with their peers typically are reluctant to go to an adult authority for assistance. Help seeking is perceived as a way of avoiding rather than resolving conflict. Children who are socially well accepted, in particular, prefer to use prosocial, constructive strategies (e.g. discussing the situation) without relying on adults (Newman, Murray and Lussier, 2001: 398).
While acknowledging that this observation is applicable to relatively mild conflicts, the same authors underscore childrens preference for independence in resolving more serious disputes with peers. The most common reason given for not seeking help was that children want to resolve arguments on their own terms. The children involved in the study appeared to seek teacher intervention as a last resort, when
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their own repertoire had been exhausted and proven ineffective (Newman, Murray and Lussier, 2001: 406). Whilst studies of conflict typically report boys using more aggressive or hostile strategies when compared to the more passive or mitigated disputing practices of girls (e.g. Chung and Asher, 1996: 138), we should be wary of over-extending these findings to claims of female passivity. Female children are not devoid of aggressive actions; they simply have other strategies of control as well (Benoit, 1983). Additionally, cultural differences should be recognised in disputing practices; Chinese girls, for example have been shown to use as many direct strategies in managing conflict as American boys (Kyratzis and Guo, 2001). In her study of Chinese preschool children in Taiwan, Farris (2000: 545) found that the masculine-associated, direct aggravated style is used interactively by both girls and boys as the unmarked, or normal mode for engaging in conflict in both all male and cross-sex groups. Fundamentally, both boys and girls demonstrate ability to use the same range of strategies. As mentioned above, dispute strategies, are influenced by differences in play activities and social organisation of groups. Most importantly, however, the similarities between boys and girls dispute structures and strategies are greater than the differences (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987). This overlap in boys and girls observed patterns of behaviour during conflict situations suggests that gender differences of this type may involve differences in emphasis rather than a quantitative discontinuity. Rather than conceiving of sex differences in social development as reflecting two distinct paths, which is what Gilligan (1982) proposes one concerned with justice and the other concerned with relationships the results of this study suggest that there may be a continuum of responses to conflict. This continuum ranges from avoidance of conflict to aggressive or heavy-handed responses. Males and females are represented by overlapping distributions on this continuum that are centred more towards direct persuasion and negotiation for males, and more towards maintaining interpersonal harmony for females. Although males do engage in conflict mitigation, their predominant mode of dealing with conflict is initially more direct. Similarly, females do engage in heavy-handed persuasion, but their predominant mode of dealing with conflict is more indirect. In addition, there is no indication that boys and girls are not equally manipulative, they merely use different means to attain their respective ends (Miller, Danaher and Forbes, 1986: 547). The variety of verbal strategies summarised above suggests that young childrens ability to use different approaches in promoting their own position is considerable. A better indication of developing communicative competence, however, lies in establishing just how children employ these strategies during arguments. That is, how do children attempt to manipulate the outcome of disputes by serially constructing verbal strategies in adversative discourse? The most fundamental organisation of childrens conflict, in terms of the structure of discourse, is found in the sequences of these strategies.
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Sequences of strategies The verbal strategies identified above have been considered in terms of patterns of argument, establishing which actions are likely to precede or promote subsequent strategies. Brenneis and Lein (1977) suggest that dispute sequences follow one of three patterned structures: repetition, escalation or inversion. They also point to the interrelatedness of the turns at talk, as one remark indicates what the next remark will probably be, because the arguments are constrained by structural rules (p.60). Furthermore, the participants must adhere to the subject or theme put forward by the previous speaker if the sequence is to be sustained, as Brenneis and Lein (1977: 61) claim that semantic continuity is the organizing rule for argumentative sequences. Building on this research, Lein and Brenneis (1978) looked for patterns of childrens argument in three different speech communities. They found a tendency for African-American and Fijian Indian children to respond to insults with a pattern of escalation (i.e. each insult is exaggerated by the following speaker). The white American children participating in the study, however, tended to negate the previous speakers insult (a pattern of inversion). Differences in manner of escalation were also found: both American groups escalated sentences semantically (by augmenting the expression of the previous statement). The Fijian Indian children would use either substitution of equivalent terms or syntactic escalation (increasing the number of morphemes). As in their previous research, Lein and Brenneis (1978) found increasing volume in subsequent turns to be a common occurrence in all three speech communities. Boggs (1978) identified a pattern of argument amongst part-Hawaiian children, aged between one and eight, which he labelled contradicting routines. The organisation of these routines suggests a predictable sequence of events, as illustrated in Figure 2.1. Boggs notes that there is a tendency for disputes to escalate from contradiction to challenge, insult, counter insult, threat or trial (1978: 332). Each type of strategy may be repeated, but children do not revert to strategies used earlier in the interaction; the pattern of the contradicting routine is therefore one of progression. This pattern of escalation was also observed in paralinguistic features of the routines as there was a complementary pattern of increasing volume, stress and pitch, and a shortening of gaps between turns.
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assertion
contradiction
supporting
claim
challenge
argument/allegation
allegation
insult
appeal to authority
counter insult/threat/trial
Figure 2.1 Sequences in contradicting routines, Boggs (1978)
As suggested earlier, the sequence of argument is to some extent predictable from the form of initial opposition. For example, Phinney (1986) found that the development of an argument was highly influenced by the type of opening counterassertion. Indeed each turn was seen to be affected by the form of the previous utterance, as simple strategies (basic rejection, denial or contradiction) were more likely to elicit a simple response, whereas elaborated forms (reasons, explanations, justifications or query of preceding statement) usually prompted elaborate replies. Goodwin and Goodwin (1987) point out that the content-based escalation observed in childrens arguments is mirrored in the structural form of the argument itself. Indeed, there is a nice fit between the social activity of escalating a sequence and challenging a prior move and the syntactic structure of these utterances, in which the prior move becomes an embedded subcomponent of the sentence used to answer it (p.219). Responding moves in argumentative sequences not only attend to the semantic and syntactic content of previous turns but also to the force of the utterance, or type of strategy. Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) emphasise the dynamic nature of strategy choice, in that each speaker attends to the form of the previous action:
The two participants in the adversative episodes did not use strategies randomly, but were responding to the strategies of their opponent. The process of conflict resolution was a highly interactive one. If the partner used a strategy which provided no new material for him to work on or with, the child was less creative in his own choice of alternatives (p.166-7, emphasis in original).
The serial dependency of turns has also been acknowledged in analysis of threats in conflict episodes:
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Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes Analyses of threats as structural units suggest emergent patterns. Harm-threats are preceded by threats and insults and followed by threats the interactants both refuse to give ground. Withhold-action/object threats are preceded by assertions, [objectionable] behaviour, and refusals and followed by rejection or acceptance Tell-authority threats are preceded by [objectionable] behaviour and followed by topic shift and explanation. Unspecified-consequence threats are preceded by refusal and followed by acceptance or explanation (Benoit, 1983: 327).
In acknowledging the relationship between turns, it could be suggested that focusing on singular strategies within disputes obscures a central organising principle of interdependence (cf. Halliday and Hasan, 1976). It is proposed in this research, however, that a more illuminative approach to adversative discourse lies in understanding how each successive turn builds on prior moves, rather than isolating and categorising the moves themselves. Similarly, Goodwin and Goodwin (1987) do not view episodes of opposition moves as one distinct action followed in turn, but rather as a development of interrelated utterances. They also highlight the importance of analysing opposition moves beyond the level of speech acts, as children manipulate syntactic structures of prior moves. The sequential nature of childrens arguments is emphasised through consideration of format tying as a resource in adversative episodes. According to Goodwin, format tying generally involves participants strategic use of phonological, syntactic, and semantic surface structure features of prior turns at talk (Goodwin, 1990: 177; see also Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987) (Corsaro and Maynard, 1996: 158). Format tying is not only achieved by rephrasing prior phonological, syntactic and semantic content, but is also accomplished by reusing the structure of previous utterances. In other words, the child uses the surface structure of the prior turn and manipulates this structure to promote his or her own position. Essentially, format tying may be used as a powerful counter, because the prior speakers words can be turned and used against her/him. Format tying and substitution thus work hand in hand, the similarity of the structure between two utterances provided by format tying making the relevant difference in the second utterance, the substituted term, stand out with particular salience (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987: 220). Multi-party disputes Many of the studies reported above are based on data collected from contrived play situations in laboratory settings, and the majority of findings are specific to interactions between two children. Although two-party disputes are common in naturalistic settings, restricting observation to dyads does not allow analysis of all manifestations of adversative discourse. Children frequently participate in group disputes; so the full repertoire of argumentative styles and structures cannot be generalised from observing dyadic conflict.
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Before reviewing the structure of conflict involving more than two participants, however, a metalinguistic problem should be acknowledged. Goodwin and Goodwin (1990) criticise the use of the term multi-party to describe the interaction of more than two speakers. Given that multi-party is used elsewhere to denote a speaker and hearer, Goodwin (1981) argues that the term appears insufficient in distinguishing between two party discourse and discourse involving three or more participants. However, as the term is used elsewhere (Maynard, 1986a), the Goodwins employ the term despite reservations about its appropriateness. Goodwin and Goodwin (1990) present a stronger argument against the use of the term dyadic, in that it suggests the interaction between two parties is somehow unique, operating under specific principles which are not necessarily related to patterns of discourse involving three or more participants. They would argue that the norm is constituted by multi-party configuration and that the dyad operates within this same structure. The jargon also appears redundant when the more neutral two-party functions effectively as a label to identify the number of participants. The necessity of distinguishing between disputes involving two participants and those involving more than two participants is justified by features which may only appear in arguments involving multiple participants. Opportunity for collusion is the most distinctive feature of multi-party arguments. As an argument begins with an opposition to a prior utterance or action, two distinct positions are attributed to two participants. A third speaker may then align him or herself with one of these positions, or raise an alternative objection. Maynard (1986a) notes that this alignment may or may not be accepted by the original opposer and consequently should be seen as an offer of collaboration. Acceptance of an offer of this kind is not marked, but typically is displayed by the fact that the offer is not rejected. Offers may be rejected if they are not content-tied to the original opposition. Thus, not only can an apparent collaboration offer be treated in various ways by its recipient so that it is more or less successful, but the offerer herself can follow with various strategies that retrospectively construct how an alignment display should be constructed (Maynard, 1986a: 274). Furthermore,
One important consequence of the parasitic organization of these utterances, and in particular of the way in which they second the action of prior speaker, is that the subsequent speaker affiliates himself to the position being taken by the party whose talk is being followed. Principal parties within the dispute can reject as well as accept such offers of collaboration (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1990: 102).
Collaboration is therefore not achieved simply through the support of a third party, nor solely by the acceptance of this participation as compatible with the position of the original opposer or opposee. As noted by Goodwin and Goodwin (1990) this piggybacking, as they call it distinct from insertion sequences is a collaborative achievement accomplished as much through the actions of
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the subordinate party (who actively demonstrates his willingness to change his behavior at the suggestion of the other) as through those of the dominant party (p.113). Danby and Baker (1998) note that multi-party disputes typically begin as twoparty confrontation, with other speakers rapidly aligning themselves with one position or the other. Yet Maynard (1986a) underscores the idea that the dispute does not simply consist of two sides (although it is initiated by only two parties). Rather, given one partys displayed position, stance or claim, another party can produce opposition by simply aligning against that position or by aligning with a counter-position. This means that parties can dispute a particular position for different reasons and by different means (p.281). Consequently, multiparty disputes are generally not described as two-party disputes with additional speakers, because additional participants may attempt to align themselves with a particular speaker but not necessarily with the position of that speaker. In this light, collaboration may provide a platform for introducing a new objection or agenda. Conflict outcomes As discussed above, most research on child conflict illustrates the type of verbal strategies produced, with provisional attempts made to describe sequences of these strategies. Consideration of the outcomes of childrens disputes is generally made only in passing. Although most studies specify the boundaries of conflict episodes disputes end with either clear settlements, physical movement of dispute participants from the interactive scene, or a shift away from the disputed event to a new topic or activity (Corsaro and Rizzo, 1990: 26) attention to the form of closing sequences is limited. Samuel Vuchinich (1990) is one of the few who has attempted to identify the characteristics of utterances which bring about the end of disputes. He proposes five categories of conflict termination: submission, dominant third-party intervention, compromise, stand-off, and withdrawal. By far the most frequent of these (from recordings of families during dinner time) was the stand-off (66 per cent), which is defined as neither party submitting to the position of the other. In the same paper Vuchinich (1990) suggests that the closing of argumentative sequences is characterised by a two-slot structure. This structure displays either a dominant/ submissive relationship between the participants or a consensus on compromise (p.121). The notion of a two-slot structure (recognisable in other terminal exchanges see Schegloff and Sacks, 1973) in the ending of disputes, appears in Genishi and Di Paolos (1982) work. However, Genishi and Di Paolos claim that arguments are brought to a close by unsuccessful attempts to participate (i.e. by not tying to previous content) appears circuitously flawed. In this case, the definition of closing is generated retrospectively and attempts are qualified as unsuccessful solely
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because the dispute is abandoned. On other occasions, where the same type of utterance is understood as relevant to the dispute and taken up by another speaker, the move is no longer considered unsuccessful because the dispute proceeds. It could be argued that prediction of outcome, while facilitated by the knowledge of the dispute ending, should instead be based on a pattern of discourse recognised by the participants and demonstrated as universal by the researcher. Identification of patterns of discourse and utterance types which are instrumental in the closing of arguments is in many ways problematic. Ditchburn (1988) proposes a number of categories of de-escalation strategies used by the children (aged 4.5-6 years) she observed in three preschools. The first of these is negotiated compliance, which, from the example provided appears to overlap the category of compromise used elsewhere (Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981). A second de-escalation strategy is labelled as a topic change, where one speaker shifts from the dispute and introduces a new topic. (This topic change is a collaborative action, in that the other participants accept the shift and simultaneous abandonment of the dispute.) Tracking, a third category proposed by Ditchburn, appears to be a shift from the pretend to real frame, rather than a de-escalation strategy. That is, the dispute constitutes a negotiation of the play script; when one childs suggestion regarding the state of play is acceptable to the other child, the pretend play may continue. Another de-escalation strategy put forward by Ditchburn (1988) is labelled trial and error, where the dispute may unravel at various points through unrelated discourse. Ditchburn also presents third-party tracking as a de-escalation strategy, but the example used to illustrate this strategy fails to qualify as adversative discourse, because the childs question does not constitute a challenge to the previous speaker but rather a request for information. Negating the grounds for dispute identifies a justification which is not challenged by the play partner. Similarly, the category of role-related grounds appears designed to qualify a particular dispute ending rather than a form of de-escalation produced as effective on multiple occasions. Ditchburns (1988) categories are reported here to highlight the difficulties associated with identifying properties of conflict closings. An undisputed feature of conflict endings is that the conclusion is brought about by the collaborative effort of the parties involved. The successful resolution, dissipation or abandonment of conflict depends on the acquiescence of both or all parties. Vuchinich (1990) states that the end of a conflict episode is dependent upon the mutual participation of all participants. This is reached in one of two ways: either one child achieves a dominant position (which necessitates the resignation of the argumentative partner), or both parties negotiate an acceptable end to the disputing. As Eisenberg and Garvey (1981: 168) point out, the successful resolution of an adversative episode is a mutual endeavor: a child is more likely to win if he considers his opponents intentions and more likely to concede if his own desires are taken into account. As the primary aim of Eisenberg and Garveys (1981) study was to determine which verbal strategies were most likely to lead to conflict resolution, some emphasis
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was placed on defining clear-cut outcomes. However, the number of resolved disputes presented in their study must be interpreted in light of the method used to elicit arguments. For example, the small sample of children observed by Genishi and Di Paolo (1982) did not arrive at as many mutually acceptable conclusions to disputes as put forward in other research. The authors ascribe the absence of definite resolution in many cases to the spontaneous nature of the data (cf. Brenneis and Lein, 1977). Other differences in data collection procedure may also explain this discrepancy. For example, as Eisenberg and Garveys (1981) episodes were generated in pair-play situations in restricted space, a higher frequency of resolution should be anticipated. That is, in the laboratory setting the children had no other play partners to appeal to and nowhere else to go; resolution in this instance becomes necessary if any type of cooperative play is to be sustained. Attempting to isolate successful examples of conflict resolution is further complicated by the fact that in many childrens disputes a clear outcome does not exist:
The majority of disputes, however, are terminated without any sharp indication that either position has won or lost. In general, the end of an argument occurs when one of the two disputing parties does not tie his talk to the topic of the prior dispute, but instead produces an action that breaks the argument frame and his adversary accepts this shift. Although compromise is seldom reached, nor sought as a goal of the interaction, by shifting to noncompetitive talk (between former disputants), parties cooperate in bringing about the closure of the dispute. Despite the absence of a clear outcome, disputing allows participants the opportunity to construct and display character, a process important in their social organization (Goodwin, 1982: 87-88).
The negotiation of social roles is an important feature of conflict, and not always dependant on outcome. Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) claim that the objective of the participants is to resolve the conflict, yet do not allow for the situation where the speakers aim may be to extend the conflict. That is, the type of conflict, or the childs motivation for participating in the argument, will have bearing on the urgency of resolution. While the participants goal may be to resolve a dispute involving property rights, where attempting to assert status is a primary ambition, a cooperative conclusion may not be a satisfactory outcome. Patterns of closing sequences are also influenced by cultural communicative styles (e.g. Adger, 1986). Overall, the reason for the empirical lack of resolution in childrens disputes is that a basic function of conflict is to achieve a concrete, particular social organization through the display of opposition and the construction of accountable alignment structures. Such organisation is accomplished without resolution of a dispute episode (Maynard, 1985b: 212). Given the contention that resolution is not readily achieved in childrens disputing, further investigation of conflict outcomes is warranted. If children are not always winning or losing arguments, how is it that arguments are brought
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to a close? And where disputes are resolved, how is this achieved? Other than the termination sequences identified above, what features of turn sequences are implicated in outcomes?
Limitations of existing research The body of existing research in childrens conflict presents a thorough account of what children argue about and the types of strategies children use during disputes. Essentially, what children do in disputes is well established. But questions remain as to how children co-construct conflict. The data in this book do not contradict the findings of earlier research, but rather extend beyond the preoccupation with types of moves produced by children, to investigation of how these moves may be related to one another. With the exception of the ethnomethodological studies of Majorie Harness Goodwin, Charles Goodwin and William Corsaro, existing child conflict research has essentially been limited to an analytic emphasis on single utterances or a discourse analytic approach, largely overlooking the inherent properties of connectedness in adversative discourse. Discourse analysis, although moving beyond isolated speech acts, cannot adequately cope with the mechanics of how one turn relates to the next (cf. Jackson and Jacobs, 1980; see also Wooffitt, 2005). Analysis of sequences of strategies has been restricted by pre-emptive nominations of strategies. In attempting to classify the structure of the discourse in terms of sequences of single actions, ordering principles may be overlooked. That is, the serial production of turns might not be organised according to the externally allocated force of the utterance but through other properties of the discourse. The purpose of this research is to approach the data from another perspective, with the intention of uncovering universal properties of adversative discourse, specifically closing sequences, which are not limited by categories of actions imposed by the analyst.
This denotes discourse analysis as conceived in linguistics, rather than the broader conceptualisation employed in social psychology (see Forrester, 1996).
Chapter 3
Conversation Analysis
Introduction In the previous chapter, contemporary research in child conflict was discussed in terms of categories of analytic emphasis, underscoring the lack of attention given to the sequences of turns in childrens arguments. Emphasis has rested on the force of single utterances and the significance of these moves in a broader social context, yet the interrelatedness of the turns themselves has been largely overlooked. The premise here is that the method of conversation analysis is particularly suited to an investigation of the sequences and, subsequently, the outcomes of disputes. The purpose of this chapter, then, is to identify the relevant attributes of a conversation analytic approach and demonstrate their applicability to the study of child conflict. Essentially this chapter sets out to (1) locate the current study in the expanding field of research in conversation analysis; (2) summarily identify key concepts in conversation analysis for readers who may be unfamiliar with this methodology; (3) present an argument for the efficacy of conversation analysis as a tool for investigating young childrens peer interaction; and (4) discuss properties preference organisation as a principle of sequential talk that is relevant to adversative discourse. In the late 1960s, Harvey Sacks deliberative approach to the order of social interaction distinguished itself from the contemporary work of Harold Garfinkel (1967, 1972) and Erving Goffman (1961, 1963, 1971). With his prolific collaborators Emanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson, Sacks developed a rigorous model for the study of spoken interaction, establishing conversation analysis (CA) as a distinct field in sociological research. Whilst the theory of CA did not emerge entirely independently of Garfinkels pioneering work (departing from Parsonian theory) in ethnomethodology (Heritage, 1984; Taylor and Cameron, 1987), Sacks early work represented a critical shift in treating the inherent order of spoken language uncovered through microanalysis as a vehicle of social organisation and behaviour. Nor did conversation analysis rest on the platform of Goffmans ideas; rather Goffmans work opened the path that Sacks and Schegloff, in particular, would follow (Schegloff, 1988b). A discussion of the organic history of conversation analysis within contemporary sociological inquiry will not appear here. Not only does a thorough retrospective introduction fall outside the boundary of immediate relevance, the ontology of CA is comprehensively provided for elsewhere (e.g. Heritage, 1984; Schegloff, 1995; Psathas, 1995; ten Have, 2007; Hutchby and Wooffitt, 2008). Similarly, the present chapter does not pretend to serve as a review of collections of conversation
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analytic research (e.g. Sudnow, 1970; Schenkein, 1978; Atkinson and Heritage, 1984; Button and Lee, 1987; Psathas, 1979, 1990; Boden and Zimmerman, 1991; Drew and Heritage, 1992; Watson and Seiler, 1992; Firth, 1995; ten Have and Psathas, 1995; Ford, Fox and Thompson, 2002, Richards and Seedhouse, 2005; McHoul 2008). The discussion here is not concerned with exploring the breadth of studies in this field, but rather in highlighting the fundamental concepts in CA that serve as a basis for the investigation of disputes among preschool children. Attempts are continually made to classify the varying approaches to analysing spoken language (Coulthard, 1985; Schiffrin, 1994; Wooffitt, 2005), however, the borrowing and modification of methods suggests that the categorisation and interpretation of existing discourse theory is often blurred (Pomerantz and Fehr, 1997). Other models of discourse analysis are not discounted, but the present discussion is concerned with describing the particular advantages of a conversation analytic approach. Some commentary should be made, however, on the limitations of speech act theory, as this type of analysis essentially dominates earlier research in childrens adversative discourse. Even where not theoretically framed as such, labelling strategies as particular types of actions as illustrated in the previous chapter presents a classification of speech acts. Searle (1969, 1975a and b) developed this notion of speech act from Austins (1962) initial work on performatives in language, identifying the locution, illocution and perlocution of utterances. Whilst general accounts of speech act theory are provided for elsewhere (e.g. Allan, 1994; Mey, 2001; Levinson, 1983) it is pertinent to briefly identify weaknesses of speech act theory in its application to spoken (connected) discourse. An obvious difficulty of identifying acts within utterances is due to the fact that a single utterance may represent more than one speech act at any given time. One serious weakness with speech act theory has been to pretend that each U [utterance] has only one illocutionary point (Allan, 1994: 4132; see also Labov and Fanshel, 1977). The notion of one-to-one mapping of a single act to each turn does not allow for the common performance of more than one speech act within an utterance (Levinson, 1981). Not only does this model fail to adequately account for multiple actions achieved in single utterances, not all moves can be affiliated with the catalogue of speech acts. Speech act theory does not account for all possible interpretations of utterances, be they direct or indirect, as demonstrated by the misinterpretation or confusion of questions and pre-sequences (Schegloff, 1988a). Another weakness in speech act theory concerns the opacity of speaker intention (Allan, 1994: 4132), as the illocutionary force is not always clearly displayed. The hearers response may not be consistent with the speakers original meaning. In other words, the type of action an utterance realises can be considered dependent upon the manner in which it is understood by the hearer. An utterance cannot, therefore, be understood to represent a particular speech act in the absence of the conversational context in which it occurs. Speech acts as hypothetical constructs (Emihovich, 1986: 496) present conceptual problems, as the acts themselves are only realised through actual conversation. Consequently, a limitation of speech
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act theory lies in the secondary importance of the immediate context in which conversation develops. Acknowledgment of context is essentially restricted to broader semantic fields. Recent research has also begun to reveal that participants pay very close attention to their local environment, for example the exact words spoken in the immediately prior talk, and use that knowledge to build appropriate subsequent talk. Such phenomena become inaccessible to study when analysis takes as its point of departure a gloss of a turns talk as an instance of a particular type of speech act (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1990: 85). Conversely, the CA perspective embodies a dynamic approach in which context is treated as both the project and the product of the participants own actions and therefore as inherently locally produced and transformable at any moment (Drew and Heritage, 1992: 19). Conversation analysis is not only better equipped to deal with the influence of prior turns (local context), but to consider multiple meanings inherent in any single utterance. The merits of speech act theory are certainly not dismissed; nor is conversation analysis upheld as an infallible or exhaustive tool for the study of connected discourse. However, the focus on the sequence of turns in talk-in-interaction promotes CA as an apposite tool for the analysis of young childrens adversative discourse. Methodological advantages of conversation analysis The following summary illustrates procedural aspects of conversation analytic methodology which are particularly suited to the study of childrens conversations. Although multiple features may be shown to be pertinent to a process-focused analysis of conflict talk (Garvey and Shantz, 1995: 95), three significant components will be discussed here. The first of these is the insistence on naturally occurring data which constitutes the empiricism of CA. Secondly, data-driven analysis is found to be more fruitful than a pre-theorised approach to childrens verbal interaction. Thirdly, CA is derived from the very rules of interaction that the speakers themselves orient to and is therefore particularly relevant to a study in which the researcher does not have member access to the group involved. A fundamental interest in the sequential organisation of conversation is also recognised as a dominant strength in CA and will be discussed further in this chapter. The recording of real interaction In order to analyse the rules of conversation that speakers themselves orient to, the issue becomes how these rules may be discovered; that is, what should constitute the data. In this regard, the development of CA was aligned with existing sociological practices rather than the contemporary methods in linguistics (namely
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the Chomskyan approach of constructing ideal phrases) given that emphasis is placed on recording naturally occurring data.
[A] base for using close looking at the world for theorizing about it is that from close looking at the world we can find things that we could not, by imagination, assert were there (Sacks, 1984a: 25).
This method in conversation analysis is seen as preferable to other sources of data: those being generated by interview; observations recorded through fieldnotes or preconceived categories; native intuitions (or inventions); and contrived situations (Heritage, 1984). An additional advantage of reproducing naturally occurring conversation for analysis is that the analysis itself is open to review and the findings may be called into question. Results cannot remain an idiosyncratic set of observations because others could look at what I studied and make what they could, if, for example, they wanted to be able to disagree with me (Sacks, 1984a: 26). Authentic conversation is seen as preferable to an imagined series of turns for a number of reasons. One of these is that a single phrase may be reasonably designed by intuition, but the development of a sequence of turns cannot be accurately predicted, and only unfolds authentically in talk-in-interaction. Indeed the complexity of turn-taking itself with speaker shift, pause and overlap (see discussion below) is a barrier to a fabricated account. Additionally, discourse does not unfold in a contextual void, and it is the speakers themselves (through their shared knowledge) who construct the framework of interaction. Specifically related to research in early childhood is the fact that the researcher is not a member of the subject group, and is therefore unqualified to assume what may or may not be feasible in a conversation produced by four-year-olds; William Corsaro (1997) makes a similar argument. Most obviously, only naturally occurring interaction can illustrate the richness of authentic conversation. In order to study conversation, therefore, the analyst should turn to naturally occurring data. The use of interviews would also be inappropriate given the age of the participants in the current study. It is arguable that preschool childrens stage of development limits the metalinguistic ability necessary in deconstructing verbal moves (cf. Becker, 1988). Yet regardless of the age of conversational partners, understanding of processes in conflict is best examined through actual events rather than through secondary reporting. Experimental procedures are similarly viewed to be insufficient in CA tradition, as they may be considered unrepresentative of natural behaviour. Although it could be argued that conversations recorded in laboratory settings follow the same rules of discourse as those in spontaneous exchange, the motivation of the speakers involved is inevitably altered. Obviously inseparable from the recording of naturally recorded data is the manner in which the interaction is transcribed. Transcription theory in CA allows for analysis not only of talk but of paralinguistic features of interaction which may be significant or meaningful to the participants. Consequently, transcripts used by
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conversation analysts mark every single utterance by each of conversationalists, turn-taking and overlap, pauses, hesitations, stutters, inhalations and exhalations, laughter, stress, intonation contour, pitch rate of speech, changes in volume and nonverbal actions such as gestures, gaze, body posture etc. (a discussion of transcription theory and procedure appears at the beginning of Chapter 4). Importantly, the task of transcribing the recorded interaction is assumed by the researcher her or himself, because repetitive review of the recorded data serves as a preliminary form of analysis. Additionally, the recorded interaction constitutes the data rather than the resulting transcript. The transcript serves as a representation of the conversation rather than a flawless mirror of the conversation itself, given the incompatibility of the written word and the many nuances of the spoken word (Moerman, 1988). Data-driven analysis Another advantage of employing conversation analysis in the study of young childrens arguments is the emphasis on data-driven analysis in favour of a precategorised approach. This is particularly relevant given the purpose of this study, namely to determine what it is that children are actually doing in constructing adversative discourse. The concept of unmotivated looking used in CA provides a theoretical route to discovering features of conversation, as opposed to features the researcher has established prior to analysis. Although certain categories of action may be generated as a result of the analysis, these are derived directly from the unfolding talk. An unwillingness to dismiss features of conversation as unrelated to the focus of investigation constitutes a particular strength of conversation analytic research. By allowing analysis to be directed by the data, CA distinguishes itself from other methods of discourse analysis.
Rather than starting with a set of theoretical specifications of structure or action (cf. Parsons 1937) or with an a priori theoretical specification of particular actions (for example, Searles [1969] speech act specifications) or with a theory of the motivation of action such as the theory of face (Goffman 1955, 1959, 1971; Brown and Levinson 1987), CA has avoided premature and idealized theory construction in favor of the empirical identification of diverse structures of practices (Heritage, 1995: 397).
This emphasis on empirical identification ensures that any feature of the interaction may be considered as possibly significant in the development of conversation. Although it can be argued that the researcher does not arrive at the data uninfluenced by a particular theoretical orientation, at best the analysis is not constrained by rigid boundaries of observation criteria. In other words, the order found in conversational materials is not imposed by the analysts use of a priori conceptual schemes or coding categories, but discovered (Zimmerman, 1988: 418). The
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data-driven nature of CA methodology not only enables a broader approach to conversation (broad in the sense that any feature of conversation may be viewed as significant) but ensures that the conversation is not removed from the very source of its design. Rather than observing the aspects of conversation predetermined by a hypothesis, the researcher is able to attend to the actual production of conversation; that is, features of talk which are salient to the speakers themselves. The emic perspective of CA A fundamental issue in conversation analytic research, is a requisite preoccupation with the features of conversation which are significant or meaningful to the participants. This is related to the point made above that the analysis is datadriven: the researchers observations must be drawn from the turns constructed and organised by those involved in the interaction. This allows for findings which are based exclusively on the evidence which is open to, or indeed constituted by, the participants. The fact that the participants understanding of the development of the topic at hand is demonstrated on a turn-by-turn basis, means that this understanding is also on display for the analyst (Atkinson and Heritage, 1984). In other words:
while understandings of other turns talk are displayed to co-participants, they are available as well to professional analysts, who are thereby afforded a proof criterion (and a search procedure) for the analysis of what a turns talk is occupied with. Since it is the parties understandings of prior turns talk that is relevant to their construction of next turns, it is their understandings that are wanted for analysis (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1974: 729, emphasis in original).
This focus on the participants own orientation to the development of conversation is of particular value to the study of childrens verbal interaction. CA provides an approach to the discourse which is not removed from the childrens own understanding of the relatedness of each utterance. Consequently, by attending to the data in this manner, we are perhaps better able to identify those aspects of argument which are salient to the children involved. As discussed in the first chapter, an aim of this research is to determine how children manage conflict, as opposed to how adults interpret this management. Importantly, if the children themselves do not display an obvious orientation to the ideas and concepts that the analyst thinks might be important, then it is hardly a tenable position to insist that such constructs are critical or even important (Forrester, 1996: 95). As CA insists that the categories used to describe participants, action and context must be derived from orientations exhibited by the participants themselves (Goodwin and Heritage, 1990: 295), this approach to spoken language is particularly suited to discover the properties of verbal disputes which the children themselves respond to as significant. It is therefore necessary in the analysis of the conflict episodes (or,
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from a CA perspective, any conversation) to restrict observation to those functions which are apparent to participants and investigator alike. Sequential organisation of conversation Having established the importance of attending to features of conversation which participants themselves recognise as significant, it is necessary to clarify how these features may be identified. How can the analyst be confident that she is attending to features recognised by the participants? The answer lies in the sequential organisation of turn-taking systems in conversation. The pioneering work by Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson (1974) established this fundamental notion in CA, outlining the rules by which the turn-taking system operates. The order of turns in conversation is such that each follows the last, where each new speaker attends to the previous turn in a way that is deemed relevant by all members. Conversation analytic research focuses on sequences of actions rather than single utterances removed from conversation (Atkinson and Heritage, 1984). Attention is given to the relationship between turns, rather than focusing solely on the function of each turn (cf. earlier discussion of speech act theory). By restricting analysis to single utterances, the interpretation of that utterance displayed by the next speaker in their turn at talk is neglected. The following discussion of turn-taking, repair and adjacency pairs outlines basic concepts established in conversation analysis which serve to illustrate participant orientation to talk-in-interaction. Turn-taking and repair A fundamental concept used in conversation analysis, underlying the ordered nature of social interaction, is the organisation of turn-taking. Although the features or conditions of turn-taking in conversation were developed throughout Harvey Sacks lectures in the 1960s and early 1970s, they are presented most succinctly in the seminal publication A simplest systematics for the organization of turntaking in conversation (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1974). In this paper, the organisation of conversation is identified as both context-free in that the rules of turn-taking apply across any variety of social contexts, and context-sensitive in that any situational restraints may be incorporated in the interaction. By way of introducing their model for the organisation of conversation, Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson (1974: 700-701) make the following observations:
(1) Speaker change recurs, or at least occurs (2) Overwhelmingly, one party talks at a time (3) Occurrences of more than one speaker at a time are common, but brief (4) Transitions (from one turn to a next) with no gap and no overlap are common. Together with transitions characterized by slight gap or slight overlap, they make up the vast majority of transitions
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Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes (5) Turn order is not fixed, but varies (6) Turn size is not fixed, but varies (7) Length of conversation is not specified in advance (8) What parties say is not specified in advance (9) Relative distribution of turns is not specified in advance (10) Number of parties can vary (11) Talk can be continuous or discontinuous (12) Turn-allocation techniques are obviously used. A current speaker may select a next speaker (as when he addresses a question to another party); or parties may self-select in starting to talk (13) Various turn-constructional units are employed; e.g. turns can be projectedly one word long, or they can be sentential in length (14) Repair mechanisms exist for dealing with turn-taking errors and violations; e.g. if two parties find themselves talking at the same time, one of them will stop prematurely, thus repairing the trouble.
Following these observations, Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson (1974: 704) propose that the turn-taking system for conversation can be exemplified by a turnconstructional component, a turn-allocation component, in the following set of rules:
(1) For any turn, at the initial transition-relevance place of an initial turnconstructional unit: (a) If the turn-so-far is so constructed as to involve the use of a current speaker selects next technique, then the party so selected has the right and is obliged to take next turn to speak; no others have such rights or obligations, and transfer occurs at that place. (b) If the turn-so-far is so constructed as not to involve the use of a current speaker selects next technique, then self-selection for next speakership may, but need not, be instituted; first starter acquires rights to a turn, and transfer occurs at that place. (c) If the turn-so-far is so constructed as to not involve the use of a current speaker selects next technique, then the current speaker may, but need not continue, unless another self-selects. (2) If, at the initial transition-relevance place of an initial turn-constructional unit, neither 1a nor 1b has operated, and, following the provision of 1c, current speaker has continued, then the rule-set a-c re-applies at the next transitionrelevance place, and recursively at each next transition-relevance place, until transfer is effected.
An important feature of the turn-taking system is that turns do not simply occur one after the other, serially, but that each new turn refers to or builds upon the preceding turn(s) sequentially (Hutchby and Wooffitt, 2008: 38). This sequential organisation, most importantly for the analyst, allows for a demonstration of the
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hearers explication of the previous turn at talk. In other words it is a systematic consequence of the turn-taking organization of conversation that it obliges its participants to display to each other, in a turns talk, their understanding of other turns talk (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1974: 728). As the participants demonstrate their understanding of the previous utterance in their own turn at talk, this understanding or synthesis is also on display for the analyst. Given that an appraisal of an utterance (or an interpretation of the illocutionary force) is produced by the hearer in their turn at talk, the speaker of the first turn is able to correct any misunderstanding of their own contribution made in the previous turn. It is important to note that this continual opportunity to check and maintain mutual comprehensibility exists precisely through the placement of turns, the next positioned linkage (Heritage, 1984: 256), that each utterance is relevant (unless overtly stated) to the immediately preceding turn. Indeed, where misunderstanding occurs, the opportunity for clarification or correction is located in the contiguous turn. The term repair is used in conversation analysis to denote discourse revisions, and this label is not restricted to notable errors or replacement (Schegloff, Jefferson and Sacks, 1977; see also Sidnell, 2005). It is the turn-taking system that allows for repair initiations to be made throughout a conversation, where the inherent rule of relevancy ensures the trouble source can be recognised as occurring in the previous turn. The compatibility of the model of turn-taking with the facts of repair is thus of a dual character: the turn-taking system lends itself to, and incorporates devices for, repair of its troubles; and the turn-taking system is a basic organisational device for the repair of any other troubles in conversation. The turn-taking system and the organisation of repair are thus made for each other in a double sense (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1974: 724). It should be noted that a preference for self-repair exists in conversation (Schegloff, Jefferson and Sacks, 1977). That is, repair structure lends itself to the speaker correcting his or her own speech, primarily self-initiated or failing this where the repair is initiated by a co-conversationalist. Previous trouble sources, then, are only likely to be actively identified and replaced by another speaker when the original speaker forgoes the opportunity provided to correct his or her own error. This preference for self-repair may be deliberately revoked in verbal disputes, however, as other-initiated repair could be produced as a form of direct opposition. Indeed, other-initiated repair (suggesting an error has been made) may itself be treated as an antagonistic move. While it remains to be seen if overt repair made by another speaker represents a form of opposition in childrens arguments (cf. Maynard, 1986a), the organisation of turn-taking and repair indicates that the place to look for repair performed as a challenge lies in each subsequent utterance.
That speakers attend to the sequential nature of conversation is also evident where the expectation to make following turns is not met, with prefaces such as by the way acknowledging an accountable departure from the preceding talk (Schegloff, 1984: 37).
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Adjacency pairs The concept of the adjacency pair is a particularly robust example of sequentially ordered turns, in that it consists of two turns where the first sets up an expectation of a specific second turn. Examples of these basic sequential units (Schegloff, 1979: 210) include, greeting/greeting, question/answer, and invitation/acceptance. Built into the structure of adjacency pairs is the notion of conditional relevance (Schegloff, 1972) in that the first pair part places certain constraints on the type of utterance that is acceptable as a second pair part.
A basic rule of adjacency pair operation is: given the recognizable production of a first pair part, on its first possible completion its speaker should stop and a next speaker should start and produce a second pair part from the pair type of which the first is recognizably a member. A given sequence will thus be composed of an utterance that is a first pair part produced by one speaker directly followed by the production by a different speaker of an utterance which is (a) a second pair part, and (b) is from the same pair type as the first utterance in the sequence is a member of. Adjacency pair sequences, then, exhibit the further features (4) relative ordering of parts (i.e., first pair parts precede second pair parts) and (5) discriminative relations (i.e., the pair type of which a first pair part is a member is relevant to the selection among second pair parts) (Schegloff and Sacks, 1973: 296).
The adjacency pair serves as a powerful demonstration of the hearers interpretation of the previous turn. The position of the second pair part, namely occurring directly after a first pair part (with the exception of insertion sequences, discussed below), directly addresses the previous turn.
What two utterances produced by different speakers can do that one utterance cannot do is: by an adjacently positioned second, a speaker can show that he understood what a prior aimed at, and that he is willing to go along with that. Also, by virtue of the occurrence of an adjacently produced second, the doer of a first can see that what he intended was indeed understood, and that it was or was not accepted (Schegloff and Sacks, 1973: 298).
Whilst most units consist of pairs, adjacency triples are found in conversation and institutional talk, e.g. in the classroom question-answer-evaluation sequences are common. Schegloff acknowledges the compatibility of the notion of conditional relevance (recognised in the constraints of summons-answer sequences (1968)), with the category of utterance pairs (later adjacency pairs) put forward by Sacks, and use[s] these terms interchangeably (1972: 77).
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Failure to acknowledge a first pair part may be manifest by ignoring the other speaker. That is, supplying a relevant second is not the only type of hearer response; failing to respond is also heard as an accountable action. As the adjacency organisation creates an expectation of second pair part, when this second turn is not forthcoming it is heard as noticeably absent (Schegloff, 1968). A common example of this can be found in the repetition of a greeting when the initial greeting receives no response. If the hearers failure to respond to the greeting cannot be attributed to inaudibility, the absence of a response is noticeable and may be interpreted as evidence of rudeness. For any second pair part, its nonoccurrence is an event, upon which inferences can legitimately be based (by coconversationalists) (Schegloff, 1972: 77). An alternative explanation for the absence of a second pair part arises when a response is produced as another first pair part. This exception, however, does not indicate inattention to the adjacency pair structure, as the subsequent first pair part may simply be a manner of clarifying the original utterance in order to supply a second pair part. Two related utterances introduced between an adjacency pair are recognised as an insertion sequence:
Speaker A (Q1): Are you going to go see Jack? Speaker B (Q2): What time are visiting hours? Speaker A (A2): From three thirty till eight. Speaker B (A1): Yeah, Ill go this afternoon.
Indeed, the inclusion of an insertion sequence does not represent a departure from the inherent obligation of adjacency pairs but rather operates within these boundaries. Given that a response to a first pair part is constrained by an expectation of relevance, another first pair part is heard as addressing the initial utterance in some way. In other words, since the insertion sequence is specifically done and heard as prefatory to the activity made conditionally relevant by the question, attention to that activity and to the question is thereby exhibited (Schegloff, 1972: 114). Consequently, adjacency pairs account for a highly structured organisation of turn-taking, occurring throughout conversation. The rule that seems to obtain is extremely neat: An adjacency pair first part can go anywhere in conversation, except directly after a first pair part, unless the second first pair part is the first pair part for an insertion sequence (Sacks, 1995b: 534). As Sacks (1995b: 536537) goes on to demonstrate, the observation that first pair parts can occur at any point has considerable implications for the hearer(s) as they may be called on as the next speaker at any time and consequently must listen throughout the conversation. This obligation to listen is placed on the speaker also, as he/she must be accountable for his/her own prior contribution.
Related to the notion of scorekeeping put forward by Lewis (1979).
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The observation that speakers must attend to the previous utterance highlights the fundamental importance of sequencing in conversation. As Schegloff and Sacks (1973) demonstrate, the accomplishment of any utterance (its locally determined meaning) must be looked for in the placement of the utterance in the organisation of conversation. Consequently, the basic unit of analysis (Heritage, 1984: 245) and the primary focus of conversation analysis is the sequence of turns. As the escalation or resolution (or indeed existence) of argument is dependent upon the orientation of subsequent turns to the development of the dispute, focusing on the sequential organisation of the discourse is pointedly appropriate. As noted by Jacobs and Jackson (1982: 228) the characterization of argument in terms of sequential expansion is theoretically important because it emphasizes the collaborative work that goes into having and making arguments; collaborative work which is on display for the analyst through the organisation of turn-taking. Built into the notion of sequential turn-taking, particularly in adjacency pair structure, is the concept of preference organisation, which we shall see features significantly in young childrens arguments.
Preference organisation The concept of preference employed in conversation analysis is one which accounts for the fact that not all second pair parts are heard as having equal status. A ranking of alternatives operates in conversation, and the ranking is determined by the local context. As discussed in the previous chapter, the composition of adjacency pairs is such that a first pair part sets up an expectation of a relevant second pair part. This relevance, however, extends beyond the type of action (e.g. answer) to the selection within an action category (e.g. acceptance). In other words, the first part of an adjacency pair not only makes one of a set of type-fitted second parts relevant in next turn, but typically displays a preference for one of them (Schegloff, 1979: 36; emphasis added). Essentially preference organisation exists in the taxonomy of possible actions and operates at varying levels in conversation, from referential identification options for recipient design (Sacks, 1979) through to topic organisation. At all levels, inferences may be drawn when a first preference is not selected. To illustrate this point, Sacks (1995b: 368) uses the example of an invitation to dinner; serving food is only a part of the evenings activities but preferred in the invitation itself, given that Would you like to come over for a drink? suggests that dinner will not be provided (as it should be mentioned in preference to other partial features of the evening). The idea of scaling alternative components operates not only
Inferences are also drawn where preferred (immediate) responses are produced, but derive directly from the response itself rather than its absence. From this example it becomes apparent that the concept of preference is related to Grices maxims of conversation (1975, 1978), in this case the maxim of quantity (provide
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within utterances (regulating content) but governs the sequential organisation of conversation. This organisation, the manifestation of preference in turn-by-turn interaction, is explored throughout the first part of this chapter. Linguistic markedness Typically, preferred responses are produced without delay or hesitation and the action is stated directly or properly done, (Levinson, 1983: 333). Dispreferred seconds are recognisable from the following features: (1) they are delayed by pauses, and/or (2) they are introduced with prefaces (markers such as well, uh, partial agreement/appreciations/apologies, or qualifications); (3) they include accounts (explanations for not providing preferred response) and (4) a declination component which addresses the first pair part. Thus the two essential features of dispreferred actions are thus (a) they tend to occur in marked format, and (b) they tend to be avoided (Levinson, 1983: 333). Consequently, markedness, or the absence of these markers, is indicative of the preference status of the turn. Although these features are not universally accepted as defining criteria of preference (as discussed below) they are overwhelmingly recognised as characteristic of preference in CA literature (e.g. Heritage, 1984; Atkinson and Heritage, 1984; Goodwin and Heritage, 1990; Hutchby and Wooffit, 2008). An ubiquitous example of preference organisation is found in the following pairs of invitation and acceptance/rejection sequences published in Atkinson and Drew (1979: 58), where extract (i) provides a preferred second pair part and (ii) a dispreferred response:
(i) B: Why dont you come up and see me some[times A: [I would like to (ii) B: A: B: A: B: Uh if youd care to come over and visit a little while this morning Ill give you a cup of coffee. hehh Well thats awfully sweet of you, I dont think I can make it this morning .hh uhm Im running an ad in the paper and and uh I have to stay near the phone. Well all right [And- uh [Well sometime when you are free to give me a call because Im not always home.
As illustrated in the examples above, the preferred response is produced immediately and clearly, whereas in the dispreferred response the refusal is deferred until later in
adequate information to be understood). The common ground of preference, Gricean cooperative principle, face-work (Goffman, 1967) and politeness theory (Brown and Levinson, 1987) will be discussed briefly in the final chapter.
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the turn and accompanied by an account (reason) for the rejection. The difference in position or ordering of items in preferred and dispreferred turns was originally noted by Sacks (1984b: 59):
insofar as disagreements are pushed into the back, then there is a variety of things that go in front of them, that then can get treated as going in front of disagreements, and that may have an import in signalling the future forthcomingness of a disagreement. Components like well and/or I dont know, for instance, as the beginning of an answer turn, characteristically precede something less than agreement.
That is, a pause or hesitation frequently precedes the production of a dispreferred second action, and in itself may be interpretable as indicative of a forthcoming dispreferred response by the next speaker. Delays not only allow the prior speaker to pre-empt a dispreferred response, but also provide an opportunity to modify or revise the first utterance to a more attractive or acceptable form, rather than simply using it to formulate an anticipation of rejection (Heritage, 1984: 274). The delay or pause may even be heard as the beginning of a failure to provide a second pair part, a zero response, which is also heard as dispreferred, given that silence is accountable. Similarly, such is the sensitivity of the immediacy of a preferred response that when an acceptance is not done at this point, that is, immediately after a possible sentence completion point and in overlap with any components occurring after this point, that an inviter or offerer may take this absence of acceptance at this point as being possibly rejection-implicative (Davidson, 1984: 116). The final components of a first pair part, then, may be designed to preview the preferred or dispreferred nature of the response. As with delays or hesitations, preface markers (e.g. well, but) are also heard consistently as indicative of dispreference in conversation. In her study of speaker interruptions, Ahrens (1997: 83) found that most interruptions occurred after turn prefaces such as well, well then, okay but, yes but, but, yeah no and so forth, and labelled these as interruption[s] of a potential rejection. Given that markers serve as an indication of preference status, the hearer may begin a subsequent version as soon as these items are performed. Consequently, interlocutors orient the subsequent turn to the dispreferred shape of the previous utterance (as demonstrated elsewhere, e.g. Davidson, 1984; Pomerantz 1975). Fundamentally, pauses, hesitations, and preface markers serve to hold the illocution of the turn until the end of the utterance. Contiguity, therefore, is incorporated into the identity of preferred turns. For example, there is an apparent interaction between the preference for contiguity and the preference for agreement, such that, if an agreeing answer occurs, it pretty damn well occurs contiguously, whereas if
Belonging to the category of discourse markers detailed by Schiffrin (1987). See also Sprott (1992).
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a disagreeing answer occurs, it may well be pushed rather deep in to the turn that it occupies (Sacks, 1987: 58). Another feature of dispreferred turns is that accounts or justifications are usually provided. Although accounts are identified as characteristic of dispreferred turns, description and discussion of this feature is scarce in comparison to analysis of prefatory markers. Accounts have been seen as evidence for the dispreferred status of certain second pair parts, such as rejections to invitations (Atkinson and Drew, 1979: 139). Elsewhere (Toolan, 1989: 262), parallels have been drawn between accountability as a defining feature of preference organisation and Grices (1975, 1978) maxims of conversation quality, quantity, relevance and manner which are discussed below. In sum, the dispreferred status of turns at talk are reflected in the arrangement of each turn. Levinson (1983: 333) notes that whilst preferred turns have little in common other than their relative brevity, dispreferred turns share many characteristics, although designed to respond to a wide range of first pair parts. Pomerantz (1984: 64) states that the preference status of actions can be located in the turn shape: preferred actions are typified by turns which are produced with minimum gap and overtly stated function; dispreferred actions, on the other hand, are produced in turns characterised by delay and nonexplicitly stated action components. Structural rather than psychological concept It is the form of the utterance, not the wishes of the interactants that typically defines the linguistic (abstract) concept of preference. That is, the term preference refers to the structural disposition, to the fact that conversational organization conspires to make it easier to use the preferred type of turn, not to the participants wishes (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 38).
Of course, the fact that speakers may attend to the preferred character of some actions over others in the design of turns containing those actions should not be taken as exhibiting, or as proof of, participants actual feelings or intentions at the time. Thus the term preference in this context does not refer to a speakers psychological predisposition: instead it describes the systematic features of the design of turns in which certain alternative but non-equivalent actions are taken, as well as sequential organisation of such actions (Atkinson and Drew, 1979: 59).
Atkinson and Drew (1979) use the term defence to identify reasons which are given in response to allegations, distinct from accounts in other contexts, as each form of accounting serves different purposes (the former to avoid blame, the latter to reduce the offence to the other speaker).
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This interpretation of the term preference distinguishes it from the normal lay interpretation. The concept was originally used by Sacks to identify an abstract principle operating in conversation:
If there is what we are talking about, namely, an abstract or formal preference for agreement, then we have to see that the questioner is designing the question not just to get a personal preference, but is designing the question with an orientation to getting agreement. So the linkage of contiguity and agreement is oriented to by both questioners and answerers, can operate to avoid a disagreement, and is an aspect of a formal and anonymous apparatus for agreement/disagreement, rather that being a matter of individual preferences (Sacks, 1987: 63, 65).
Preferred actions are ones which are sought out; dispreferred actions are not. Sacks (1987: 64) notes that there is one sort of way that a questioner can be seen to be orienting to getting agreement, i.e. they try to end up with a form that can be agreed with. This orientation to elicit preferred responses is not only found within adjacency pairs, but is also manifested in surrounding talk. Pre-sequences, for example, constitute a further procedure through which speakers can collaborate in forwarding preferred sequences or actions and avoiding (or aborting) dispreferred ones (Heritage, 1984: 278). It has been shown that pre-sequences, particularly to requests and invitations (Atkinson and Drew, 1979), are intended to avert the possible production of a dispreferred response. Conversational devices for avoiding dispreferred responses are not limited to pre-sequences. As Drew (1984: 146) demonstrates in his study of speaker reportings in invitation sequences, through just reporting, recipients not only manage to avoid outrightly or directly doing a rejection; particularly, they also have speakers (co-participants) collaborate in seeing that, objectively or reasonably, an acceptance is not possible. It is the organisation of the turn itself, therefore, that creates the expectation of a particular second action. While a general tenet of preference is identifiable, as presented above, this does not equate to a uniform understanding of the theory, and as a result there is a muddiness in inference and application. Given that the concept of preference originates from Harvey Sacks lectures, and, due to his untimely death, the concept was not expanded or developed as originally conceived, it has been construed in a variety of mutually incompatible, and sometimes methodologically questionable, ways (Bilmes, 1988: 161). The confusion in interpretation represents a fundamental problem in applying preference theory, a problem we move on to consider.
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Problems with preference Problems in applying preference theory arise from the disparity of interpretation, specifically in relation to the blurred distinction between linguistic and psychological paradigms. The fact that the linguistic form and the wishes of the participants overlap more often than not, causes considerable problems in sustaining a homogenous definition of preference that refutes psychological inferences. The following discussion not only identifies the debate concerning the abstract identity of preference, but also orients the interpretation of preference organisation as a framework for the current study of childrens arguments. Furthermore, the essential problem of categorising actions as either preferred or dispreferred will be exemplified in the conversational domain of arguments. Disparity of interpretation The features of preference described above have been challenged, specifically by Bilmes (1988) and Boyle (2000), for overextending the criteria of preference and for overlooking the inherent property of accountability (see Boyle, 2000). This constitutes a significant oversight given that the notion of accountability is a principal concept underlying conversation analysis theory (Heritage, 1984: 291). Specifically, the speaker is accountable for failing to provide a preferred response (accountability being tied to dispreferred responses, or silence). In Bilmes review (1988: 176), Levinsons model is criticised for confusing reluctance with dispreference and for classifying actions based on the proportion in which they occur. Commentary on frequency of occurrence as a property of preferred turns (Levinson, 1983; Heritage and Watson, 1979; Atkinson and Drew, 1979; Sacks and Schegloff, 1979; Schegloff, Jefferson and Sacks, 1977) can be challenged, as quantity does not serve as a criterion of preference. Whilst preferred turns may be performed more often than dispreferred turns, the frequency itself does not constitute preference status. Quantification, when broadly applied, as in this instance, ignores the fundamental importance of local context. Although supporting Levinson on certain points, Bilmes (1988) advocates returning to the original concept of preference proposed by Harvey Sacks and subsequently focuses on two aspects: the principle of ordering and that of relevant absence (i.e. where a preferred action is not performed). Bilmes (1988) reiterates that the concept of preference must be isolated from the motivation or expectations of the speakers to avoid the assumption of psychological conditions. Although Boyle (2000: 586) acknowledges that Levinsons account of preference is well regarded, he also claims that Levinsons description of preference is not fully coherent. Boyle recognises that markedness and frequency of occurrence
Different scholars using the term to describe different phenomena is the essential problem. The fact that turns at talk are performed in distinctive ways is not in dispute (Pomerantz, 2003).
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are aspects of preference organisation, but he argues that the concept can only be adequately understood in terms of normative accountability and its role in achieving intersubjective understanding (Boyle, 2000: 601). In response to the confusion of defining preference, rather than castigating varying interpretations of preference as misconstruals (see Bilmes, 1988), Boyle describes them as aspects of Sacks original concept of preference. However, even where the concept is most closely related to Sacks original idea expectation indicated by interpretation of an absent response the interpretation of preference is blurred. Pomerantz (1984: 81) for example, does not use the term with any reference to social psychology, yet still opens the door to possible misinterpretation by identifying certain preferred actions as natural, right and/or desirable. Although the turn is not identified as preferred because of these qualities, using descriptions that invoke the speakers subjectivity obscures the line between psychological preference and the more abstract, sequential (linguistic) organisation operating in conversation. The supposed misapplication of the term preference begs the question whether this line needs to be constantly redrawn. Confusion and debate is prompted by inferring a lay definition of the technical label. As Mey (2001: 152) comments, markedness would serve as a more suitable term. I would add that continual effort to drag the concept of preference into the domain of abstractness is misdirected. Certainly, preferred (or dispreferred) turns do not always mirror the personal preferences of either the speaker or the hearer, but it does not follow that conversational preference is therefore entirely extraneous to psychological preference. Perhaps too much effort has been made to disassociate the concept of linguistic preference from psychological inferences. Undoubtedly preference organisation is identified by specific linguistic structures and does not necessarily reflect the motivations of the speaker. For example, a speaker may realise their personal preference in a dispreferred turn shape, such as declining an invitation. Yet, whilst linguistic preference may be identified as distinct from psychological preference it does not necessarily follow that the concept must wholly reject any organic relationship between linguistic markedness and broader social expectations of preferred actions. Why is it that preferred actions are, in fact, preferred? Evidently this preference is set up by the prior turn, but why is it that this prior turn orients to a particular type of response? Most CA researchers are at pains to adhere to a definition of preference that does not encompass the speakers wishes, yet it would appear overly ideological to insist that preference exists entirely independently from the participants expectations. While preference is recognisable as an abstract concept operating in conversation, that is, each turn can be shown to orient to the form of the preceding turn, the idea that this concept is built upon underlying conventions of social expectations (Lewis, 1969) should not be dismissed. In sum, while the properties of preference (specific turn shapes) can be identified and distinguished as functions of discourse organisation, it does not automatically follow that these functions have no relationship with broader social expectations.
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Extending the observation that personal preference and linguistic preference frequently overlap but are nevertheless distinguishable, Heritage (1984) suggests that preference is closely related to the maintenance of face (Goffman, 1955; Brown and Levinson, 1987) where the term face may be defined as the positive social value a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact (Goffman, 1967: 5). Furthermore, if we acknowledge that the concept of preference need not necessarily be stringently disassociated from psychological preference, the relevance of facework and politeness theory (Brown and Levinson, 1987) becomes apparent. The question posed above, as to why certain actions take on preferred status, could be answered in terms of concessions to face needs and, subsequently, forms of politeness. That is, if an action is perceived as face threatening it is likely to be performed in a mitigated, less direct, dispreferred format. Conversely, as preferred actions are likely to be preferred because they do not threaten face, these actions can be performed directly. It follows, then, that preference norms may be flouted in performing intentionally face-threatening acts. Indeed, in a defence of their politeness model, Brown and Levinson (1987: 38) argue that face considerations are implicated in the preference status of actions; that is, dispreferred actions are typically face threatening acts. Elsewhere it has been less cautiously claimed (e.g. Holtgraves, 2000: 97) that dispreferred turns operate as face-threatening actions. This suggests that markedness not only signifies the expectation of a dispreferred response but that this response should be interpreted as managing a probable face threatening move. This point, however, should be challenged on the same platform as proclaiming particular categories of action as preferred or dispreferred; whilst certain face-threatening turns may be marked as dispreferred, dispreferred turns are not always face threatening, as illustrated in adversative discourse. Essential problem of categorising actions Having considered the blurred interpretation of conversational preference, the discussion now moves to the secondary problem of assigning fixed preference status to classes of actions. As is apparent from the examples used to illustrate features of preference above, preference organisation is often studied in specific sequential contexts, in invitation sequences, for example, or commenting on prior assessments. As such there is a tendency to attribute preferred status to a particular class of action, such as a preference for agreement (Sacks, 1987). However, preference organization is not synonymous with the organization of agreement/ disagreement (Lerner, 1996: 305). Sweeping generalisations about classes of action present a flawed characterisation of preference organisation. Categorising types of action as preferred or dispreferred overlooks the fact that the ranking of alternatives is determined locally, by the preceding turn, and that preference organisation is not a hierarchical set that exists detached from interaction. Atkinson and Drew (1979), for example, identify certain actions
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(denials, justifications/excuses, counter-accusations) as preferred, rather than acknowledging that it is the local context which assigns preference status. Again, the overwhelming thrust of preference organisation is not that categories of actions be heard as preferred or dispreferred, but that each action may be interpreted as such given the expectations arising from the immediately prior turn.10 Perhaps the majority of denials following accusations can be shown to be preferred, but this frequency does not characterise the action as invariably preferred. Identifying turns as dispreferred or preferred without taking into account the immediate, sequential context in which they are produced (e.g. Kakav, 2003) overlooks the very context that determines preference status. The misrepresentation of preference organisation is therefore found where types of turns are identified categorically as preferred or dispreferred. Attributing preferred or dispreferred status to a particular class of action (cf. Pomerantz, 1978, 1984; Ahrens, 1997) disregards the context-sensitivity of preference organisation. Essentially it is the manner in which an action is performed as expected or otherwise which is indicative of preference rather than the type of action performed in the turn. If emphasis remains on the turn shape (i.e. absence or presence of markedness, such as delay and accounts) rather than turn action, all-encompassing (and subsequently false) categorisation of preference may be avoided. For example, agreement is not universally preferred, but rather, more often than not, agreement is performed in an utterance which has a preferred turn shape (i.e. immediate and overt). To list categories of actions as preferred or dispreferred:
glosses over the fact that all language is indexical (Garfinkel, 1967: 4-7) and that preference can only be determined in the circumstances in which action is constituted. Thus, as Coulter (1983: 362-363) points out, there might be a generalised preference in society for agreement, but there are clearly situations where disagreement is preferred, as for example, in responses to self-deprecations (Pomerantz, 1984: 83-95) or in argument sequences (Kotthoff, 1993) (Boyle, 2000: 587).
Indeed, argument sequences serve as the most striking example of types of actions being performed as preferred or dispreferred depending upon the local context (Bilmes, 1991: 464). Kotthoffs (1993) study of preference organisation in adult disputes demonstrated that there is not a ubiquitous preference for agreement in conversation. Kotthoff noted that in her examples of university students arguing with professors, the pattern of preference changes throughout the interaction, stating that a dispute is performed by a change in preference structure (1993: 196). This change, however, is not due to a change in markedness per se, but simply underscores the fact that the assumption of agreement as preferred second pair part
10 Clayman and Heritage (2002: 307) give the example of political news interviews where a question may invite disagreement.
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does not operate in this conversational domain. In other words, while disagreement may occur in dispreferred turn format at the beginning of the conversation, each subsequent objection becomes less marked until overt action of disagreement appears in preferred turn format. Once the argument is collaboratively recognised as such, it is no longer preferred to agree. On the contrary, it seems to be very important to contradict quickly and in a coherent manner (Kotthoff, 1993: 203). This idea of inference drawn from failure to immediately oppose the prior speaker is taken up by Bilmes (1991: 466): Once in a state of argument, disagreement is preferred in that if one does not explicitly disagree, it may be presumed that one has not found grounds to disagree and that (however reluctantly) one agrees. The performance of disagreement as preferred appears to occur at the onset of childrens arguments, rather than gradually over a series of turns. It has been noted that childrens arguments are typified by opposition occurring in a preferred turn shape:
rather than being preceded by delays, turns containing opposition are produced immediately. Moreover, such turns frequently contain a preface that announces right at the beginning of the turn, characteristically in the first word said, that opposition is being done (Goodwin and Goodwin, 1987: 207).
It follows that one cannot claim that agreement is a preferred action and disagreement a dispreferred action, as the local context determines the expectation set up by the prior turn. If preference cannot be assigned to categories of actions, we need clarify how the preference status of a second pair part is assigned. As demonstrated in this chapter, preference status refers to an organising principle operating in the local context of contiguous turns at talk regardless of the degree to which underlying social expectations are recognised or dismissed. Essentially, the preferred or dispreferred nature of any action is performed by the speaker and consequently recognisable to the hearer (who performed the first pair part). Preference organisation is not, therefore, something to be guessed at, but rather is conspicuous to all participants. The place to look for preference status, then, is in the organisation of turns, in the construction or shape of each utterance. The turn shape remains a constant indicator of preference, with direct responses produced without delay indicative of a preferred response, while turns prefaced with delay and/or hesitation (reluctance) markers are characterised as dispreferred. Although Bilmes (1988) and Boyle (2000) argue that pauses, hesitation markers and accounts are not criteria of preference, they do not adequately discount these markers as indicators of preference. Turns are not preferred or dispreferred because of the absence or presence of these markers; rather these markers serve as an index of the preference status of the turn in which they appear.
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Applicability of conversation analysis Preliminary review of the data suggests that oppositional second pair parts are usually performed in one of two turn shapes, which points to the relevancy of preference organisation. As discussed above, the concept of preference organisation has become blurred due to variations in interpretation and accompanying application of the theory. It has been argued here that attention should be refocused on linguistic markedness as evidence or manifestation of preference. Essentially, the confusion outlined above could be addressed by using a more neutral term than preference to describe the phenomena of unequal second pair parts. It remains to be seen, however, what label may serve as a suitable replacement. Presumably preference organisation operates in childrens adversative discourse by regulating the responses to possible forms opposition. Indeed, in the analysis of childrens arguments presented throughout the remaining chapters, turn shapes will be identified as sustaining or non-sustaining in terms of conflict outcome. It is premature, however, to propose a substitute term for preference at this stage, prior to uncovering the role of preference organisation in the sequential organisation of childrens arguments. For this reason, turn shapes are referred to as preferred or dispreferred throughout the next chapters, specifically to denote opposition which is immediate and direct (preferred turn shape) and opposition which is delayed, either by pauses or makers, and incorporates accounts (dispreferred turn shape). The constancy of these features elucidates preference organisation in young childrens adversative discourse.
Chapter 4
Peer Disputes
An introduction to the data The previous chapter outlined fundamental principles of conversation analysis and presented this approach as ideally suited to the study of young childrens talk-ininteraction. Preference organisation in particular was considered as an organising principle of talk, as the prevalence of preference features in the childrens disputes will become evident in this and the subsequent two chapters. This chapter is concerned with providing the reader with a background to the data in this research, before systematically analysing the turn shapes of utterances in the childrens disputes. Children attending two long daycare centres in inner Melbourne participated in the main study. Children, parents, teachers and each centre director consented to be involved in the research, which effectively allowed observations (video and audio recorded) of the childrens spontaneous peer interactions each morning for a period of two months. All children participating in this study were aged between 3;11 and 5;3 at the time of recording, and all but one of these children (the youngest) would be entering formal schooling in the following year. Some children attended the centre five days a week, but all children were enrolled at least three days per week. A total of 36 children participated in the study; 15 girls and 21 boys. As identified by socioeconomic rating of residential suburb, children were from middle class families and English was the dominant language; the few children whose first language was not English had developed near-native proficiency. A pilot study (undertaken with the four-year-old group in a long daycare centre near a university campus which is frequently involved in research projects) resolved issues of age of participants (three-year-olds resorted to physical conflict in many cases, so the four-year-old group was selected to allow focus on verbal processes); viability of naturalistic observation of conflict (spontaneous disputes were observable, recordable, without compromising ethical responsibility); and activity type as observation context (recording to be undertaken indoors for audibility; and video camera to remain stationary as moving equipment proved distracting to the children). Observations were recorded over a period of six weeks in each centre (two weeks were spent in the centre prior to recording observations, to allow children the opportunity of familiarity with the researchers and video and audio equipment). Recording usually took place in the mornings as this time of day proved optimal for peer interactions in free play situations. Acknowledging the observers paradox (Labov, 1972a) and particular limitations of recording in preschool environments
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(e.g. Graue and Walsh, 1998; Fine and Sandstrom, 1988), the data was collected with seemingly minimal disruption to the childrens environment (see also Corsaro, 1985). The transcripts The data are not only influenced by collection procedure, but also by the manner in which the verbal dialogue is represented for analysis, deserving some further discussion here. A primary concern is the extent to which the final transcript is representative of the recorded interaction. Transcription is universally recognised to be constrained by the perspective of the researcher and the purpose of the research. Consequently, the shift of recorded data from oral to written form is inherently theory bound. As noted by Ochs (1979: 43, emphasis in original text), the problems of selective observation are not eliminated with the use of recording equipment. They are simply delayed until the moment at which the researcher sits down to transcribe the material from the audio- or videotape. Central to the concern of valid interpretation of data, then, is the manner in which it is transcribed. Features of transcription which provoke theoretical discussion include spatial representation of text (Ochs, 1979; Edwards, 1993), segmentation of text (Gumperz and Berenz, 1983; Lampert and Ervin-Tripp, 1993; Bloom, 1993; Johansson, 1995) and appropriacy of transcription conventions (Du Bois, 1991; Edwards, 1993; Du Bois, Schuetze-Coburn, Cumming and Paolino, 1993). Given that no transcript is completely theory-neutral or without bias (Edwards, 1993: 3), considerable effort should be made to validate the written organisation of verbal data. The transcript should also be recognised not only as theory bound, but also as theory shaping, because inclusion or exclusion of particular features promote specific recognition (Du Bois, 1991). A particular concern in generating a written record of talk-in-interaction is the representation of turns at talk. Obviously, a new speaker signifies a new turn, but subsequent utterances produced by the same speaker are not so clearly distinguishable. Establishing what constitutes a new utterance proves difficult to tie down, given that transcribers frequently work from an intuitive basis and attempt to construct a retrospective justification or definition of the turn as a unit. Essentially new turns by the same speaker are distinguished by a combination of intonational contour and pause length (Edwards, 1993: 20). In other words, the turn can be defined as a rhythmically bounded, prosodically defined chunk, a
Ochs (1979) argues that the researcher must consider the conceptual underpinnings (p.51) of a transcript and evaluate the bias associated with spatial alignment and organisation of speakers. Although she advocates participant columns and justification of speaker assignment, it should be noted that this recommendation is particularly relevant to adult/child discourse, and not compatible with many software programs designed for transcription of speech.
Peer Disputes
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lexical string that falls under a single intonational contour (Gumperz and Berenz, 1993: 95). This working definition is employed in the current study, to distinguish between intra- and inter- turn pauses. As research presented in this monograph adopts a conversation analytic (CA) framework for the study of childrens arguments (see Chapter 3), the method of transcription adheres to the model generated by Gail Jefferson (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1974: 731-734; see Appendix A). In conversation analytic research the transcripts serve as an account of the features of the discourse identifiable as pertinent for analysis (Psathas and Anderson, 1990). While a list of transcription conventions is given at the beginning of Appendix A, a brief account of the most frequent features in the transcripts follows. Given the interest in turn-taking in CA, attention is given to transition relevance places: terminal contours are marked (e.g. rising or half-rising) and overlap or pauses between turns are recorded. Emphasis within utterances is recorded in a number of ways. Emphatic stress is recorded by underlining letters or syllables and lengthening of syllables is demonstrated by the use of a colon. Changes in pitch are marked within the transcript with arrows, changes in volume are noted with capital letters (louder) or degree signs (softer). A convention not employed universally in CA (although certainly recognised), but used in this study, is the dollar symbol ($) to indicate smile talk (where the child is on the verge of laughing). Elsewhere, overlapping speech is marked on the page at the point of overlap (i.e. indented in the text so the phrase occurs directly below the point at which it overlaps the prior utterance). Throughout the text and in Appendix A, however, overlaps in the data are simply marked with square brackets [overlapping utterance] and are kept flush left on the page to avoid formatting problems. For clarity, double square brackets are used [[overlapping utterance]] in instances of multiple overlap. Where single utterances are provided as examples in the discussion (particularly in Chapter 4), brackets are retained despite the non-inclusion or reproduction of overlapping talk. The brackets could be omitted where the turn is discussed in isolation, but it is important to remember that these examples are taken from extended sequences of talk where overlap does occur. Due to background noise in all of the recordings, inbreaths (.hhh) and outbreaths (hhh) were marked only where audible. Likewise only exaggerated emphasis is underlined in the transcripts. Where speech is unintelligible the letter x represents a syllable. Features of significance noted in the analysis/discussion are marked in bold. Information provided in the headers for each episode was abbreviated for inclusion in Appendix A. In the transcripts presented in later chapters, there is little deviation from standard orthography, and the exceptions represent an atypical production made by the speaker. Although a CA approach advocates conveying the closest approximate description of the word production, readability of the transcripts (particularly in
Although Gail Jefferson continued to expand the range of suprasegmental features recorded in CA transcription (see Gardner, 2001 for a succinct discussion of shifts in pitch), only exaggerated shifts were marked in the present study.
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the case of child speech) is a competing issue. Although the manner in which the spoken word is reproduced (other than standard spelling) can be shown to be analytically significant (Jefferson, 1996), in the current study conventional orthography is for the most part appropriate (as idiosyncratic pronunciation did not prove to be particularly significant in dispute outcomes). The most common exception to this is abbreviations used by the children (e.g. the appearance of coz as a shortening of because). Most importantly, conversation analytic tradition underscores the necessity of referring to the original audio or video recording as the data and fundamental substance for analysis. The analysis is concerned with what occurs in the conversation rather than what appears in the reporting of the conversation. The transcripts should be seen as providing those not present with an opportunity to review the interaction in a secondary form. It is important to recall, therefore, that throughout the following chapters, although the transcripts are used to illustrate specific features of the adversative discourse, the analysis itself is based on continual review of the audio and video recordings. Additionally, the transcripts serve a more significant function than simply providing the outsider with an image of the discourse under observation. As the CA tradition calls for the researcher to transcribe his or her own data, the transcription itself serves as a form of analysis. The process of transcribing ones own material allows the researcher to become aware of salient features of the interaction. Through constant repetition and review of the audio recordings, notable phenomena begin to appear. A total of 60 verbal disputes were recorded in two preschool centres and transcribed (35 arguments recorded in Observation 1 and 25 arguments in Observation 2; full transcripts are provided for all episodes in Appendix A). The discrepancy in the number of arguments between the two groups is not necessarily representative of a higher incidence of conflict in the first observation environment for a number of reasons. The most conspicuous of these is a difference in audibility; the second observation playroom was noisier, making childrens voices indistinguishable at times. Any discussion of the differences in the arguments recorded in the two preschools must therefore be made cautiously. The intention to record in similar play contexts, for example, was not always realised, as inaudibility in the second observation environment precluded the inclusion of a number of episodes, and the movement of children to outside play or to other activities meant fixed recording in the block corner was not always feasible. Neither does the number of arguments recorded definitively reflect the proportion of arguing in the childrens play, as the observer was located in a fixed position in the playroom and witnessed only those disputes occurring between children within the proximity of recording equipment.
For the purpose of establishing the reliability and accuracy in transcribing the childrens arguments, the transcripts were submitted to a panel review of researchers experienced in CA methodology.
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Although not all recorded disputes occurred in block corner, the inclusion of dramatic play and other activities (e.g. fishing with magnets) did not secure an equal distribution of girls and boys disputes as hoped for. Indeed, half of the 60 disputes included in the data were between boys. Whilst this study does not set out to compare frequency of disputes or differences which are specifically attributed to gender, the disproportion of the data set is acknowledged. However, given that a almost a third of the disputes involved only girls, and the remaining episodes were generated by both girls and boys, some degree of representativeness has been maintained. Comparison of frequencies or distribution of disputes in the two child care centres should also be made warily due to age differences between the two groups. Given the difference in time of observation, the children in the second observation environment were (on average) five months older than those in Observation 1. A discrepancy in ability to manage conflict may be looked for here. Differences in pedagogic style (see discussion below) can also be acknowledged as a probable influence on conflict in the playroom the teacher in the second observation environment was not heard to intervene in the disputes recorded. Furthermore, differences may also be attributed to the higher proportion of children in Observation 1. Conditions which can, however, be more definitively tied to frequency of adversative episodes in this study are discussed in the next section. This preliminary discussion of the data evidently does not account for all social features which influence the manifestation of peer conflict, but rather introduces the data by way of features identified in existing research in child conflict (see Chapter 2). Frequency and types of conflict A measurable condition influencing the frequency of conflict can be attributed to the physical play area and available resources. This type of constraint can be defined as both micro-local (related to the particular play scenario) and macro-local (the physical space of the playroom). An example of the first condition is found where access to play equipment is restricted. For example, numerous arguments in the first observation environment developed during the magnet fishing game, because there were only two fishing rods available for the children to play with (Episodes Ob1.6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; transcripts provided in Appendix A). The second condition (physical play space) also appears to influence the frequency of conflict, specifically according to the number of children in a certain area. In the first child care centre, there were fewer arguments directly after naptime, for example, because the resumption of play was staggered, with children
Although more children were enrolled in Ob2, the proportion of space and number of children playing inside was relatively stable across the two observation environments.
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waking and returning to the playroom at different times. In the second preschool, where children were free to move from inside to outside play areas, the greatest number of disputes (Ob2.8, 9, 10, 11, 12) were recorded on a very wet morning when all children were forced to play inside. Consequently, a greater demand on resources (micro- and macro-local constraints) suggests a higher incidence of disputes. In order to discuss the frequency of particular types of disputes a temporary classification needs to be made. The following classes of types of disputes refer back to the categories discussed at the beginning of chapter two. Although it could justifiably be argued that rigorous definition of these categories should be provided (as the proportion of occurrence is wholly influenced by the categorisation itself) the following labels are not intended to quantify types of argument precisely, but simply to facilitate a general description of and introduction to the types of arguments recorded. In other words, these categories do not directly inform the current analysis, but rather serve as a preliminary review of the data in line with findings from existing studies. To this end, four major classes of disputes were identified in the audio/ video recordings: object/ownership (cf. Phinney, 1986); play script (elsewhere categorised as nature of play see Corsaro and Rizzo, 1990); local rules (cf. Malloy and McMurray, 1996); and truth (cf. Genishi and Di Paolo, 1982). It should be noted that categories overlap due to shifts of focus within disputes. For example, a dispute may initially be recognised as an object dispute (rights to a cardboard box) but could also be labelled as a negotiation of the play script (the application or use of the cardboard box) e.g. Ob1.24. For the purpose of this discussion, episodes were categorised according to the nature of the opening of the dispute. Object/ownership disputes were common in both groups, arising in situations where children would argue over rights to an object, or claim prior ownership (e.g. Ob2.2). Occasionally the access rights under dispute pertain to non-concrete entities (e.g. a song in Ob1.4). Arguments about the organisation of play (play script) were dominant in Observation 1 (13 of 35) but were least frequent in Observation 2 (2 of 25). Typically this type of dispute focused on negotiating the function or role of objects in the play context (e.g. Ob1.31). Local rule disputes arise from challenges to behaviour deemed acceptable within the playroom (again, more frequent in Observation 1). This encompasses both broader social expectations (e.g. Ob1.23) and rules proscribed by the teacher (e.g. Ob2.21). The final category (truth) refers to challenges of knowledge or factual accuracy (e.g. Ob2.3), the majority occurring in the second observation environment. A notable difference between the two groups lies in the proportion of the varying types of disputes. While ownership disputes are relatively common in
On two occasions, observation sessions were held in the afternoon in Ob1 due to morning activities scheduled for the four-year-old group. A summary of dispute types is given in Appendix A.
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both preschools (28.6 per cent in Observation 1 and 56 per cent in Observation 2), the remaining three categories show an inverse proportion: play script (Ob1 37.1 per cent, Ob2 8 per cent), local rules (Ob1 25.7 per cent, Ob2 8 per cent), and truth (Ob1 8.6 per cent, Ob2 28 per cent). However, if ownership/ object disputes and arguments over the play script are recognised as intrinsic to the development of play, and local rules and truth disputes are grouped as not organically derived (i.e. monitoring behaviour rather than imbedded in the play scenario), the proportion of disputes in both preschools is strikingly similar (65.7 per cent: 34.3 per cent in Ob1 and 64 per cent: 36 per cent in Ob2). However, any discussion of the ratio of disputes must be made cautiously. Not only is the categorisation of childrens disputes inherently subjective (despite best efforts to define objectively), the number of participants and length of observation in the current study prevents grand, sweeping commentary on definitive classification of preschool disputes (not to mention criticisms of quantitative analysis with a limited sample). Furthermore, given that existing studies use idiosyncratic categorisation of types of disputes, it is difficult to compare findings. The prevalence of object disputes, however, is reported universally (Shantz, 1987; Hay and Ross, 1982; Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981; Genishi and Di Paolo, 1982) and the frequency of play script disputes was also reported to be high in nonlaboratory settings (Corsaro and Rizzo, 1990). Additionally, no firm conclusions can be drawn from the correlation existing between gender and frequency of disputing. Although a greater number of arguments recorded in the transcripts involve boys, this may indicate manner rather than prevalence of conflict. That is, boys arguments are typically more overt and subsequently more likely to attract the observers attention due to a greater incidence of raised voices and overtly physical play. Activity type has also been acknowledged as influencing the proportion of disputes according to gender, even though both boys and girls played in block corner, and nearby activities are included in the data. Omitting analysis of gender and frequency of disputes does not suggest that no correlation exists, but rather that the procedure of the data collection in this study precludes sustainable conclusions. Whilst conflict patterns can be considered as gendered (Aronsson and Thorell, 1999), the purpose of this research is to identify patterns which are intrinsic to adversative discourse, to identify turn shapes which are produced by both girls and boys. That is, this research seeks to identify common disputing practices as a prelim to looking for variation within these practices. What is proposed here is further exploration of generic linguistic practices in childrens disputes with the intent of uncovering patterns of discourse which are related to outcome; patterns attributable to both girls and boys. From this platform, differences in childrens gender, age and friendship groups may be looked for. The primary consideration remains to better understand governing principles of how children go about resolving disputes.
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Teacher attitudes to conflict intervention As discussed in earlier chapters, external (non-linguistic) influences on childrens arguments, although not focused upon in this monograph, should be acknowledged. While the relative social status (power relationships) among children has been recognised elsewhere (see Chapter 1), as has the link between friendship and the frequency of arguments (see Chapter 2), the role of the teacher in establishing and monitoring group dynamics may also be influential in the prevalence of conflict in the preschool playroom. Although this feature is not directly incorporated in the analysis presented here, it is prudent to note that the expectation of appropriate behaviour of preschool children is influenced by the teacher. To ascertain staff attitudes to assisting children to manage peer conflict, informal interviews were held with teachers at the completion of each observation round. While both teachers reported similar theoretical approaches, their practical intervention strategies were performed in markedly different ways, a difference which may have been informed by pedagogic experience; the teacher in Observation 1 was younger and comparatively new to the profession. The teacher in the first observation centre stated that she was inclined to let the children negotiate their own disputes and would intervene only when the children were crying (see Danby and Baker, 1998), shouting or otherwise visibly upset or angry, or if the conflict escalated to physical exchanges such as hitting. She reported that once involved she would ask each child to tell their own version of events, thereby creating an opportunity for each child to listen to the other, as well as establishing for herself the nature of the problem. If the children were not able to propose a viable solution she would impose one. The childrens individual abilities to manage conflict were noted by the teacher, with reference to childrens varying needs of staff support to negotiate with peers. In response to questions about the instructional phrase use your words the teacher indicated that children were coached to express how the others behaviour made them feel, encouraging children to recognise the emotions of others. In relation to the frequency of disputes in the playroom, the teacher in Ob1 commented that there was a greater proportion of adversative discourse at the beginning of the year and that as time progressed the children were arguing less. She attributed this to familiarisation with the new playroom, teacher and increased challenges, and children recognising certain limitations, specifically sharing toys. The teacher also noted that the children were more likely to work out a dispute if they were friends (as discussed in Chapter 2). She added that the motivation to argue was not always driven by the play context, but sometimes by the mood of the children, who were more likely to argue for the sake of it or be easily annoyed when they were tired. The teacher in the second observation environment saw her role as clarifying the perspective or intention of each child for his or her playmate(s). She believed in talking through the problem because one (or both) participant(s) may not have the resources to explain their internal state. She noted that it was important to
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clarify each childs motivation before moving on to consider what action could be taken to resolve the problem. The teacher spoke of the importance of not assigning blame in these situations, as most offences are not made intentionally. The teacher insisted that the self-esteem of the children involved in a dispute remain a priority, perceiving her responsibility being to assess which childs needs appeared greater, recognising that it is not always the child who has been wronged who is in greater need of support. As far as suggesting strategies for children to manage conflict, the teacher in Ob2 noted that the advice would vary for each individual child, given their specific needs. It was her intention to provide the children with strategies for them to cope independently rather than focus on solving the immediate problem. As a general strategy, the teacher referred to the common theme of identifying internal states, in other words tell the other child how you feel. In relation to the instruction use your words the teacher emphasised the importance of following this through by monitoring the response. She expanded this point by underscoring the fact that most children of this four-year-old age group are able to express their dissatisfaction (I dont like it when you do that), therefore attention should be given to the other childs ability or willingness to listen. The teacher also acknowledged a relationship between language skills and ability to manage conflict situations; that children with less fluency were unable to articulate their position and consequently were more likely to become more frustrated and resort to physical confrontation. She emphasised the fundamental importance of communication skills for a successful future. Types and sequences of strategies Whilst acknowledging the influence teachers may have on childrens peer interaction, the purpose of this study is to determine how children manage disputes without the direct support of an adult. In earlier research (see discussion in Chapter 2) attention was given to the types of strategies young children used in arguments (Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981; Genishi and Di Paolo, 1982; Brenneis and Lein, 1977; Boggs, 1978). Whilst previously established categories of strategies (e.g. insistence, modification, reasons, counter assertions, conditional directives, compromise, denial, requesting evidence, and insults) were evident in my data, quantitative evidence is not reported here as it does not contradict earlier findings and is not the primary focus of the analysis. Relevant to this research however, are existing claims relating to possible or probable sequences of these verbal strategies. Elsewhere it has been noted that one utterance prompts a particular type of response, and that semantic continuity is a distinguishing feature of adversative discourse (Brenneis and Lein, 1977). This continuity, however, has been looked for within categories of strategic actions mentioned above. Whilst sequences of strategies may follow particular patterns (Boggs, 1978), given that the strategies are an imposed categorisation, the sequence is also externally imposed. These
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sequences may indeed operate probabilistically, yet the task at hand is to establish if an organising principle is evident to the participants themselves. As hearers, the children involved in disputes may not recognise prior utterances as a particular type of strategy, but may attend to other features of the discourse. Of particular interest is the absence or presence of pauses, hesitation or direct opposition markers and the plausibility of accounts. Consequently (as with outcomes of disputes) a thorough discussion of sequences of disputes appears in the following chapters. We now turn our attention to the organisation within the disputes that become apparent when viewed from a different perspective an alternate methodology. As detailed in Chapter 3, conversation analysis is proposed as eminently useful in uncovering significant features of childrens arguments. Existing research and preliminary review of the data suggests that preference organisation is pertinent to the sequences of turns in these disputes. So this Chapter progresses to consider features of turn shapes in the childrens adversative discourse. During the process of transcribing the 60 disputes recorded with both groups of four-year-old children, preference features emerged as overwhelmingly present. That is, utterances in these naturally-occurring arguments appeared to be consistently performed in either preferred or dispreferred turn shape. Although the data presented here may appear to apply preference organisation as an analytic framework, it is important to emphasise that these patterns emerged from the data. Unmotivated looking while repeatedly transcribing the childrens disputes uncovered particular and regular types of turn in the dispute. The reader is reminded that analysis presented here is reported after the fact: the data, and particular features of the data, came first. Preference features in the childrens utterances If a principle for agreement operates in conversation (Sacks, 1987), then it stands that this principle is revoked in conflict situations. That is, if speakers do not disagree with one another, adversative discourse is not sustainable. A purpose of the analysis, therefore, is to determine if the performance of preference organisation in disputes (i.e. linguistic markedness) mirrors this reversal of conversational preference. The purpose of this and subsequent chapters is to illustrate typical features of preference, and to demonstrate how these features are significant in childrens disputes by influencing the outcome of disputes. If we continue on the assumption (see discussion in Chapter 3) that disagreement is preferred in order for adversative discourse to be sustained, it remains to be seen if the turn shape (preferred or dispreferred) of the opposition influences the subsequent turn(s). Before establishing a possible interdependence between preference and the progression and conclusion of disputes, however, features of the turn shapes in the childrens arguments need to be examined. This chapter exemplifies the prevalence of the following turn components: immediate responses, short turn
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length, direct action (preferred turn shape), pauses, delay markers, and deferred statement of intent (dispreferred turn shape). Preferred turn shape As discussed in Chapter 3, preferred turns are typically produced without delay, the turn length is usually short and the action (locution) is overt and direct. These elements (immediate response, turn length and directness) were identified throughout the arguments recorded in both observation environments. The data recorded are presented below by identifying each characteristic of preferred turn shape in turn: immediacy; brevity of utterance and explicitness of action being done. Immediate responses Turns are identified as occurring immediately or contiguously where less than 0.2 seconds elapsed, marked as a zero time lapse (appearing in the transcripts abutting the prior turn). Where the inter-turn pause is timed under 0.2 seconds, the gap is not noticeably hearable as a significant pause. Pauses of less than 0.2 seconds made by the speaker within an utterance were heard as noticeable, and are subsequently recorded as (.) in the transcripts. This type of preferred format (produced without delay) is seen throughout dispute episodes, in initial opposition moves, in utterances during the argument and in later turns once the argument is well established. The notable finding here, then, is that immediate responses are not limited to the opening of adversative discourse.
Ob2.4 1 JAK: 2 LOU:
oh (then the two of us can) do it today? no i can do it
Immediate responses are not limited to simple contradiction of the prior utterance (although frequently used in this type of inversion) because counter-challenges are also made without delay, as are criticisms of the prior speaker.
Ob2.22 7 PAU: 8 NIG: Ob1.7 12 13 14 JON: TES: SAM: i wrecked my thing (0.2) and it wasnt yours yeah and i put those things up there not till you (0.2) say sorry Sam. (0.4) ((silly voice)) sorry Sam deedee:huh. no: (.) properly.
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Responses are also considered to be produced without substantial delay where there is less than a 0.3 second delay between turns. Whilst a 0.2 second pause between utterances is marked in the transcripts, the gap (as with delays of less than 0.2 seconds) is not heard as significant. The brevity of this time lapse is not noticeably hearable as a pause, whereas a 0.3 second or greater silence or absence of nonverbal behaviour is distinguishable as a gap or delay between turns. Consequently, when turns are produced with less than (0.3) seconds delay, this is considered to be an almost immediate response. Contiguous responses, then, are identified where there is no delay (latched utterances) or following a pause of less than 0.3 seconds.
Ob2.1 8 MIR: gimme one of them. (0.2) 9 CAZ: i am not going to. Ob2.7 2 ELI: thats not a girl thats a bo::y. (0.2) 3 CAZ: girls wear pants.
Immediate utterances constitute varying types of responses. Usually, preferred turn shapes are tied in semantic content and syntactic structure to the previous turn, often with minimal addition of novel information an example of format-tying (Goodwin, 1990; see Chapter 2).When turns are repeated or partially repeated (adding to prior content) the previous turn, in most cases there is no significant delay.
Ob2.4 2 LOU: 3 JAK:
no i can do it (0.2) NO: I WANNA Do it.
Often this type of repeat is used to contradict the prior speaker, with the repeat produced as an inversion of the previous utterance. These simple inversions are labelled elsewhere as contrastively-matched counters (Coulter 1990: 196).
Ob2.19 6 SIM: my partys befo:re you:rs 7 GAR: no MY partys before yours.=
Peer Disputes Ob1.4 3 4 ... 12 13
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HIL: TES:
its my so:ng its my song too: and its not your song.
HIL: it is my song too:. TES: its not your song too::
There is also evidence of no significant delay when the speakers objection is a repeat of his/her own earlier opposition:
Ob1.28 14 15 16 17 18 JON: FEL: JON: FEL: JON: no dont break it! (0.2) i will [break it]? [otherwise] ill tell the teacher. (0.5) i will break it John. DONT BREAK it OTHERWISE I WILL TELL [THE TEACHERS on you].
Although Felicitys turn in line 17 in Ob1.28 is also a repeat of her earlier utterance, this turn does not serve as a direct opposition to the prior turn (line 16), but rather a re-initiation and repeat of an earlier threat intended to provoke John. This interpretation is significant given that Felicitys turn is preceded by a short pause. It should also be noted that whilst the content of Johns utterance was repeated, the turn is aggravated through increased volume (see Brenneis and Lein, 1977 and Boggs, 1978 for discussion of paralinguistic features as demonstrative of escalation in disputing). From the examples presented here, it becomes apparent that turns made without delay usually present little new information. In some cases, each speaker continues to repeat the form of earlier utterances, providing no novel content to promote their position.
Ob1.25 3 KOY: 4 SAM: 5 KOY: 6 7 8 i was us[ing it-], [BUT I] thought you werent using i:t,= =Im using it (0.3) i wanna- (.) tha[ts (mine)]. SAM: [i thought you] werent using i::t.= KOY: =i wanna (.) but (.) i was- that was mi:ne. SAM: but i thought you werent using i:t.
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Throughout the episodes we also see examples where opposition pre-empts the close of the previous utterance (the transition-relevant place), where the beginning of the challenge overlaps the prior turn.
Ob1.1 3 NOR: lets [go to the jetty]. 4 MIN: [no (.) no (0.3)] no no (0.4) no (we) dont want those (0.4) big anim[als x-],
and later in the same episode:

14 15 CHE: were [going through it]. LIA: [uh uh].((expresses objection))
Turns are also produced with zero delay, where no discernible lapse between one utterance and the next is heard. The following examples identify turns which are latched to the prior utterance.
Ob2.4 5 LOU: no:w (.) i know which day (0.2) and i can do it= 6 JAK: =i can do it too. Ob2.19 7 GAR: no MY partys before yours.= 8 SIM: =not bef[ore mine]. 9 GAR: [but mine is] (0.3) yours- (0.6) my: mum said yours is in February. Ob1.22 5 KOY: no (.) youre not packing= 6 ADM: =YES I AM.
Turns are also considered to be produced immediately (without delay) if the utterance overlaps or occurs contiguously to a nonverbal action by another party.
Ob2.1 6 MIR: (if you dont) then ill just take it then. %act: reaches to grab plastic lid. 7 CAZ: STO::P!
Peer Disputes Ob1.10 2 3
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TES: JON:
0 ((%act: attempts to take JONSs fishing rod which he has put on the ground to pick up a fish)) ((rising pitch throughout)) no no no no no.
Ob1.13 1 ADM: 0 ((%act: drives duplo car towards garage)) 2 KOY: no big cars! Ob1.16 ADM: that (.) that can be (0.5) umm, 6 (2.5) %act: pulls down a block that SAM has placed upright 7 SAM: no: (0.4) that is UP. Ob2.16 PAU: 0 ((%act: 1 headset)) 2 FRE: he[::y]. turns volume control to another
Ob1.22 1 KOY: 0 ((%act: knocks block off shelf)) 2 ADM: ((whines)) NO:: (.) YOURE BREAKING IT. Ob2.22 PAU: 1 2 NIG: 0 ((%act: knocks over tower of blocks)) you WRECKER.
Ob2.25 JIM: 0 ((%act: pushes the ramps together)) 6 7 PAU: hey youre making it differe::nt.
Turns can similarly be made contiguously to the prior utterance and its accompanying nonverbal action.
Ob1.13 13 14 ADM: %act: KOY: [i have to stay out] of the gargage (0.2) (get ou:t),= puts his car next to the blocks =STO::P!
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Turn length Not only are preferred turn shapes characterised as produced contiguously to the prior utterance, the length of the turn is also indicative of preference status: preferred turns are typically short. Whilst the content of preferred turns may demonstrate little homogeneity (Levinson, 1983), the brevity of utterances is a uniform feature. As seen in the following examples, immediate opposition is often made in short utterances, the shortest being one-word objections.
Ob1.1 31 NOR: up here [im] up here. 32 LIA: [no]. Ob2.17 5 SIM: Gary: (1.0) can i have a little play of yours? (0.2) 6 GAR: no. (1.3) 7 SIM: can i? 8 GAR: no. Ob1.35 ADM: now (0.2) (im gonna put that there). 1 2 PET: HE::Y. Ob1.18 TES: NO I DIDNT DO IT did i Nancy (0.5) Koyo did 34 it= 35 KOY: =no.
These shortest preferred turn shapes (one-word objections) follow nonverbal actions as well as verbal turns.
Ob2.2 %act: girls attempt to enter the spaceship 1 JAK: no! Ob2.25 PAU: 0 ((%act: pulls blocks apart)) (2.3) 9 10 JIM: o::y:. Ob1.32 KOY: 0 ((%act:tries to shut flaps)) 8 9 SAM: no:.
Peer Disputes 10 11 KOY: the show (.) is (.) finished (.) [(now)]. SAM: [no]:. ((whines))
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Brief utterances (preferred turn shapes) need not necessarily denote one-word objections: the turn may also be considered short where it contains more than one item. A short turn, then, typically consists of a single clause.
Ob2.20 3 GAR: its just a little one (0.2) 4 ROB: hey dont! Ob1.20 5 LUK: 0 ((%act: pushes PETs hand away)) 6 PET: ((whines)) dont draw mi::ne. Ob2.23 LUK: look Sam (0.3) ow ow.= 1 2 SAM: =dont do that (.) thats-, Ob1.7 1 TES: %act: 2 JON: 3 SAM: ((silly voice)) these are mine (.) thats mine (.) thats mine (.) tha- my yeeiyeei [yeiyei], grabbing boxes [hey (.) hey,]= = hey sto:p (0.5) TE::S[S]::!
Ob1.22 1 KOY: 0 ((%act: knocks block off shelf)) 2 ADM: ((whines)) NO:: (.) YOURE BREAKING IT. Ob2.1 MIR: gimme one of them. 8 (0.2) i am not going to. 9 CAZ:
Preferred turn shapes are also evident in sequences where short turns are made in succession, often in overlap.
Ob2.8 2 3 4 5 PAU: give it to me! WIN: i [found it]. PAU: [no i-](.) no i had i:t. WIN: i found it
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The repetition of short turns was evident elsewhere in the data:

Ob1.11 14 FEL: mmm. 15 NAN: dont say mmm. (1.1) mmm. 16 FEL: 17 NAN: dont (0.3) dont say THAT! (0.2) 18 FEL: mmm. (0.4) 19 NAN: DONT SAY THAT! Ob1.26 16 ADM: you [have to say] doggie doggie whos got the bone. 17 CHE: [go away]. 18 CHE: GO away from us! 19 ADM: dont you know doggie [doggie whos got]-, 20 TES: [we dont] ca:re dont we?= 21 CHE: =go away from us! Ob1.31 5 ... 7 8 ... 10 11 ADM: no we dont need to put corks in.= SAM: [no] theyre food (0.7) they[re] carro[ts.] ADM: [no], ADM: no theyre not. (0.2) SAM: theyre carrots!
A common type of short preferred turn shape in argumentative discourse occurs when an utterance is a simple contradiction of the prior term (often inversion of previous turn).
Ob2.8 8 PAU: i had it a while ago.= 9 WIN: =no you did[nt]. Ob2.14 7 DON: [one] oclo:ck (0.4) yea::h (.) its one oclock. (0.2) 8 TOM: no its not.
Peer Disputes Ob1.17 1 2 3 4
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ADM: PET: ADM: PET:
im gonna build xxxx. (0.2) oh no youre not. (0.2) yes i am. (0.2) no.
Ob1.23 7 SAM: dont you like your mummy. 8 LUK: yes i do. Ob1.28 JON: well dont break my house (0.8) coz (0.2) its 26 (0.3) very special [what i made]. 27 CHE: [is not]? Ob1.34 3 PET: no Im not (0.2) 4 ADM: yes you are Ob2.24 3 BRI: yours is yuck (.) Gary 4 GAR: no it isnt
Criticism of the previous speaker was also made in one-word utterances with little or no pause.
Ob1.14 4 5 6 7 SAM: =i was trying to bal[ance it]. LUK: [tst oh] oh [oh oh no: ]. ((whining)) SAM: [i was trying to balance] i:t= LUK: =NAUGHTY!
Opposition stated directly As demonstrated in the examples above, preferred turn shape can be identified by both brevity of response and absence of delay. A third feature of preferred status is found in the directness of the utterance, as the turns purpose is stated overtly (essentially achieved through contiguity and brevity). In argumentative sequences, then, clarity of intention can be identified where the opposition is not only stated
72
clearly, but specifically at the beginning of the turn (given that the illocutionary intent in dispreferred turns is typically delayed). The most striking examples of direct and overt opposition being performed at the beginning of the turn are found when the adversative response is a single-word utterance.
Ob1.6 2 TES: 3 4 [no: i need r]e:d (0.3) coz i like that colour as well. JON: NO: SAM: no:.
Ob2.18 3 SIM: plea:se can i have it. (0.2) 4 GAR: n:o:. Ob2.9 5 PAU: 0 ((%act: continues to touch blocks)) 6 LOU: do:nt! Ob2.12 LOU: 0 ((%act: knocks another set of blocks)) 3 4 WIN: DO:NT! Ob2.15 1 2 MIR: %act: PAU: i cant hea:r it. fiddles with buttons (0.2) hey.
Ob2.21 4 NIG: youre not allowed to go outside, 5 SIM: yea:h
These single word items used to challenge the prior turn serve as opposition markers, because they function as immediate and overt indicators of challenge to the prior speaker. Not only are these opposition markers heard as demonstrably argumentative, their placement must also be considered. In relation to the directness of opposition, the significance of the initial position in the utterance should be emphasised. Evidently, if the first word of a turn is an opposition marker (such as no) the turn is immediately recognisable as one of dissension.
Peer Disputes Ob1.9 2 3 4 5
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TES: take everything (out),= JON: =not the-, TES: 0 ((%act: continues packing up the boats)) SAM: NO (0.5) leave it here!
Ob1.18 9 KOY: [see (.) $yo:u] did it$. (0.2) 10 TES: NO:: I DIDN:T. Ob1.21 1 PET: 0 ((%act: picks up a few blocks which are on the ground near CHE)) 2 CHE: dont break ours Peter? Ob2.24 3 BRI: yours is yuck (.) Gary 4 GAR: no it isnt Ob1.30 15 LUK: 16 JO2:
John did it. no the [table done it].
The attention-getting device hey (McTear, 1979) also functions as an opposition marker:
Ob2.25 6 JIM: 7 PAU: 0 ((%act: pushes the ramps together)) hey youre making it differe::nt.
On one occasion in the data, however, the item hey served as an indicator or marker of compromise (the distinction made by different intonation). When Paul proposed an alternative solution to circumvent opposition from another speaker, it was prefaced with hey.
Ob2.25 13 PAU: hey that can be both of ou:rs. (0.3) 14 JIM: yeah.
Elsewhere, although an opposition marker does not appear in utterance-initial position, the opposition is clearly exhibited. In the next-turn positioning, the speaker explicitly rejects the prior turn.
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Ob2.3 11 TOM: youre (.) youre (0.3) youre tricking me:. (0.2) 12 GAR: i am not! Ob1.12 18 ADM: [yes they do:]. (0.2) 19 LUK: ((sing song voice)) the:y do: no:t. Ob1.18 1 2 3 ... 40 41 %act: SAM: KOY: TES: blocks knocked (acidentally) off shelf by KOY o:hh[h huh huh huh] [[huh huh,]] [hah hah hah,] [[THATS]] (.) VERY NAUGHty.
ADM: you Miss Mu:shroom? TES: IM NOT A MISS [MUSHROOM] IM [TE::SS].
Ob1.27 6 CHE: no i didnt. 7 FEL: yes i did i hear you.
In each of the examples above, features of preferred utterances have been identified in the childrens arguments, specifically brief and direct turns being produced without delay, that is, contiguously to the prior action or utterance. These turns shaped were heard persistently and consistently throughout the disputes. Each of these features is typified in the following sequence of preferred turn shapes:
Ob1.30 8 9 10 11 12 13 JON: JO2: FEL: JO2: LUK: JO2: it wasnt (0.2) it was that John. i wa- i didnt do that. yes you did. no [i didnt]. [you did] so:! did no:t.
Preferred turn shapes, then, are omnipresent in adversative discourse in preschool peer interaction. Having identified the prevalence of preferred features, it needs to be established if these features are performed consistently throughout the data.
Peer Disputes
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Atypical preferred turn shapes? As discussed and exemplified throughout this chapter so far, preferred turn-shape is reflected in the immediacy (no inter-turn delay), brevity and directness of the utterance. Although these features are recognised as a taxonomy of preference, they are not always produced cohesively or uniformly in the childrens argumentative episodes. Or rather, preference organisation in these disputes does not entirely emulate preference features in adult speech. The audio recordings reveal otherwise preferred turn shapes (brief, direct opposition) occurring after pauses. Similarly, turns may be made without delay, but demonstrate otherwise dispreferred features (as discussed below). Pauses appear between some adjacency pairs, in similar contexts to sequences of preferred turns (i.e. those produced without significant delay) noted in the examples above. One of these contexts is delay which prefaces repeats or partial repeats of the prior speakers turn.
Ob2.7 11 CAZ: no thats mine (i got mi:ne) mine! (0.4) 12 ELI: its mine. Ob2.9 8 LOU: 9 PAU: ((to WIN)) Pauls spoiling- (0.3) ((to PAU)) we were here fi:rst. (0.5) we were here first.
Ob2.20 9 GAR: then (you cant) come to my party. (2.7) 10 ROB: i >dont wanna come to your< party.
Pauses were also found to occasionally preface repeats of the speakers own earlier utterance.
Ob1.17 1 2 3 ADM: PET: ADM: im gonna build xxxx. (0.2) oh no youre not. (0.2) yes i am. (0.2)
76 4 5 Ob1.4 4 5 6 Ob2.24 4 5 6
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes PET: no. (0.8) ADM: i am. TES: HIL: TES: its my song too: and its not your song. (0.2) it is my song. (0.5) NOT YOUR: SONG.
GAR: no it isnt (0.4) BRI: yes it is. (1.0) GAR: NO IT ISNT.
Of primary interest here is the considerable shift in volume after the delay. It could be suggested that a marked change in prosody signifies novel content, perhaps accounting for the slight delay, yet no pause occurs prior to the shouted turn in line 18 in Ob1.28 (presented earlier in this chapter). The data also revealed examples of delay occurring before otherwise preferred format turns which overtly contradicted the prior speaker, providing no new content to support the contradiction.
Ob2.3 6 GAR: im going befo:re lunch. (1.0) 7 TOM: no you are::nt. Ob1.4 13 14 15 TES: HIL: TES: its not you:r song too:: (0.2) it is. (0.4) no:.
Ob2.5 you did it. 2 LOU: (0.4) 3 ELI: no i didnt?=
Peer Disputes Ob2.10 23 PAU: i didnt i didnt even make a building. (0.5) 24 JIM: yes you di:d Ob1.12 6 7 8 9 Ob1.17 13 14 15 16 ADM: LUK: ADM: LUK: you HAFta SHARE. (0.6) NO:? (0.6) yeah but the teacher says (0.4) share. (0.5) NO:?
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ADM: PET: ADM:
yeah BUT YOU HAVE TO. (0.8) no. (0.3) .hh NO BUT YOU HAVE TO SHARE. (1.1) KOY: NO.
Ob1.18 22 TES: [i i] i didnt do it did i Nancy? (1.1) 23 KOY: yeah you did it i did[nt]. Ob2.19 7 GAR: no MY partys before yours.= 8 SIM: =not bef[ore mine]. 9 GAR: [but mine is] (0.3) yours- (0.6) my: mum said yours is in February. (1.3) 10 SIM: no it isnt. Ob1.22 2 3 4 ADM: KOY: ADM: ((whines)) NO:: (.) YOURE BREAKING IT. (0.2) BECAUSE YOURE NOT PACKING UP. (0.6) yes i am.
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The relative frequency of atypical turn shapes, however, is of less interest to us here, as although these turns are prefaced by a pause, the turns are explicitly oppositional because the objection of the speaker is clearly on display. Of most relevance to establishing the role of preference organisation in childrens verbal disputes is the relationship between conflict outcomes and the sequential organisation of the talk-in-interaction. The turns above are perhaps atypical only in comparison with preference features noted in adult speech. Indeed, it may turn out that prefatory delays are not influential in the preference organisation of childrens disputes. The sequential positioning of these turn shapes will be considered further in Chapter 6. Multi-party disputes Before moving on to illustrating dispreferred turn shapes heard in the childrens disputes, some comment needs to be made regarding the number of speakers involved in the examples provided thus far. Not all disputes are restricted to two parties, and the influence of more than two participants on the structure of conflict episodes is acknowledged. It has been argued (Maynard, 1986a) that multi-party disputes should not be represented as two-party disputes with additional speakers, as new speakers may align themselves with an original speaker by introducing a novel contention. Whilst it is recognised that a third speaker may attempt to add his/her own agenda, in the present data the addition is usually aligned with one existing position or another. So while more than two speakers may present more than two points of contention, these points are typically directed to one of the two opposing positions. In the sequential organisation of multi-party disputes then, there are essentially two sides. Whilst the individual form of opposition may vary (multiple speakers on the same side) it is nevertheless unilateral opposition to the other (antipathetic) position. Furthermore, there is little room for peer mediators in disputes between four-year-olds. Typically, external participants either align themselves with either opposing party or remain neutral and therefore outside the dispute. In Ob1.17 below, for example, Peter solicits support from Sam and Koyo (who are also playing with the blocks, and are overhearers up until this point). Koyos response (line 10) is not only collaborative, it is content-tied to Peters earlier taunt. Koyos subsequent turn (line 12) is a faithful repeat of Peters prior opposition (line 11).
Ob1.17 6 PET: im gonna get all of these (0.4) little blocks,= %act: PET starts removing blocks from shelf.
There are exceptions in specific cultural settings, e.g. the ritualised role of a third party in resolving standoffs (brogez) between Israeli children (Katriel, 1985).
Peer Disputes 7 8 9 10 11 12 ADM: PET: %com: ADM: KOY: PET: KOY:
79
=yeah but YOU HAVE TO SHARE. (1.5) but were not gonna share with our toys [are we] PET is addressing SAM and KOY. [yeah but] you [HAVE to]. [>we dont want to share] with [you<.] [NO.] (0.2) no.
In relation to the earlier sections of this chapter, the interpretation of inter-turn pauses becomes more complex in multi-party disputes. For example, in Ob1.11 below, Cheries contradiction (line 12) may be considered an atypical preferred turn shape due to the length of the pause preceding this short, direct rebuttal. However, up until this point, it was Felicity who had been opposing Nancys attempts to appropriate a fishing rod.
Ob1.11 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 [i wan] i wanna tu:rn (0.7) i wanna turn of that. (0.4) well we (0.3) got here fi:rst? (0.3) we have to share (0.6) have to [share]. ((sings quietly to herself)) [get the] little fishies out (0.2) in the little box. ((to FEL)) (these [are yours]). ([fishes]), (0.5) you put them in. (2.6) NAN: you have to sha:re (.) dont get away. (1.2) CHE: we (.) a:re. (0.6) NAN: no youre not sharing (.) youre (0.4) taking a long time. (3.4) NAN: FEL: NAN: CHE: CHE: FEL: CHE:
The delay in this example is not necessarily heard as directly attributed to Cheries turn, as the nominated speaker at the turn transition relevance place could be assumed by Felicity in the first instance, as she had been the only vocal opposer to Nancy up until this point. Pauses in prefatory positions of preferred format turns (in multi-party disputes) may therefore be explained by obscured speaker rights
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to the next turn. Where more than two children are engaged in verbal conflict, the position of next speaker is not automatically selected (given multiple hearers). In two-party disputes, inter-turn pauses may be heard as delayed, whereas when more than two children are engaged in the dispute the gap may indicate hesitation of speaker selection. Inter-turn pauses, then, can be considered in light of multiparty configuration of disputes. Dispreferred turn shape Having identified preferred turn shapes in the childrens arguments, the next stage of analysis is designed to illustrate features of dispreferred turns heard in the audio (and video) recordings. Specifically, the features noted in the childrens disputes were pauses between turns, hesitation or delay markers and accounts for opposition all identifiable as characteristic of dispreferred turn shape. Although it is the synthesis of these features that points to dispreferred turn shape, for the purpose of analysis, each will be discussed in turn. Delay: Pauses As discussed in Chapter 3, the saliency of pauses occurring before dispreferred turns signifies the delay itself as accountable or meaningful to the hearer (i.e. something other than a preferred response may be forthcoming). However, before attempting to interpret the significance of prefatory pauses in childrens disputes, their occurrence in the data must be established. The numerous examples below, point to the prevalence of pauses delaying turns (turns which also demonstrate other dispreferred features).
Ob1.8 3 JON: 4 no (0.3) no you got my blue one. (0.4) TES: but we (0.3) but (0.5) but we are just sharing.
Ob1.10 6 JON: so dont (.) take (0.2) this (0.2) fishing rod off me. (0.6) 7 TES: well Milly (0.5) Milly wants to have a turn (0.2) ((then to MIL)) do[nt you].
It has been noted elsewhere that using address forms (stating another childs name in the utterance) serves to align or disalign with other speakers (Aronsson and Thorell, 1999).
Peer Disputes Ob2.13 2 LOU: i want to u:se (.) i was using that car. (0.4) 3 WIN: no you were using that car. Ob2.2 9 10 %act: pushes CAZ as she tries to enter. TOM: its a rocket ship (.) you guys. (1.1) CAZ: were playing we were playing in there fi:rst
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Ob1.4 8 YYY: [Tess] are you okay? (1.3) 9 TES: Hilary just said the song is hers and its not its mi:ne. (0.9) 10 HIL: well it is mine too:. ... 13 TES: its not you:r song too:: (0.2) it is. 14 HIL: (0.4) 15 TES: no:. (2.5) 16 HIL: i heard it on the radio. Ob1.2 3 ADM: [no no no] (.) no [no] this one hasnt got any le:gs. 4 JON: [but-], (0.9) 5 JON: but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. Ob1.6 4 SAM: 5 6 no:. (1.0) TES: no i like that colour as we:ll (0.8) SAM: drop (0.2) (Johns got those) (0.7) you got those ones Johns got these ones. (0.9)
82 7 8 TES:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes but (0.3) i got three coz i need (1.3) that many. (1.6) SAM: but then (0.4) John will have three (0.3) and you dont like pink do you John.
Ob2.7 2 ELI: thats not a girl thats a bo::y. (0.2) 3 CAZ: girls wear pants. (0.9) 4 ELI: well (0.5) thats- i know thats a boy. Ob2.9 6 LOU: do:nt! (1.1) 7 PAU: you can still (.) fix it Ob2.10 16 17 18 FRE: DONT (.) WRECK i:t! (0.2) PAU: i wanna make something (.) and you werent even using it. (1.0) FRE: but i (.) i will use it later.
Ob2.15 4 PAU: he:y dont youll break it like tha:t. (1.2) 5 MIR: but i cant hea:r. Ob2.17 12 SIM: >Gary do you wanna come< to my party? (0.8) 13 GAR: if you- (0.3) if you dont give those (0.4) those things to me (.) you wont come to my par:ty. Ob2.20 2 ROB: hey thats mine Gary:. (1.2) 3 GAR: its just a little one
Peer Disputes Ob2.22 4 PAU: 5
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that was my one i made. (0.6) NIG: well (0.2) do you know what you did to it? [i wan] i wanna tu:rn (0.7) i wanna turn of that. (0.4) FEL: well we (0.3) got here fi:rst?
Ob1.11 4 NAN: 5
Ob1.12 7 LUK: 8
NO:? (0.6) ADM: yeah but the teacher says (0.4) share.
Ob1.13 2 KOY: no big cars! (2.4) 3 ADM: yeah but Luke said i can come in. Ob1.16 4 SAM: no. (1.3) 5 ADM: yeah but we have to. Ob1.18 10 TES: NO:: I DIDN:T. (0.9) 11 SAM: Te:ss (.) too: lou:d. Ob1.21 2 CHE: dont break ours Peter? (1.2) but we need lots of (these). 3 PET: (1.6) 4 CHE: but but dont take o:urs. (0.5) 5 PET: no we wont. Ob1.23 3 SAM: dont do that Luke. 4 LUK: i want to crack it. (2.2)
84 5 SAM:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes if you crack heads youll die: (0.3) do you want to die:: (0.3) and then your mummy will cry:?
In each of the examples above, the turn shape following (incorporating) the pause is performed as dispreferred. Inter-turn pauses, however, are not universally indicative of preference status. There are pauses heard in the childrens arguments which are not necessarily attributed to dispreferred turn shape. In some instances, for example, the speaker is not responding to the immediately prior turn, but rather reinitiates a contention, challenge or provocation.
Ob1.1 9 LIA: 10 11 12 MIN: CHE: CHE: %com: FEL: CHE: ((to the girls, teasing voice)) you cant go on (0.4) we: ma:de i:t. (1.1) but cept but cept [they can go] on (.) they ca:n. [but were new]. (1.4) going. produced as statement of intent (1.7) me as well. (1.5) were [going through it].
13 14
Ob1.29 3 JON: 4 5 6 7 Ob1.34 2 3 4 5
yes (.) she (.) did. (1.2) Felicity did. JON: (1.4) CHE: Felicity didnt. (0.4) JON: Felicitys (0.2) shoe did it. (2.6) i know that (1.6) really. JON:
ADM: PET: ADM:
youre having a long turn. (0.3) no im not (0.2) yes you are (1.4) FEL: Peters having a long turn.
Peer Disputes
85
In other words, some pauses heard in the disputes are of such length as to suggest that the prefaced utterance is not a response to the prior turn but instead a reinitiation of the topic/conflict.
Ob2.7 11 CAZ: no thats mine (i got mi:ne) mine! (0.4) 12 ELI: its mine. (1.1) 13 CAZ: then ill have these. (3.3) i wanna have (.) a gir:l (0.4) i wanna have a one 14 ELI: girl. ... 18 ELI: but i dont like that girl. (6.8) you cant have two girls. ((petulant tone)) 19 ELI: Ob1.27 8 CHE: no: i didnt say your name. 9 FEL: i know: [because you- (.) i heared]. 10 LUK: [youre going to beat Che]rie arent you. (2.2) 11 LUK: ((to CHE)) last is you.
Delay: Markers Another delaying feature of dispreferred turns (which may or may not also be prefaced by a pause) is markers that defer the opposition in the utterance. The marker well appears in the data as a typical preface to or turn-initial item in dispreferred turn shapes. Whilst in childrens arguments the marker appears in similar position to dispreferred turn shapes recorded elsewhere (e.g. Pomerantz, 1984) and serves to render the opposition less direct, the marker does not necessarily serve to mitigate the disagreement. In adult disagreement the marker well can genuinely be identified as a delay or hesitation, but this dispreference marker is not necessarily used hesitantly in the childrens disputes. Although there are differences noted in the use of markers in childrens adversative discourse, they nevertheless signify dispreferred turn shape. Each turn prefaced with a marker such as well (and indeed but as evidenced below) also demonstrates accountability and is frequently delayed by a pause. Importantly, turn-initial markers, do not appear in the data in short, overtly oppositional, immediately produced and unaccounted for utterances (preferred turn shapes).
86 Ob1.4 1 TES: 2 HIL:
everybody can sing it (0.5) not just you. (4.6) well i sing my song if i want. [i wan] i wanna tu:rn (0.7) i wanna turn of that. (0.4) well we (0.3) got here fi:rst?
Ob1.11 NAN: 4 5 FEL: Ob1.27 1 2 Ob2.7 2 3 4
LUK: look (0.7) look (0.5) ((singsong voice)) i: beat you (.) didnt I:. (0.4) CHE: well im still doing mine so (you cant xxxx). ELI: thats not a girl thats a bo::y. (0.2) CAZ: girls wear pants. (0.9) ELI: well (0.5) thats- i know thats a boy.
In the following examples, each marked utterance began as a seemingly dispreferred turn shape (given the utterance-initial marker) but was abandoned.
Ob1.34 8 9 10 11 ADM: PET: FEL: PET: =i wanna have a turn. but i:m not fin(.)ished ye::t.= =yeah: (0.6) well .hh,
Ob2.18 6 GAR: no (0.2) you will be- (0.3) you will (0.4) be (.) be here (0.2) but i wont. 7 SIM: well-, (4.7) 8 SIM: what time are you going ho:me?
In other utterances, the use of well serves as an introduction to a statement of intention or statement of fact, the declaration of which serves as inherent account for opposition.
Peer Disputes
87
O1.28 22 JON: dont break my house (.) like that! (1.1) 23 CHE: [i (break) my things]. 24 LUK: [how about making] (0.2) tram [tracks xxxx], 25 GGG: [this can be Winne] the Poohs house. (0.7) 26 JON: well dont break my house (0.8) coz (0.2) its (0.3) very special [what i made]. Ob2.8 9 WIN: =no you did[nt]. 10 PAU: [well] im telling on you. Ob2.12 1 WIN: do:nt youre wrecking everything. 2 LOU: well im trying to go round. Ob2.16 5 PAU: i cant hear anything. (1.1) 6 FRE: well i can hear it. Ob2.22 8 NIG: yeah and i put those things up there 9 PAU: well it doesnt need them.
Although the item well would not be labelled a hesitation marker in the examples above (the children are not hesitant in challenging the prior speaker), it consistently prefaces turns which demonstrate other dispreferred features, specifically justification of the speakers position (see discussion below). This suggests that well and other markers do not always denote hesitation, but rather that they preface qualified opposition. Whilst dispreference markers may be produced as a form of delay, they most significantly function as an indicator that the utterance will contain some form of support for the speakers opposition. In other discourse contexts the turn-initiator well may give little indication of what is to follow (Schiffrin, 1985), but in childrens argumentative utterances well performs invariably as a preface to justified objection. The item well also appears in childrens disputes as a preface to questions which are not strictly argumentative, i.e. requests for clarification or permission. In the first instance, when requesting further information, the marker well is typically produced with a degree of indignation (Ob1.30, Ob2.10, Ob2.22).
88 Ob1.30 9 10 11 12 13 14
JO2: FEL: JO2: LUK: JO2: JON:
i wa- i didnt do that. yes you did. no [i didnt]. [you did] so:! did no:t. (0.7) well who did that.
Ob2.10 3 JIM: yes he i:s. (0.2) PAU: well then (1.2) then how come youre not using it 4 Ob2.22 4 PAU: 5 NIG:
that was my one i made. (0.6) well (0.2) do you know what you did to it?
Otherwise, well serves to mark the speakers disregard for the content of the prior turn (e.g. Ob2.17 heard as well, you may think no, but can I break it anyway?).
Ob2.17 1 2 3 SIM: GAR: SIM: can i break this? (0.5) n:o. well >can i have a-< can i (break this) .hhh=
In similar contexts to the item well, the marker but was also used by the children, typically to introduce support for their opposition. The function of but has been noted elsewhere as a boundary marker in verbal challenges. But is operating on the action level because it marks an adversative relation between speech acts rather than a contrast in propositions (Kyratzis and Ervin-Tripp, 1999). Similar observations are made of the marker well.
Ob1.1 9 LIA: 10 11 MIN: CHE: ((to the girls, teasing voice)) you cant go on (0.4) we: ma:de i:t. (1.1) but cept but cept [they can go] on (.) they ca:n. [but were new].
Peer Disputes Ob1.2 3 ADM: 4 JON: 5 JON:
89
[no no no] (.) no [no] this one hasnt got any le:gs. [but-], (0.9) but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. (3.6)
Ob1.7 5 SAM: Tess (0.4) dont SNA:tch! 6 TES: but (0.3) i am doing fishing. Ob1.8 3 JON: no (0.3) no you got my blue one. (0.4) 4 TES: but we (0.3) but (0.5) but we are just sharing. Ob1.9 5 6 7 SAM: NO (0.5) leave it here! (1.0) TES: b[ut we (.) we-,] SAM: [leave (.) all] of them here.
Ob1.20 3 LUK: no: youre drawing on the moo::n.= 4 PET: =but this is where the sun is. Ob1.21 2 CHE: dont break ours Peter? (1.2) 3 PET: but we need lots of (these). (1.6) 4 CHE: but but dont take o:urs. (0.5) 5 PET: no we wont. Ob1.25 2 3 4 KOY: its mi::ne. (0.9) KOY: i was us[ing it-], SAM: [BUT i] thought you werent using i:t,=
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Ob1.35 2 PET: HE::Y. 3 ADM: >yeah but< you left it here? (1.3) 4 PET: but i:- (0.6) leave it there where i put it. Ob2.2 5 CAZ: no: we still havent finished. 6 JAK: well [we have-], 7 MIR: [but that] was our fairy [spaceship]. Ob2.15 4 PAU: he:y dont youll break it like tha:t. (1.2) 5 MIR: but i cant hea:r.
Similar to earlier examples of the item well, the marker but occasionally prefaces requests which are not necessarily challenges to the prior speaker. In the example below, the marker but performs slightly differently to the illocution carried by well. A repeated request prefaced with well suggests a discounting or disregard of the prior speakers objection (e.g. Ob2.17 above). The prefatory but, on the other hand, suggests acknowledgement of the prior speakers opposition in the repeated request.
Ob1.15 4 ADM: [i got] another one of the special car? (0.3) 5 PET: but [but can i have] this one?
The data were further analysed to determine the distribution of well and but in the disputes, to see if children would repeat the marker used previously in the episode by another speaker, or indeed produce the same marker themselves.
Ob1.6 6 SAM: 7 TES: 8 drop (0.2) (Johns got those) (0.7) you got those ones Johns got these ones. (0.9) but (0.3) i got three coz i need (1.3) that many. (1.6) SAM: but then (0.4) John will have three (0.3) and you dont like pink do you John.
Whilst it was most common for the same marker to reoccur in a dispute episode, there were examples of different turn-initial items performed later in an argument.
Peer Disputes Ob1.20 3 LUK: 4 PET: ... 10 11 12 13 ADM: PET: LUK: PET:
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no: youre drawing on the moo::n.= =but this is where the sun is. (1.9) i wanna have (.) i wanna have (the) petrol truck. yes. ((to PET)) wha- (.) well not if you do not (.) not if youre gonna go on (.) on mine. ((ie. draw on LUKs part of the paper)) (0.3) i wo:nt.
Ob2.7 18 ELI: but i dont like that girl. ... 20 ELI: well thats the boy and i hate boys.
A final, striking use of the marker but was frequently produced by one of the boys in the first observation environment. Adam usually produced the marker but prefaced with yeah, with no produced on one occasion. In the recorded interaction, this particular turn opening was produced idiosyncratically by this child (with the exception of Peter in Ob1.15, line 12 who is responding to Adam). Although essentially limited to Adam in the present study, this yes, but preface has been recorded in preschool dispute data elsewhere (e.g. Sheldon, 1996: 65).
Ob1.12 8 ADM: yeah but the teacher says (0.4) share.
Ob1.13 3 ADM: yeah but Luke said i can come in. Ob1.15 10 ADM: [yeah but] but ah (0.2) coz i dont have a- but i dont have a trai:ler. ... [no but i:] but i: want (.) one of those. 12 PET: (1.2) 13 ADM: yeah but i (.) but i dont have any more. Ob1.16 3 ADM: yeah but (0.6) we need those (.) .hhh coz (0.2) .hh this is- (0.2) how bout we make creche Sam ...
92 5 ... 12 Ob1.17 13 14 15 ADM:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes yeah but we have to.
ADM: =yeah but (0.2) but thats the river you remember that (.) .hhh thats the river. ADM: PET: ADM: yeah BUT YOU HAVE TO. (0.8) no. (0.3) .hh NO BUT YOU HAVE TO SHARE. [yeah but i] but i just have to show you because-,
Ob1.26 10 ADM:
Ob1.35 3 ADM: >yeah but< you left it here?
The context and content of each of the turns above indicate that yeah but essentially has the same function as the marker well in each dispute. That is, the turn-initial phrase indicates that the content of the prior content was heard but is about to be contradicted (cf. the acknowledgement implied by the marker but on its own). Opposition delayed and justified In summary, delays (pauses and/or markers) at the beginning of responses serve to push oppositional content further into the turn. Earlier in this chapter, it was demonstrated that in preferred turn shapes, the opposition is usually made overtly at the beginning of the turn. In contrast, dispreferred turn shapes illustrate the deferral of opposition in the utterance through the inclusion of prefatory delays.
Ob1.2 (0.9) 5 JON: but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. Ob1.20 8 (1.3) LUK: then im - (0.5) well then (.) i wont let you have a turn on (0.2) the petrol truck.
Peer Disputes Ob1.35 4 (1.3) PET: but i:- (0.6) leave it there where i put it.
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Ob2.17 (0.8) 13 GAR: if you- (0.3) if you dont give those (0.4) those things to me (.) you wont come to my par:ty.
Atypical dispreferred turn shapes? It has been established that in the childrens disputes, dispreferred turn shapes are characterised by delay (pauses and markers) and action pushed to latter part of turn. The data were analysed further to determine if these turn shapes were produced consistently (i.e. uniformly displaying these features). This process demonstrated that accounts (discussed in detail below) are occasionally produced immediately as a form of opposition.
Ob1.19 3 LUK: 4 SAM: i saw you: put one away= =that doesnt matter cause it wasnt a block it was a cylinder. %com: LUK makes no further comment.
Ob1.34 14 ADM: [tha]ts a long tu:rn. (0.2) 15 PET: ive got four more minutes (left). Ob2.1 3 CAZ: no: (0.3) (Ive got these). 4 MIR: then give one to me Caroline because youve got lots there. Ob2.3 12 GAR: i am not! 13 TOM: you you you are so youve got a smile on your face.
In contrast to preferred turn shapes, dispreferred turn shapes are more constant in the adversative discourse. Whilst in some cases the opposition may not be pushed deeper into the turn (may even begin with an opposition marker such as no), the turn shape, with hesitation, restarts, and, most significantly, accounts provided, is identifiable as dispreferred rather than preferred (exemplified in episodes Ob1.15,
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2.18, 1.33, Ob2.5, and Ob2.7 below). That is, dispreferred utterances seek to resolve rather than continue the dispute.
Ob1.15 5 6 7 PET: but [but can i have] this one? ADM: [that that-], (0.2) ADM: no coz that ones little tiny and (.) its got .hhh little pieces (0.3) .hhh and you might choke on them (0.4) .hhh [and] its (0.2) and theres a sharp thing up the back.
Ob2.18 5 SIM: =and then this afternoon you can make it agai:n. 6 GAR: no (0.2) you will be- (0.3) you will (0.4) be (.) be here (0.2) but i wont. Ob1.33 3 PET: ye:s its [xx], 4 CHE: [no] (0.2) coz (0.2) first we need to do it again (0.3) at the start. Ob2.5 3 ELI: no i didnt?= LOU: =coz you were- (0.4) you were putting (0.3) your (.) h:ands on it. Ob2.7 4 5
ELI: CAZ: %act:
well (0.5) thats- i know thats a boy. (0.2) coz shes wearing pants (0.3) shes a girl? pointing to the observer
Threats in childrens arguments are also performed in atypical dispreferred turn shape, distinguishable primarily by absence of turn-initial pauses or delay markers. This type of utterance has a unique function in the discourse as each threat imposes conditionality on hearers reaction. Importantly, threats share no characteristics of preferred turn shapes discussed earlier in this chapter; they are neither brief nor produced contiguously to the prior turn. Although not performed in standard dispreferred turn shape, the promise of unwanted outcomes in threats could be considered in the position of accounts.
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Accounts in dispreferred turn shapes The examples above illustrate that pauses and markers are not only precursors to delayed opposition, they may be readily and noticeably heard as dispreferred features. Perhaps the most striking feature of dispreferred turn shapes, however, is the accompanying account for opposition. A universal feature of utterances beginning with a delaying marker, is the justification which is provided in the turn. Typically, accounts serve to support the position, authority or rights of the speaker; they provide reasons for the opposition. In adult discourse, particularly in non-conflict situations, accounts serve to explain the absence of a preferred response. In the childrens arguments, however, the dispreferred turn shape constitutes a mitigating move in the conflict episode. Essentially, accounts are recognisable as mitigation given that each represents an attempt by the speaker to make the request to the hearer [or, in this case, opposition] more palatable (Fraser, 1980: 346). The inclusion of an account or justification proves of particular significance in the childrens disputes. Before considering their influence, however, the types of accounts must be identified. The purpose of this section, then, is to describe the variety of accounts produced as justifications for opposition. Not surprisingly, the categories of accounts generated in the analysis share features with the taxonomy of types of arguments discussed at the beginning of this chapter. Parallels can be seen with possession (objects) as a dispute topic and ownership rights as a form of justification. Accounts which invoke expectations of appropriate behaviour mirror argument topics provoked by supposed infractions of local rules. Similarly, the theme of disputes regarding truth values is replicated in the category of accounts where justifications are based on factual information. Elsewhere, accounts are produced as epistemological or factual claims, or based on the personal wishes of the speaker. It should be noted that the categories proposed below are designed to facilitate description of accounts heard in the data rather than provide rigid classification boundaries. Volition, necessity and personal preference This category incorporates accounts which overtly state the personal wants and needs of the speaker. The justification for opposition may be realised through stating volition (I want), necessity (I need) or personal likes and dislikes. Each of these types of accounts may represent the position of the individual (I), or the speaker may claim to speak for the desires or wishes of his or her playmates (we). These types of accounts are inherently subjective, as the speakers own wishes serve as the basis for opposition. Accounts which are based on personal volition promote the wants of the speaker as a justification for opposition.
96 Ob1.10 8 SAM: Ob2.4 3 JAK: Ob1.15 12 PET: Ob1.23 4 LUK:
[well i:] want to have a turn? NO: I WANNA Do it. [no but i:] but i: want (.) one of those. i want to crack it.
This type of account may also be expressed as a negative by identifying the prior actions of the hearer as antipathetic to the wishes of the speaker.
Ob2.17 10 GAR: [i dont want] those jets (going) off.
The speaker may claim to represent the wishes of those children aligned with her/ his position in the dispute. In the following examples the intent is realised through verb negation, as in the utterance above, and employing a plural subject pronoun.
Ob1.17 10 KOY: [>we dont want to share] with [you<.]
Ob1.26 12 TES: we dont want to hear the doggie doggie.
On one occasion in the data, the speaker claims to represent the wishes of another child, and uses this attributed desire as an account for her own opposition (attempting to gain possession of the other fishing rod).
Ob1.10 7 TES: well Milly (0.5) Milly wants to have a turn (0.2) ((then to MIL)) do[nt you].
The second type of account included in this category is based on claims of necessity. As with accounts of volition, the need may be stated as belonging to the individual or to the party with shared interests in the disputes.
Ob1.6 7 TES: but (0.3) i got three coz i need (1.3) that many.
Peer Disputes Ob2.25 8 PAU: youre cheati:ng i need o:ne. ((whining))
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Reference to necessity was, however, more frequently attributed to more than one child (i.e. the speaker and aligned participants).
Ob1.16 3 ADM: Ob1.24 2 RON: yeah but (0.6) we need those (.) .hhh coz (0.2) .hh this is- (0.2) how bout we make creche Sam [no tha-] (0.3) we need tha:t
Ob1.33 4 CHE: [no] (0.2) coz (0.2) first we need to do it again (0.3) at the start. Ob1.21 3 PET: but we need lots of (these).
The necessity claim may also be negated (as observed in the category of personal volition) to form an account.
Ob1.31 5 ADM: no we dont need to put corks in.=
Ob2.11 5 FRE: we dont need them do we?
Ob2.22 9 PAU:
well it doesnt need them.
In Ob2.22, the speaker attributes the need to the object (a tower the topic of the dispute), which does not require Nigels additions, according to Paul. On one other occasion (Ob1.12) the need is attributed to a second party, in this case to the hearer himself. There is evidence, then, that an appeal to necessity is used in attempts to persuade the other participant(s) to construct the play in a way which conforms to the wishes of the speaker.
Ob1.12 2 ADM: no you need to make a hu:ge house.
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The third type of account in which the personal wishes of the speaker are overtly stated refers to personal preference. To avoid confusion with the theoretical concept of preference employed in the analysis, this reference to personal choice is identified as likes/dislikes. Only one utterance was heard in the data where the speaker stated a partiality as a justification for her objectionable actions. In this instance, the personal like is stated as an account for needing the red fish.
Ob1.6 2 TES: [no: i need r]e:d (0.3) coz i like that colour as well.
It was more common for children to claim an antipathy as an account for their opposition. Indeed in response to the previous example, to secure possession of three boxes, Sam points to the dissatisfaction of his play partner.
Ob1.6 8 SAM: but then (0.4) John will have three (0.3) and you dont like pink do you John.
Elsewhere this negative construction was performed in the first person to express displeasure.
Ob1.11 25 NAN: D[O::NT (.)((whimpers)) i dont] like it.
Ob1.31 23 SAM: [i (.) dont](.) like that=
It should be noted that this represents a typical response when a child is encouraged to use your words by a teacher. Children are instructed to express their disapproval of another childs behaviour if it bothers them (I dont like it when you ). The offending child is instructed to listen to their playmate, thereby recognising their own behaviour as an infraction of sorts. They may be so instructed, but whether this is effective in being acknowledged by the offending party remains to be seen. Additionally, an expression of dislike produced as an account for opposition may be upgraded.
Ob2.7 18 ELI: but i dont like that girl. ... 20 ELI: well thats the boy and i hate boys.
Peer Disputes Ob2.11 3 FRE: i hate this helmet.=
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One feature of expressing likes/dislikes as a type of account is that no example was found using the first person plural subject. In other words, the children were not heard to say we like or we dont like. In this way, liking performs differently from the other inculcations of personal motivation (i.e. volition, necessity), where the speaker may make claims on behalf of other children (e.g. we need). Although in one of the examples above (Ob1.6) a child claims to speak on behalf of his friend, there was no evidence that personal likes/dislikes are claimed by more than one speaker. The strength or effectiveness of claims when speaking as an individual or on behalf of other members will be considered in Chapter 6. Ownership rights To support an oppositional utterance, children may claim prior ownership of an object under dispute, or invoke prior rights to the play space. As with the personal accounts discussed above, ownership rights are attributed to the speaker, or the speaker and his/her playmates. These accounts, whilst justifying the objection, are sometimes produced in relatively short utterances. The length of turn is not equated to preferred turn shape, however, as the turn accomplishes more than simple opposition, through provision of an account.
Ob2.20 2 ROB: Ob2.7 11 CAZ: hey thats mine Gary:. no thats mine (i got mi:ne) mine!
An assertion of prior claim might be made by stating the ownership through a verb phrase instead of a personal possessive pronoun.
Ob2.8 4 PAU: [no i-](.) no i had i:t. Ob2.16 4 FRE: ive got this o:ne.
Rights to an object may also be stated by identifying how the object came to be in the speakers possession.
Ob2.8 3 WIN:
i [found it].
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In the example above, the speaker asserts her own actions as sufficient to claim ownership. External conferment of object rights is also produced as authoritative.
Ob2.8 13 PAU: um Caroline gave it to me.
In the next utterance, Louise begins with an objection based on personal volition (I want) but restarts with a prior claim to the object.
Ob2.13 2 LOU: i want to u:se (.) i was using that car.
Prior claim to ownership may be extended to assume rights to future exclusive use of the object or space.
Ob2.10 18 FRE: but i (.) i will use it later.
Ownership rights can also be invoked according to equitable opportunity for parties involved in the play.
Ob1.6 6 SAM: drop (0.2) (Johns got those) (0.7) you got those ones Johns got these ones.
As mentioned above, ownership rights are not inherently restricted to individual children; speakers frequently account for their opposition by stating that the object of the dispute belongs to their particular play group (plural possessive pronoun).
Ob1.21 4 CHE: but but dont take o:urs.
Ob2.2 7 MIR: [but that] was our fairy [spaceship].
Typically, his type of multiple ownership is claimed when referring to access rights to a particular play space. Unsurprisingly, multiple ownership is invoked when the play space was shared by children who subsequently, collectively (even if only one child is vocal in opposition) challenge attempts by outsiders to access the space. Primary rights to the play space are usually based on having occupied the area prior to the entry (intrusion!) of other children.
Ob1.11 5 FEL: well we (0.3) got here fi:rst?
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Ob2.9 8 LOU: ((to WIN)) Pauls spoiling- (0.3) ((to PAU)) we were here fi:rst. Ob2.2 2 MIR: Jack <we were playing in tha:[:t>]. ((whines)) ... 10 CAZ: were playing we were playing in there fi:rst
This prior claim (Ob2.2) to the play space is further accounted for in Carolines subsequent turn (11), as she provides an explanation for their absence (an absence which, in her opinion, does not forgo access rights to the play space).
Ob2.2 11 CAZ: and then were just next to there (0.3) and we got some fir:st [and we] just went to get married.
Accounting for opposition by stating ownership rights is also realised in the childrens disputes by the speaker identifying him/herself as architect. In other words, rights to an object may be assumed if the speaker was involved in the construction of the object in dispute.
Ob1.1 9 LIA: Ob1.16 9 SAM: ((to the girls, teasing voice)) you cant go on (0.4) we: ma:de i:t. but its my bui:ldi:ng (.) i: did this bridge.
Ob2.17 4 GAR: =NO NO: (0.3) (no i built it) dont! Ob2.22 4 PAU:
that was my one i made.
Accounts are not limited to invoking personal or group rights to objects or play space. Challenges may also be justified by negating the opposing partys ownership rights.
Ob1.17 18 ADM: THEY ARE NOT YOU:R BLOCKS.
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Ob1.31 24 ADM: =NO THATS YYYs. ((YYY is the teacher)) Ob1.35 3 ADM: >yeah but< you left it here?
Properties of objects, play space and play script Opposition is made by children in both observation environments by producing accounts which refer to properties of objects, space and the state of play. Each of these sub-categories will be defined in turn through examples heard in the data. The first type of property account or justification is one based on identifying features of the object, which challenges the authority of the other speaker, or at least the validity of their perception of the object under dispute.
Ob1.2 3 ADM: [no no no] (.) no [no] this one hasnt got any le:gs.
Ob1.3 6 ADM: no thats a- thats got ehhm no only jets and rockets. Ob2.7 5 CAZ: coz shes wearing pants (0.3) shes a girl?
In the following example, Adam provides an elaborate account for his refusal of Peters request. The refusal is based on the unsuitability of the car for Peters use (as he may choke on the little pieces).
Ob1.15 7 ADM: no coz that ones little tiny and (.) its got .hhh little pieces (0.3) .hhh and you might choke on them (0.4) .hhh [and] its (0.2) and theres a sharp thing up the back.
Clarifying or re-defining the properties of the object also serves as an account for opposition.
Ob1.19 4 SAM: =that doesnt matter cause it wasnt a block it was a cylinder.
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Properties may also be incorporated into accounts where they refer to the play space or the play script. In other words, children may justify their opposition by stating criteria or constraints imposed by the local play context. The content and force of these types of accounts is varied. In the following two examples, properties of the play space (restricted play space in Ob1.3 and identity of play space in Ob1.28) are used as reasons for exclusion.
Ob1.3 8 ADM: Ob1.28 12 JON: no: cause (0.3) rockets are not allowed to come in (.) only (0.4) a rocket and a jet (0.4) cause theres no space in there. no it doesnt (.) its a different sort of house.
The following utterance depicts a property of the play script itself which serves as an account for the speakers challenge.
Ob1.33 2 CHE: [no] (0.3) theres no baby in this one.
The third type of property account groups together utterances which incorporate justifications based on the state of play. These include accounts which state the time constraints of the play.
Ob1.34 15 PET: ive got four more minutes (left).
Ob1.2 5 JON: but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet.
In Johns account (Ob1.2, line 5), he hesitates to organise his own supporting evidence, and eventually settles with were just not ready yet. The point to be emphasised here is that John makes a revision of the spaceship not being ready, and attributes that unreadiness to both himself and Adam. In the following accounts which refer to the state of play (emphasis on temporal limitations), the speaker alludes to a reasonable point of conclusion of play (reasonable according to the promotion of his or her own interests!). This type of account recurs in the data.
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Ob1.32 4 KOY: the show is finished (0.4) Sam the (.) .hhh show is finished Sam you cant - (0.2) [now you], Ob1.34 9 PET: but i:m not fin(.)ished ye::t.= Ob2.2 5 CAZ: no: we still havent finished.
The play state is also monitored by identifying roles and actions assumed by participants in the course of play as accounts for behaviour. Most of these accounts serve as a justification (clarification) of the activity itself.
Ob1.6 6 TES: but (0.3) i am doing fishing.
Ob1.26 2 CHE: no we are not singing that song,= Ob2.5 5 ELI: no .hh coz i was helping with Hilary. Ob2.12 2 LOU: well im trying to go round. ... 5 LOU: well im trying to get through and you put so many things here.
In the next example, Sam accounts for his objection by clarifying the mode of the play situation (were just pretending).
Ob1.9 9 SAM: leave- (1.5) i know that (0.4) but were just pretending (.) and leave (0.3) the boats (0.4) out (0.4) you can put the fishes in (0.2) but (0.3) uh (0.4) not the boats.
Behavioural obligations The accounts identified in this category contain references to behavioural constraints or obligations to support opposition. Each challenge is essentially based on criticising the appropriateness of the others actions. These accounts may be seen as underscoring a breaking of rules, rules which relate to expectation of behaviour.
Peer Disputes Ob2.20 7 ROB: [[you cant take it FROM SOMEONE ELSE]]! Ob2.15 4 PAU: he:y dont youll break it like tha:t.
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Ob2.5 4 LOU: =coz you were- (0.4) you were putting (0.3) your (.) h:ands on it. Ob1.7 9 SAM:
but (0.5) she did it fi:rst.
The previous example (Ob1.7) refers to an infringement made by the other speaker. That is, if Sams behaviour is deemed unacceptable, so too must the actions (taking boxes) of Tess. Other types of accounts which appear in this category denote broader social expectations or behavioural constraints. In Ob1.5 a challenge is made to Tess maturity, as her behaviour is criticised as ill-mannered (rude) and inappropriate for her age. In Ob1.23 the opposition is accounted for by identifying the consequences of Lukes actions (hitting his own head with a block).
Ob1.5 4 SAM: ((serious tone)) Tess: (0.3) [its rude]. ... 7 SAM: babies say that sort of thing? Ob1.23 5 SAM: if you crack heads youll die: (0.3) do you want to die:: (0.3) and then your mummy will cry:?
Children may also employ local rules to support their position or challenge to the prior speaker. In the following example, Koyo accounts for his objection by referring to rules established by the teacher (i.e. pack-up time).
Ob1.22 3 KOY: BECAUSE YOURE NOT PACKING UP.
Similarly, the rules imposed by the teacher which comprise the routine of the preschool environment feature in the following example.
106 Ob2.21 2 3 4
NIG: no youre not allowed to (1.0) SIM: wha:t? (0.3) NIG: youre not allowed to go outside,
Ob1.19 2 SAM: leave them there (0.3) Adams (.) Adams in charge of putting them away (0.3) Luke?
The most common type of account which challenges forms of acceptable behaviour, invokes the rule of sharing. Common expectation both within and outside the preschool dictates that children are obliged to share resources, typically toys, with other children. This type of account was prevalent in dispreferred turn shapes produced by children in the first observation environment.
Ob1.17 7 ADM: =yeah but YOU HAVE TO SHARE.
Ob1.8 2 TES: no: we are sharing John? ... 4 TES: but we (0.3) but (0.5) but we are just sharing.
Note the use of the mitigating just in Tess second (successful) attempt. This item is used in Ob1.2 with similar effect. In the example below (Ob1.11), in response to the previous turn which claimed prior ownership, Nancy negates the claim by invoking the common rule of sharing
Ob1.11 5 FEL: well we (0.3) got here fi:rst? (0.3) 6 NAN: we have to share (0.6) have to [share].
As found with justifications based on ownership, occasionally an account constitutes the entire turn.
Ob1.12 6 ADM: you HAFta SHARE.
The sharing rule is upgraded discussed further in Chapter 6 where the obligation is underscored by reference to teacher instructions.
Peer Disputes Ob1.12 8 ADM:
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yeah but the teacher says (0.4) share.
A sharing rule may even be invoked where the rule is not overtly stated but implied by drawing attention to another childs excessive property.
Ob2.1 4 MIR: then give one to me Caroline because youve got lots there. Ob2.7 19 ELI: you cant have two girls. ((petulant tone))
Epistemological accounts This description of accounts produced by children in the disputes may appear to serve as an other category, an amalgamation of justifications which do not share features of the accounts identified in the previous four categories. Closer attention, however, delineates each of the utterances below as referring to claims to understanding, or facts or truths which may be verified. Challenges to the previous speaker, then, may be accounted for by supplying factual information.
Ob2.14 10 TOM: its not thats ten oclock. Ob1.20 4 PET: =but this is where the sun is.
While the previous two examples refer to stable facts to justify their opposition, the following utterances report others behaviour as factual evidence.
Ob2.23 9 NIG: yeah i did (0.2) >you didnt< see us Ob2.3 13 TOM: you you you are so youve got a smile on your face.
The speakers own knowledge of events is also invoked as an account for opposition.
Ob2.18 5 SIM: =and then this afternoon you can make it agai:n. 6 GAR: no (0.2) you will be- (0.3) you will (0.4) be (.) be here(0.2) but i wont.
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Occasionally, accounts refer to external authority for the opposition, challenging the claim of the prior speaker.
Ob1.4 16 HIL:
i heard it on the radio.
The authority need not be an extraneous (non-present) third party as in the previous utterance, but can be localised to the preschool where the agent is another child or the teacher.
Ob1.13 3 ADM: yeah but Luke said i can come in.
Ob2.4 4 JAK: the the teacher said i will do it.
In the following turns, the speaker invokes knowledge as a form of justification for their opposition. These types of epistemological expressions (I know but) have been reported elsewhere as mitigating devices in conflict situations (Walton, 2000).
Ob2.4 5 LOU: no:w (.) i know which day (0.2) and i can do it= Ob2.7 4 ELI: well (0.5) thats- i know thats a boy.
A variety of accounts with disparate referents, then, have been identified in the data. A constant feature of dispreferred turn shapes, accounts have been grouped here as stating personal wishes, claiming ownership rights, referring to object properties, invoking behavioural obligations or making epistemological or factual claims. Whilst dispreferred turns are not always prefaced with delay markers or pauses, a justification is always provided and distinguishes a dispreferred from a preferred turn shape. As accounts are the most salient (and probably most persuasive) feature of dispreferred turns, they will be considered further, in the extended sequential context of the disputes, throughout Chapter 6. Prevalence of preference features The summary of analysis in this chapter has demonstrated the prominence of preference features in the childrens disputes. Preference features described in existing conversation analytic research (e.g. Pomerantz, 1984) have been identified throughout the data confirming the validity of investigating preference
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organisation in verbal conflict. Typically, opposition is made in the childrens disputes in one of two ways: (1) overtly in short turns or (2) in longer turns which are often delayed and always accompanied by a reason for opposition. It remains to be seen how these features are treated by the hearer. If there is an overriding discourse preference for conflict to continue, turn shapes must be considered in light of dispute outcomes (as defined in Chapter 5). A particular finding reported in this chapter is the inconsistency of pauses as dispreference markers. Turns which demonstrate preferred features are occasionally prefaced by this form of delay (not only in multi-party disputes), and, in some instances, dispreferred turns are produced contiguously to the prior utterance. The disparity of inter-turn pauses in otherwise preferred and dispreferred turn shapes suggests that this feature is not necessarily indicative of preference organisation in young childrens disputes. Whilst the significance of pauses has been demonstrated in adult speech, the present analysis indicates that this type of delay is not consistently indicative of a specific turn shape in childrens adversative discourse. If inter-turn pauses, then, are not necessarily attributed to preference organisation in childrens arguments, the significant features, those that influence the sequential or serial development of disputes, need to be identified. The primary analysis presented in this chapter suggests that it is accounts or justifications accompanying opposition which will prove to be of fundamental import.
Chapter 5
Dispute Outcomes
Introduction The previous chapter identified features of preference repeatedly produced throughout the childrens disputes. In particular, the provision of accounts in particular types of opposition turns was noted. We shall come to see (Chapter 6) that these accounts are implicated in the resolution of disputes, but before considering the persuasiveness of accounts in dispreferred turn shapes produced by the children, properties of what constitutes a win in child peer conflict needs to be established. Persuasiveness is inextricably tied to the outcome of the dispute, the manner in which the argument is brought to a close. If a child is successful in resolving a dispute, more often than not they have been successful in persuading (or defeating) the opposing party. But it remains to be seen how this success realised in the data, and how resolution may be co-constructed. It stands to reason that once an argument has begun there are only two possible outcomes: continuation or dissipation. Once children have engaged in verbal conflict the only alternatives are to sustain the dispute or to arrive at some sort of ending. It is the closing of disputes, then, that is of particular interest because the continuation of conflict is defined purely by the absence of a conclusion. Throughout this chapter the analysis of the closings of the disputes is documented, namely by distinguishing three possible closings: resolution; abandonment; and teacher intervention. Threats as a particular type of dispute closing are discussed in the final section of this chapter. In Chapter 2, it was noted that Vuchinich (1990) identified conflict closings as being achieved through mutual orientation, where both participants essentially agree to move to a new topic. This agreement may be one of mutual satisfaction or be prompted by the subordination of one partys wishes. This idea of mutual acceptance of conflict endings (distinct from mutual satisfaction) is worthy of further consideration, particularly to distinguish types of dispute closings. Mutual acceptance implies that some sort of resolution has been achieved, that the conflict is recognised by the involved parties as concluded (even where one party may be dissatisfied with the outcome). However, disputes may also come to an end without overt acknowledgement by either party a cessation of disputing despite any clear conclusion. I describe acceptance of the outcome as resolved, and unacknowledged dissipation as abandoned. The differentiation between these two outcomes will become apparent in the following discussion of dispute endings. The fundamental distinction between resolution and abandonment of disputes lies in the maintenance of established play partnerships. That is, children continue
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to play together once a dispute is resolved but do not when a dispute is abandoned. Alternatively, where the children are unable to orchestrate some sort of conclusion themselves, one may be imposed through teacher intervention. One purpose of this chapter is to define each of these three dispute outcomes. The other purpose is to identify turn shapes at the closing of disputes. When defining the outcome of disputes (as resolved, abandoned or intervened), the turn shapes of the final utterances will be considered.
Resolution Close attention to the endings of disputes reveals a set of outcomes which can be described as resolved. In resolved episodes, a clear conclusion of the argument is arrived at, one which is mutually acceptable to all participants. As almost half of the disputes recorded in both observation environments were heard as resolved, outright resolution appears more common than has been suggested by existing research (e.g. Goodwin, 1982). Difference in age of participants and categorisation of outcomes, however, may influence the proportion of recognisably resolved disputes in other studies. Essentially, three types of resolution have been identified in the childrens arguments. The first is characterised by the overt success of one party, imposed upon the other party (compatible with Vuchinichs (1990) category of submission). The second type of resolution is brought about where an alternative proposal is accepted or a conditional agreement is made (identified by Vuchinich (1990) as compromise). The third type of resolution is marked by an absence of response, realised through silence, and making no further opposition but continuing with co-operative play. The only resolved outcome in the data which does not belong to one of these three types was heard where a technical solution to the problem existed see Ob2.15 below.
Ob2.15 5 MIR: but i cant hea:r. 6 PAU: 0 ((%act: turns the control button for MIRs headset)) (1.6) 7 PAU: now you can hear
Win/loss outcome A form of resolution identified as a distinct win/loss outcome arises when one child is successful in imposing his or her wishes on another party.
Dispute Outcomes Ob1.7 11 JON: 12 13 14 15 16 Ob1.20 12 13 14 JON: TES: SAM: TES: JON: %com:
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its not nasty to hit (1.4) Tess now you (0.2) cant (0.4) come (0.2) to any (0.4) birthdays. (1.1) not till you (0.2) say sorry Sam. (0.4) ((silly voice)) sorry Sam deedee:huh. no: (.) properly. (0.3) s[orry] Sam. [prop-], play resumes
LUK: PET:
((to PET)) wha- (.) well not if you do not (.) not if youre gonna go on (.) on mine. ((ie. draw on LUKs part of the paper)) (0.3) i wo:nt. (1.1) LUK: there you can go there. ((on the paper))
Ob2.17 15 GAR: you can- (0.4) leave it for me (0.3) leave it you cant come to my par:ty. %act: SIM places object on ground and returns to basket to look for other plastic connector pieces. Ob1.23 9 SAM: then dont (0.3) then dont die yourself. %act: LUK stops hitting his head with the block.
Where the outcome of a dispute renders one party victorious, their success is arrived at through imposing their wishes on the other, understood either in the nonverbal acquiescence of the other party, or through vocal acceptance. Peculiar to these episodes is the content of the utterances that precede the submission of the opposing party. All four episodes above which close with this type of resolution (Ob1.7, Ob1.20, Ob1.17, Ob2.23), incorporate a conditional, implied or overt threat. In Ob1.7 John denies Tess access to any birthday parties until she apologises, properly, for hitting Sam. She complies. In Ob1.20 Luke refuses Peter access to his petrol truck (a toy he has brought from home) unless he desists drawing on Lukes side of the paper. Peter complies. The third example of a threat used to resolve a dispute (Ob2.17) is less conditional, and on this occasion is only successful as a repeat.
114 Ob2.17 13 14 15
GAR: SIM: GAR: %act:
if you- (0.3) if you dont give those (0.4) those things to me (.) you wont come to my par:ty. (0.2) (now) do you wanna come to my party? (0.3) you can- (0.4) leave it for me (0.3) leave it you cant come to my par:ty. SIM places object on ground and returns to basket to look for pieces.
In the fourth dispute resolved by implied threat (Ob1.23), Luke stops hitting himself on the head once Sam states that his mother will cry if he hurts himself. Although the implied threat would be accomplished indirectly (consequence of Lukes actions to affect a third, non-present, party) it fits the criteria of undesirable consequence. In this and the previous example (Ob2.17), the boys comply with the other partys wishes by acquiescing nonverbally (halting the behaviour which was objected to by the opposer). Resolution is also achieved in a more face-saving manner when a child agrees with the proposal made by the prior speaker. This agreement promotes the speaker to the role of collaborator, although it should be noted that it is the preceding turn which creates the opportunity for collaboration. Typically, this type of acknowledgment of the opposing position is performed with an agreement token (e.g. yeah).
Ob1.8 3 4 5 6 JON: TES: TES: JON: no (0.3) no you got my blue one. (0.4) but we (0.3) but (0.5) but we are just sharing. (0.8) that one goes in there [John]. [yeah] oh yeah coz-,
Although an overt acceptance of Tess position is made by John in line 6, preliminary acquiescence is made to Tess claim in line 4, through an absence of further opposition. Given that Tess goes on to make a directive in line 5, however, the dispute is effectively resolved through Johns acceptance (line 6) of Tess prior utterances and his decision not to restate opposition to the immediately prior turn. In the closing utterance of Ob1.21 the agreement token is performed as no given the prohibition in the prior turn.
Dispute Outcomes Ob1.21 2 CHE: 3 4 5
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dont break ours Peter? (1.2) but we need lots of (these). PET: (1.6) CHE: but but dont take o:urs. (0.5) PET: no we wont.
In the two episodes above, each dispute is clearly resolved through the verbal acceptance made by the opposing party. In both episodes the objection which is subsequently accepted is prefaced with the dispreference marker but. These prefaced objections are based on an account of the equal or prior claim of the speaker (see discussion of accounts relating to ownership rights, and expectation of behaviour, in Chapter 4). Notably, the acceptance which brings about resolution in the previous two examples is preceded by a turn that demonstrates dispreferred features. Modified acceptance/compromise The second type of resolved dispute closing incorporates a modified acceptance of the opposing position or introduces an alternative proposal. The first of these (modified acceptance) is similar to the outcome of the previous two examples, in that one partys position supersedes another. In this instance, however, the acquiescing party incorporates some condition of their own. That is, disputes are resolved where the acceptance of the others position is implied rather than overtly stated. In these cases the child is essentially accepting the position of the other party but imposing some of her/his own conditions. The distinction here is pertinent to considerations of face in argumentative interaction; one child essentially submits to anothers wishes but maintains status through her or his own contribution to the outcome of the dispute. An example of this modified acceptance leading to resolution is found in Ob2.1, where Caroline accepts Mirandas prior proposal to cooperate.
Ob2.1 11 MIR: lets just be nice and understand okay? (1.9) 12 CAZ: but we have to just type into the computer. %com: MIR takes up this suggestion and both girls return to playing with the keyboards in the spaceship.
The dispute is essentially resolved by Mirandas non-verbal acceptance of Carolines modified acquiescence (line 12); that is, Mirandas assent is carried
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by typing on the computer keyboard. Characteristic of the utterances preceding acquiescence in this type of resolved dispute (see also Ob1.16 and Ob1.34, see below) is a dispreferred turn shape.
Ob1.16 11 12 13 14 SAM: ADM: SAM: ADM: and these (0.3) these go over like that= =yeah but (0.2) but thats the river you remember that (.) .hhh thats the river. (0.3) thats the river going (0.9) going u:nder it. (0.4) yes. (2.7) %com: cooperative play continues.
Ob1.34 15 PET: ive got four more minutes (left). (0.4) ADM: ((to FEL)) no i think hes got four more minutes 16
A dispute may also be resolved by the acceptance of a compromise. Earlier studies have pointed to the effectiveness of compromise as a verbal strategy in disputes (e.g. Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981), a finding replicated in the present data. In each instance where a compromise or alternative solution was produced, this type of digression from conflict is accepted by the other party.
Ob1.24 1 2 3 4 5 Ob2.25 9 10 11 12 LUK: RON: RON: LUK: RON: PAU: JIM: PAU: PAU: we ca-(.) they have to join (under [there]). [no tha-] (0.3) we need tha:t (0.6) we need that. (0.4) how about we can put it in the mi:ddle:= =yeah:. 0 ((%act: pulls blocks apart)) (2.3) o::y:. (0.2) look see:? (0.4) no youre a chea:ter:. (0.3)
Dispute Outcomes 13 14 PAU: hey that can be both of ou:rs. (0.3) JIM: yeah.
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Compromise is a successful strategy (i.e. leads to resolution) in disputes because it is not strictly a form of opposition. By providing an alternative solution, the speaker drops his original opposing position. Furthermore, as compromises do not directly challenge the opposing party, an acceptance of a compromise can be made with minimal affront to face. A shift is made from maintaining disagreement, to proposing a novel position which may prove acceptable to all parties. In the following two episodes (Ob1.30 and Ob2.6) the dispute is resolved through an alternative proposal performed by a third party to the dispute. Importantly the suggestion made by the third party is designed to address the dispute topic directly (i.e. not a topic shift). In Ob1.30, the suggestion made by Bill in line 30, which functions as a compromise by shifting blame from one of the participants to an imaginative other, prompts a series of suggestions, one of which (line 33) is acceptable to all the participants.
Ob1.30 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 JO2: FEL: JO2: LUK: JO2: LUK: LUK: LUK: FEL: JON: JO2: BIL: LUK: FEL: BIL: JON: the table (0.6) the table done it. (0.7) did not? (0.5) [did too:]. [did not i] s-, the table [done it and then] it stepped on itself,= [i sa:w it.] =i saw what happened. (1.1) um how did- who did it? (0.7) um [Bill who did it]. [i dont know] who did it. (0.5) we [dont know]. [ma:ybe:] (0.5) maybe somebody did it xxxx[x.] [it might] have been a (boy that had [xx).] [i know] who did it lion did. (1.2) may:be a bear came. (1.0) yeah (0.3) well done.
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In Ob2.6, Elinor provides an alternative suggestion which removes blame from Hilary, thereby side-stepping personal culpability for placing blocks on the floor.
Ob2.6 6 LOU: 7 8 9 10 HIL: ELI: LOU: ELI:
$why did you do that$. (2.2) im not telling you why. (0.9) maybe coz she was (0.6) (making a floor). (1.5) oh >shall we make a< floor? (0.3) yes (0.2) >of course we< can.
The suggestion made by a third party in Ob1.28 below, however, does not secure resolution of the dispute (although the episode is brought to a close), as the alternate proposal is not designed as a compromise, but rather functions as a topic shift. That is, Lukes suggestion (line 29) does not propose a solution to the prior dispute; it provides a novel position which is subsequently picked up by John (abandoning the dispute by not responding to Cheries continued opposition in line 30).
Ob1.28 26 27 28 29 30 31 JON: well dont break my house (0.8) coz (0.2) its (0.3) very special [what i made]. CHE: [is not]? (0.5) JON: it is so= LUK: =how bou[t i can] join my tram (0.2) rail round to your house. CHE: [it is not]. JON: yes (0.5) eh (0.4) (yes good) idea. %act: JON now becomes involved in the building with LUK.
Unlike topic shifts, compromises are tied to the prior content of the dispute and are actively designed to bring the dispute to a close by introducing a novel but topictied proposition which satisfies both parties. Whilst each of these compromises which prompted dissolution of the argument was prefaced by a pause and incorporated an explanation of sorts, they do not represent typical dispreferred turn shapes because the novel content does not function as an account. However, as preference in this context relates to organisation of opposition, compromises could be considered as operating beyond oppositional constraints within adversative discourse: these utterances do not function as opposition moves because they do not challenge the prior turns, nor the prior speaker, in the dispute.
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Notably, these utterances serve to redirect the focus of the dispute (not a topic shift as a compromise is topic-tied), by proposing a position which addresses the wishes of both parties. The acceptability of this new position within the dispute brings about its conclusion. Failure to respond The third type of resolution is distinguished by an absence of response, achieved through silence and resumption of collaborative interaction with no further opposition. In other words, disputes may be seen to be resolved where no further challenge is made to the prior speaker. The absence of a vocal opposition implies silent acquiescence to whoever produces the final turn. A defining feature of resolution in these episodes is that the children continue to play together after the zero response.
Ob1.2 5 JON: but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. (3.6)
Ob1.6 8 9
SAM: but then (0.4) John will have three (0.3) and you dont like pink do you John. (0.9) JON: hmm (0.3) no. (4.4) %act: TES makes no further attempt at topic.
Ob1.19 3 LUK: i saw you: put one away= 4 SAM: =that doesnt matter cause it wasnt a block it was a cylinder. %com: LUK makes no further comment. Ob1.27 15 FEL: i didnt mean you i meant Luke:. %com: three children continue to play together with no further reference to this exchange.
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Ob2.4 9 LOU: i know but im very gentle. %act: puts arrow on Friday %act: both children return to collaborative play with connector pieces. Ob2.5 5 ELI: no .hh coz i was helping with Hilary. %act: LOU and ELI start rebuilding. Ob2.12 5 LOU: well im trying to get through and you put so many things here. %com: WIN makes no further comment. Ob2.13 5 WIN: that car that youve got already %com: Lou makes no response Ob2.14 10 TOM: its not thats ten oclock. %act: ALI then draws DONs attention spaceship play.
back
to
the
Ob1.33 7 PET: no:: weve already been (near) the start. %com: Cherie makes no response. Parallel play continues. Ob2.23 7 8 9
NIG: we already had morning tea:? (0.6) ROB: did not Nigel. NIG: yeah i did (0.2) >you didnt< see us %act: ROB walks off to have morning tea.
As leaving the play area denotes abandonment (exemplified in the next section of this chapter), the local context of Ob2.23 (which determines the dispute as resolved) should be clarified. In this episode, Rob is trying to persuade Nigel to have morning tea with him; as he leaves unaccompanied by Nigel, it is assumed that Rob was unsuccessful in his attempts to secure a partner for morning tea. Importantly, he was not playing with Nigel and Simon prior to the episode, so resuming cooperative play does not in fact involve Rob. The argument was effectively won by Simon, rather than characterised by the dissipation of abandoned disputes. Consequently, the dispute was heard as resolved.
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The most significant observation to be made regarding the sequential organisation of this type of resolved dispute ending concerns the turn shape of the utterance which precedes the zero response. In each of the 11 episodes identified with this type of ending, the final utterance is performed in a dispreferred turn shape. Importantly, this consistent production of dispreferred turn shape in final utterances of resolved disputes occurs in both preschools. Although some of these turns are prefaced by a pause (Ob1.2, Ob1.6, Ob2.13, Ob1.33), and some with the marker well or but (Ob1.2, Ob1.6, Ob2.12), every final utterance incorporates some type of account. As discussed in Chapter 4, it is the presence of an account or justification for opposition which consistently performs as a feature of dispreferred turn shape in childrens arguments. Dispreferred turn shapes may be prefaced by delay, but are always accompanied by accounts. Given that the accounts provided in the final turns of the episodes listed above are met with silence (zero response) it can be inferred that either this justification is accepted by the opposing party or they are unable to better the prior account.
Ob1.19 3 LUK: 4 SAM: i saw you: put one away= =that doesnt matter cause it wasnt a block it was a cylinder. %com: LUK makes no further comment.
Prior to this excerpt from Ob1.19, Sam has admonished Luke for putting blocks back on the shelf (a responsibility delegated to Adam on this occasion). Luke counters (line 3) with an accusation that Sam himself has committed the same offence. Sams response accounts for his own actions as entirely defensible, given that he was not interfering with the re-shelving of blocks (he returned a cylinder to the shelf). As Luke makes no further challenge, his zero response is heard as acceptance of Sams entitlement to replace cylindrical objects on the shelf. Similarly, in Ob2.5 below, Elinor is successful in defending herself from Louises censure by providing an account for her actions at the time of the event for which she is being blamed (blocks falling down). As Louise makes no further objection, this account is presumably heard as satisfactory.
Ob2.5 1 2 3 4 %act: ELI: LOU: ELI: LOU: a stack of blocks fall down of their own accord. Loui:se, (0.7) you did it. (0.4) no i didnt?= =coz you were- (0.4) you were putting (0.3) your (.) h:ands on it. (0.3)
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Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes ELI: no .hh coz i was helping with Hilary. %act: LOU and ELI start rebuilding.
Resolution may also be achieved indirectly, effectively accommodating the claims of the other party in the next turn without overtly acknowledging them. A child may ignore the prior speakers contribution, yet if he/she does not actively reject the content of this contribution, the dispute is resolved. A common feature of these varieties of closings is that one party decides not to continue the dispute.
Ob1.3 7 8 9 10 Ob1.13 14 15 16 17 18 KOY: ADM: KOY: ADM: %act: KOY: ADM: ADM: ADM: im a rocket too. (0.5) no: cause (0.3) rockets are not allowed to come in (.) only (0.4) a rocket and a jet (0.4) cause theres no space in there. (0.2) im a jet. (0.8) now this is gonna have a big-, KOY joins ADM and JON at the table.
=STO::P! NO i have to stay out of the garage (0.3) (o)kay (0.3) coz its fat. (0.9) see? its got this- (0.2) its got (0.3) hard job to do. (2.6) LUK: ((to ADM)) im making one for you. %com: Play continues and ADM is now part of the group.
In both episodes (Ob1.3, Ob1.13), each child is trying to enter an established activity, and provides an account which qualifies him as suitable to join the play. In Ob1.13, for example, Koyo makes no further objection to Adam parking his car next to the garage, and appears to be reassured that Adam is not actually intending to drive his car inside the garage. Consequently, Adam is tacitly accepted (no continued rejections) as a member of the garage-making group. In all three types of resolved dispute endings, the single most important defining feature is the resumption of collaborative (or at least parallel) play. In each of the episodes identified as resolved, the children were able to continue playing together once the dispute had closed. Whilst the outcome might not have been gratifying to all involved, it was acceptable to each party, evident in resumed shared activity. This outcome is therefore distinct from abandoned disputes where
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one of the participants typically left the play area or at least refrained from any further interaction with the opposing party. Abandonment As discussed earlier, disputes must be resolved if conversation or interaction is to continue. Without active resolution of a dispute, collaborative play cannot be resumed. An outcome described here as abandonment denotes the interruption of cooperative interaction. When an argument is not resolved by the children themselves, or through the teacher as an arbitrator (as discussed below), the abandonment of the argument results in the breakdown of shared activity. Essentially, regardless of mutual satisfaction, disputes were seen to be resolved where the outcome is mutually acceptable, that is, when the children involved in the conflict continue to play together. Where disputes were abandoned, however, collaborative or parallel play is not resumed. Failure to respond Previously, failure to respond was seen as a final move in resolved disputes, where a zero response (i.e. no further challenge) functioned as tacit acceptance of the other partys position. Yet, in abandoned disputes, zero responses also mark the end of the episode. Unlike resolved episodes, however, an absence of further opposition in abandoned disputes precedes a breakdown in collaborative play. Where zero responses were implicated in resolution, the participants continued to play together. In abandoned disputes, on the other hand, one party made no further challenge and no further attempt to engage the other party in any activity (cf. Vuchinichs (1990) withdrawal format).
Ob1.10 9 10 11 12 JON: well (0.9) WELL (0.7) NObody can have (.) my fishing rod. (2.0) TES: ((to MIL)) Mil- (.) im gonna share my: fishing rod. (0.8) JON: well (0.4) im going to share mine with Sam. (1.6) JON: ((to girls)) not you. (3.1) %com: Neither TES nor JON actually pass on the rods to MIL or SAM. Eventually the teacher steps in to allot turns to SAM and MIL who have not yet played.
124 Ob2.22 8 9 10
NIG: PAU: %act: PAU: %com:
yeah and i put those things up there well it doesnt need them. rebuilding (3.0) dont need >all of em<. NIG does not respond.
In both Ob1.10 and Ob2.22 the dispute is abandoned not only through a zero response from the opposing party (i.e. Tess in Ob1.10 and Nigel in Ob2.22), but ultimately dissipates due to no subsequent challenge from the prior speaker. In both episodes, the final speaker makes a second attempt (lines 12 and 10 respectively) to provoke the opposing party, but gives up when no response is made. Noteworthy here is the turn shape of the final utterance; although preceded in each instance by a lengthy pause, both turns are short and direct (preferred). Whilst Pauls turn in Line 10 is based on a necessity account, it does not constitute novel content as it is a partial repeat of his earlier utterance. In Ob1.12 below, the abandonment of the dispute is essentially self-selected, as Adam cuts short his own challenge in line 20 (preferred turn shape) and does not attempt to restate his opposition. Abandonment in this instance is performed as giving up the dispute, as Adam is not successful in establishing himself as an acknowledged member of the garage-building group (i.e. his contribution at the opening of the episode which prompted that dispute was consistently rejected).
Ob1.12 18 19 20 ADM: LUK: ADM: %com: [yes they do:]. (0.2) ((sing song voice)) the:y do: no:t. (0.2) yes they (.) say-, LUK becomes busy constructing the garage with other boys. ADM abandons this entry attempt.
In some cases where one party makes no further opposition (abandoning attempts to engage in cooperative play), the prior speaker may actively state their intention to seek play partners elsewhere.
Ob1.15 18 PET: 19 PET: 20 SAM: oka:y i will make with (0.2) Sam then ((to ADM)) i wont be your friend anymore (0.4) ((to SAM)) now can i have that one? (0.9) here you go ((gives car to PET)).
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The use of threats, such as used by Peter (I wont be your friend), have been observed in the latter part of argumentative sequences in the previous section. It was demonstrated above that threats are performed in final turn position of some resolved disputes. However, threats also appear as the final turn in some abandoned disputes.
Ob2.10 27 PAU: yeah (0.3) and ill break your head off. %com: JIM and FRE ignore PAU and continue imaginative play in the spaceship. Ob2.20 11 ROB: i dont want to come to your party anyway. 12 SIM: i dont wanna come to your party anyway either. %com: no further response.
It was also noted earlier that threats are not performed in typical opposition turn shapes. Given the apparent absence of uniformity in form and function of threats in dispute episodes, these turns will be discussed further at the end of this chapter. A failure to respond resulting in abandonment of the dispute may also be accompanied by one party physically removing themselves from the shared play space.
Ob1.11 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
FEL: NAN: FEL: NAN: CHE: NAN: NAN: NAN: FEL: NAN: CHE: %act:
mmm. dont (0.3) dont say THAT! (0.2) mmm. (0.4) DONT SAY THAT! put the [little fishies], [you dont have] to sa:y tha:t. (0.6) you dont have to sa:y that (0.7) anyway. (2.3) dont say that to me (0.3) [anyway]. (0.4) [MMM]. (0.5) D[O::NT (.)((whimpers)) i dont] like it. [fishes (0.2) theyre your fishes] CHE and FEL move with their fishing rods to the other side of the room. NAN hesitates then follows.
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In Ob1.11 Felicity does not respond to Nancys repeated opposition (lines 19, 21, 22, and 23) until line 24. The zero response which prompts the abandonment of the dispute, however, follows Nancys complaint in line 25. In Line 26, Cherie is not responding to Nancy but talking (half singing) to herself. A failure to respond leads to the abandonment of the episode on this occasion because it is accompanied by the physical relocation of Felicity and Cherie; Felicity (and her play partner Cherie) eventually ignore Nancys continuing objection. Abandonment brought about by a failure to respond (ignoring) and moving away from the opposing party may be achieved in a number of ways. Physical removal from the shared play space can be initiated either by the final speaker or the opposing party. In Ob2.11 and Ob2.21, the final speaker abandons his attempts to engage or convince the other party, giving up in the first example and defying the challenge of the other party in the second.
Ob2.11 6 PAU: then why dont you need them. %com: FRE does not respond, PAU moves away. Ob2.21 6 NIG: no youre not, 7 SIM: i a::m? %act: SIM opens door and goes outside.
The turn function of the final utterance preceding the zero response in these abandoned utterances varies from an interrogative (Ob2.11), contradiction (Ob1.29) to direct chastisement (Ob2.9), examples below. Yet, while the force and content of these utterances may differ, none of these turns is performed in dispreferred turn shape (the detailed challenge made by John in line16 in Ob1.29 does not function as an account). Each of these final turn shapes is essentially preferred, in that the opposition is direct and not accounted for, and usually performed in short turns with no delay. Even Johns objection (line 16) in Ob1.29 below, although longer than other final turns presented in this section, is produced immediately with an opposition marker (no) occurring in word-initial position.
Ob1.29 16 JON: no (0.2) uh (0.6) yes thats the shoe that knocked my sp- (0.5) my wing. %act: FEL moves away to join CHE. Ob1.7 23 ELI: okay (.) im getting out of here. 24 CAZ: alright? (1.1) 25 CAZ: there you are?
Dispute Outcomes %act: throws the boy/disliked girl doll out to ELI %com: ELI moves away from play area.
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Ob2.9 13 LOU: youre wrecking everything. %act: PAU moves away from block area.
In sum, the difference between zero responses in resolved and abandoned disputes lies in a distinction between unspoken acceptance (resulting in resolution) and ignoring the opposition (abandonment). Differences are also evident in the turn shapes of final utterances in these two outcomes, further discussion of which appears in Chapter 6. Topic shift Dispute abandonment can also be instigated by a topic shift made by the speaker who abandons her/his previous opposition (identified by Vuchinich (1990) as a standoff). In Ob1.9, for example, Sam cuts off his objection to Tess packing up the fishing boxes, and introduces a new complaint (topic shift) after a considerable pause.
Ob1.9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 TES: TES: JON: TES: SAM: TES: SAM: TES: SAM: put the boats in there c- cause we are packing up (.) cause the sharks coming. (0.7) take everything (out),= =not the-, 0 ((%act: continues packing up the boats)) NO (0.5) leave it here! (1.0) b[ut we (.) we-,] [leave (.) all] of them here. (0.5) the sharks coming. leave- (1.5) i know that (0.4) but were just pretending (.) and leave (0.3) the boats (0.4) out (0.4) you can put the fishes in (0.2) but (0.3) uh (0.4) not the boats. (1.2) SAM: cause [see (.) if people want to play with them (0.7) they wont be ready] for them (0.2) so-, JON: [look at this Sam: (0.3) look at this Sam]. (1.2)
128 12 13 14 15 16 JON: JON: SAM: SAM:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes $oh: you got my one (0.6) oh you got my one:$. (1.0) i [got] my green one. [no-], (0.5) no they all in the-, (3.5) SAM: and i:m waiting to have (0.2) a go:? and youre taking (.) so (0.3) l:o:ng. %com: JON offers one of the rods to SAM.
Abandonment and introduction of a new topic made by the same speaker (selfselection) is also seen in the following example:
Ob2.18 6 7 8 GAR: SIM: SIM: %com: no (0.2) you will be- (0.3) you will (0.4) be (.) be here (0.2) but i wont. well-, (4.7) what time are you going ho:me? dialogue between the two boys shifts to conversation about when lunchtime falls relative to GARs departure.
In Ob2.18, the new topic (establishing what time Gary is going home) is introduced by the same speaker (Simon) who abandoned his prior objection (line 7). Typically, the new topic is introduced as an interrogative and the argument is abandoned when this topic shift is taken up by another party. In other words, the topic shift is successful when the question (new topic) is responded to by the other party. In Ob2.19 below, for example, Gary initiates a move away from the argument with his question in line 11. The shift is secured (and the argument subsequently abandoned), however, through Simons tied response (line 14) to Garys repeated question (line 13).
Ob2.19 6 7 8 9 10 11 my partys befo:re you:rs no MY partys before yours.= =not bef[ore mine]. [but mine is] (0.3) yours- (0.6) my: mum said yours is in February. (1.3) SIM: no it isnt. (0.4) GAR: when i:s it. (1.4) SIM: GAR: SIM: GAR:
Dispute Outcomes 12 13 14 15
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SIM: Ga:ry if you- (0.7) if you let me have that one xx. (0.3) GAR: what birthday is in your- (0.4) <is in>- (0.3) is yours? SIM: my brothers in Febru[ary]. GAR: [my] brother is si:x %com: conversation topic now focuses on ages of siblings.
A suggestion produced in the form of an interrogative may also bring about dissolution of the dispute when produced by a third party who is not directly involved in the argument. In the next episode, John picks up Lukes suggestion, ignoring Cheries continued attempts to sustain the argument.
Ob1.28 26 27 28 29 30 31 JON: well dont break my house (0.8) coz (0.2) its (0.3) very special [what i made]. CHE: [is not]? (0.5) JON: it is so= LUK: =how bou[t i can] join my tram (0.2) rail round to your house. CHE: [it is not]. JON: yes (0.5) eh (0.4) (yes good) idea. %act: JON now becomes involved in the building with LUK.
Before considering the turn shapes at the conclusion of this type of dispute, some mention should be made as to why topic shifts are not identified in this study as leading to resolution. Primarily, topic shifts are not semantically tied to the content of the dispute, and constitute a deviation from argument rather than active resolution (cf. compromises). A topic shift does not function as a form of opposition, and, as such, is not produced as an argumentative turn. Rather, by introducing novel, nonoppositional content, topic shifting is a distinct non-continuation of conflict. These utterances do not directly address the topic of the dispute; neither do they directly resolve the dispute. The argument is let go, abandoned, rather than decided in one partys favour. The distinction is made due to an absence of overt consensus that the dispute will not be sustained. Where disputes are resolved, a finite conclusion is acknowledged either verbally or through no further opposition (the absence of reply in resolved disputes is followed by resumption of play). Where a dispute is dropped due to a topic shift, however, no conclusion of the dispute is reached prior to assuming the new topic. Whilst a topic shift may be successful in closing a dispute, this does not satisfy the criteria of resolution (as presented above). Therefore, the dissipation of the argument through topic shift is classified in this research as abandoned.
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Increasing volume Disputes are also abandoned where an immediate rather than reciprocated escalation in volume prompts the withdrawal of the other party. As with the episodes discussed above, it is the physical relocation of one party that distinguishes the outcome as abandoned rather than resolved.
Ob1.22 5 KOY: no (.) youre not packing= 6 ADM: =YES I AM. %act: KOY walks away to collect more blocks. Ob2.24 5 6 7 BRI: yes it is. (1.0) GAR: NO IT ISNT. (0.5) SIM: dont worry about it Brian. %act: BRI returns to making his own construction.
In both these episodes, the shouting which prompts the abandonment of the dispute is delivered in a preferred turn shape. Although Garys turn in Ob2.24 is produced after a pause (1.0), the turn itself demonstrates the preferred features of brevity and directness. Notably, it is only one party in the dispute who uses increased volume in his challenge to the prior speaker. In disputes where both parties engage in trading opposition in a sequence of turns marked by escalating volume, the dispute typically results in teacher intervention (see below). In these two episodes (Ob1.22 and Ob2.24), however, the opposing party does not respond to the shouted challenge of the other party, and the dispute is abandoned. Intervention In the previous sections, the closings described as resolved or abandoned have been brought about by the dispute participants. The third possible dispute closing, however, is reached through external intervention. The intervention may be sought by the children themselves or initiated by the teacher. In the episodes where intervention was sought by one of the participants, children appealed to the teacher as a figure of authority to support their own position (see Maynard, 1985a). Notably, teacher interventions are generally seen as an avoidance rather than way a valid strategy to resolve conflict (Newman, Murray and Lussier, 2001: 398). To this end, appeals to the teacher, and even teacher-initiated intervention, were not heard in the beginnings of the disputes, but instead were produced when other attempts to persuade had failed.
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In one dispute (Ob1.1), Cherie sought staff intervention and incorporated a threat into her statement of intent.
Ob1.1 33 CHE: ill go and tell the teacher.
Elsewhere, children reported their own perspective of the infringement to the teacher.
Ob1.31 13 SAM: ((to teacher)) theyre not [xxx]. 14 JON: AHH: HA. 15 YYY: whoopsie (you) dropped the food. (1.4) 16 SAM: ((to teacher)) <hes not letting me put->, Ob1.32 10 KOY: 11 SAM: %yyy: 12 KOY: 13 YYY: 14 KOY: the show (.) is (.) finished (.) [(now)]. [no]:. ((whines)) teacher approaches (1.6) ((to teacher)) the show is finished. (0.2) well i dont think Sam is finished. the show is finished YYY.
A notable feature of the turns preceding these appeals for adult arbitration was their preferred shape. The sequences of turns prior to calls for assistance are characterised by brief, repetitive, unjustified opposition. In Ob1.32 above, for example, Koyo continues to repeat his position (the show is finished) and Sams response is a single no (or approximation) throughout the dispute. This pattern of failing to moderate or mitigate opposition (most commonly realised through dispreferred turn shape) was also heard in Ob1.31 and to a lesser degree in Ob1.1. A different type of approach to the teacher was used by the children in Observation 2, as they made a request for attention before detailing the infringement of their playmate(s).
Ob2.2 14 CAZ: ((to Teacher)) excu:se [me:].
Ob2.8 14 WIN: excuse me [YYY].
Importantly, however, the turns preceding line 14 in Ob2.8 demonstrated similar shapes to those noted in Observation 1. The dispute featured repetition of turns as
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each speaker restated their objection without any significant modification of the turn. In this exchange of repeated objections with little novel content, making an appeal to external authority imposes an endpoint for an otherwise interminable cycle. Resorting to staff intervention therefore represents a stalemate among the disputants.
Ob2.8 1 WIN: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 PAU: WIN: PAU: WIN: PAU: WIN: PAU: WIN: PAU: WIN: PAU: PAU: %com: WIN: PAU: %yyy: ive got a great idea what we can do with this (2.5) give it to me! i [found it]. [no i-](.) no i had i:t. i found it no i had it a while ag[o]? [no]. (0.5) i had it a while ago.= =no you did[nt]. [well] im telling on you. (0.7) excuse me [YYY]. [no], um Caroline gave it to me. Caroline is not present in the play (0.5) excuse me [YYY]. [Caroline] gave it to me. teacher intervenes but response is inaudible.
Ob2.2 (below), however, does not feature this repetition of preferred turn shapes. Caroline and Miranda produce a number of dispreferred turn shapes in an attempt to convince Jack and Tom that they had prior rights to the space ship as a play space. The opposition made by the girls is accounted for, primarily by establishing the basis of prior rights. An alternate suggestion made by Tom (line 9) is not taken up by the other participants, and Jack does not acknowledge the girls claim to the area. The resulting stalemate is consequently different to the outcome in Ob2.8; external intervention is sought not due to circularity and immovability of opposition but a failure to influence despite providing accounts for opposition. Nevertheless, resorting to teacher intervention constitutes a stalemate in both episodes.
Ob2.2 %act: girls attempt to enter the spaceship 1 JAK: no! (0.2)
Dispute Outcomes 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 MIR: CAZ: JAK: CAZ: JAK: MIR: JAK: %act: TOM:
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Jack <we were playing in tha:[:t>]. ((whines)) [(hey] were playing with) that. (0.3) no: (.) you were over there. no: we still havent finished. well [we have-], [but that] was our fairy [spaceship]. [no::]! pushes CAZ as she tries to enter. its a rocket ship (.) you guys. (1.1) CAZ: were playing we were playing in there fi:rst CAZ: and then were just next to there (0.3) and we got some fir:st [and we] just went to get married. JAK: [POW]! (2.3) JAK: ((to TOM)) come on! %act: CAZ starts moving towards teacher. CAZ: ((to Teacher)) excu:se [me:]. JAK: [HEY WAIT]! %act: JAK follows CAZ to teacher to argue his case.
In the two other instances of child-initiated intervention in Observation 2, a child seeks confirmation from the teacher as to the validity of an assertion made by his playmate (Ob2.3) and assistance with faulty audio headphones (Ob2.16). Neither of these closings (appeals to teacher) represented a continuation of the dispute but rather a supplication to an adult for verification and for technical assistance, which are distinct from the complaints made in Ob2.2 and Ob2.8 above. Further attention to dispute closings in Observation 2 highlights the complete absence (at least in the episodes recorded) of teacher-initiated intervention in the childrens disputes. This is not to say that intervention did not take place, but rather was not noticeably done nor audible in audio/video data. A marked contrast in this type of dispute closing (intervention) was observed in Observation 1, as the teacher interrupted eight of the recorded arguments. In one of these arguments (Ob1.31) adult support was initially sought by the child, but at the conclusion of the dispute the intervention was instigated by the teacher. The proportion of teacher intervention (cf. Observation 2) may be considered in light of the observers presence. Although the paradoxical nature of the observers presence has been discussed in relation to the childrens interaction with peers, the teachers behaviour may also be affected (e.g. Ob1.17). Specifically, the teacher in Ob1 was less experienced and perhaps paid closer attention to the children playing in proximity to the observer. Additionally, on one occasion the children were prevented from pursuing the dispute when the teacher interrupted (Ob1.5). The
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teachers directions to the disputants did not constitute intervention in this instance, however, as her instructions were not related to the adversative interaction. In six of the eight episodes interrupted by the teacher in Ob1, the intervention was made in response to increased amplitude of the childrens voices. Otherwise, on one occasion (Ob1.35) the teacher interceded where two boys were physically struggling for possession of an object. The other dispute which attracted the teachers attention despite the absence of shouting (Ob1.25) was characterised by a series of repeated utterances within the teachers hearing range. When questioned, the teacher stated her method of mediation was to allow each child to explain his/ her position, then impose a solution only where the children themselves were not able to reach a facilitated compromise, yet in practice this did not always prove to be the case. In Ob1.4 the teacher explained why ownership of a song (and lyrics) is not restricted to any individual, but in all other instances the teacher either removed the child from the play space and engaged her/him in another activity or imposed a verdict (Ob1.25, Ob1.35). In each episode brought to a close through teacher-initiated intervention there is a preceding pattern of exchanging utterances in preferred turn shape. This is exemplified in the organisation of opposition in Ob1.4.
Ob1.4 1 TES: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 HIL: HIL: TES: HIL: TES: TES: YYY: everybody can sing it (0.5) not just you. (4.6) well i sing my song if i want. (1.7) its my so:ng its my song too: and its not your song. (0.2) it is my song. (0.5) NOT YOUR: SONG. (0.6) EENGHH ((screeches in frustration)) .hhh (.) ITS NOT YOUR SONG Hilary. (1.5) [Tess] are you okay?
Consistently, where conflict episodes are brought to a close through teacher intervention, there is a pattern of exchanging utterances performed in preferred turn shape throughout the dispute. Although one party may provide an account for his/her opposition (signalling a dispreferred turn shape), this account is typically repeated throughout the escalating conflict. That is, where dispreferred turn shapes are produced in teacher-mediated disputes, there is no subsequent development of mutual accountability because the same utterance, although providing justification, is repeated throughout the dispute. In Ob1.14 below, for example, Sam accounts
Dispute Outcomes
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for his actions, attempting to defer blame by pointing to the unintentionality of his actions (viz. although he knocked the blocks over he didnt mean to as he was just trying to balance them). The repetitiveness of the exchanges, however, precludes negotiation and prompts incessant recycled rounds of counter-challenges until the teacher intervenes.
Ob1.14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 SAM: SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: LUK: ADM: PET: SAM: ADM: LUK: ADM: LUK: SAM: YYY: LUK: YYY: SAM: YYY: 0 ((%act: knocks blocks over)) [ah], [o]:h YOU DID THA:T!= =i was trying to bal[ance it]. [tst oh] oh [oh oh no: ]. ((whining)) [i was trying to balance] i:t.= =NAUGHTY! (0.5) i was trying to balance it [and it just] fe:ll.= [its naughty]. =((to PET)) say [naughty] Sam! [naughty]. naughty Sam. (1.1) i was trying to ba[lance i:t]. [HEY LOOK] (0.2) look at this! thats NAUghty. WA[TER]! [NAUGHTY] [THATS NAUGHTY], [I WAS TRYING TO] BALA:NCE I:T. (1.4) excuse me boys? Sam broke my [x:] [well] [i dont think he] really meant to [i was trying-], (1.0) you can make it again
In sum, teacher-intervened disputes typically feature brief, direct utterances produced with little or no delay (note overlapping speech in Ob1.14); in other words, a cycle of preferred turn shapes. Where an account may be provided in a turn, the subsequent repetition of this turn shape essentially invalidates the mitigation or accommodation inherent in dispreferred turn shapes. Additionally, in Ob1 this type of dispute outcome was frequently marked by a preceding pattern of escalating volume (both parties). The events following teacher intervention are not included in the analysis, as our primary focus remains how children manage disputes, rather than how children manage teacher instructions in disputes with peers.
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Whilst teacher intervention accounted for the closings of a quarter of the disputes recorded, our attention returns to episodes which were ended without adult participation. Specifically, in the next section we revisit episodes in which threats were issued in final utterances. As threats appeared in final utterances of both resolved and abandoned disputes, further discussion of these types of turns is warranted.
Threats At first, threats appeared to operate outside the boundaries of preference. Importantly, threats share no features of preferred turn shapes. Yet, neither do threats made in childrens adversative discourse constitute typical dispreferred turns. Accounts are not incorporated because the speaker does not attempt to justify his opposition in producing the threat, but rather states consequences of failure to acquiesce. These consequences, however, are not enforced; the force of the threat lies in the undesirability of the outcome. Usually, among the preschoolers studied, threats allude to a withdrawal of a particularly attractive commodity. Fundamentally, the dispreferred status of threats lies in the sequential context of the dispute: threats are designed to bring about the end of an argument rather than promote continuing conflict. That is, acquiescence is the expected response, in favour of further challenge from the hearer (Haslett, 1983). A distinguishing feature of threats, then, is that a preferred response (second pair part) is submission. Consequently, an inversion of sorts operates in this context. In established disputes, a preferred response is overt opposition to the prior speaker, as illustrated in the next chapter. Threats, however, carry an explicit expectation of non-opposition and demand for compliance, and as such, function as an ultimatum. While a summary of the sequential organisation of disputes is deferred to next chapter, a discussion of the turn shapes of threats is included here because threats typically appear in the closings of disputes. Types of threats Benoit (1983) identified four types of threats used in childrens arguments: harmthreats, withhold-action/object threats, tell authority threats and unspecified outcome threats (see Chapter 2). In the present data, threats to withhold a desirable action/object were by far the most common. Only one exchange of harm threats was heard in the second observation environment.
Ob2.10 20 FRE: yeah now- (0.5) then- (0.3) youre (wrecking it) ill kill your whole building down? (0.3)
Dispute Outcomes 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 PAU: FRE: PAU: JIM: PAU: JIM: PAU: %com:
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huh? (0.3) kill your whole building down if you dont-, (0.3) i didnt i didnt even make a building. (0.5) yes you di:d what. (0.7) your um (0.6) bits:. (0.4) yeah (0.3) and ill break your head off. JIM and FRE ignore PAU and continue imaginative play in the spaceship.
There was also one example of a tell-authority threat in the data. In this instance, the dispute was brought to a close through teacher intervention.
Ob2.8 9 10 11 WIN: =no you did[nt]. PAU: [well] im telling on you. (0.7) WIN: excuse me [Y]YY.
In Ob1.20 below, the dispute is brought to a close by Luke threatening to withhold access to his petrol truck, if Peter does not refrain from drawing on his part of the group picture.
Ob1.20 10 ADM: 11 PET: 12 LUK: 13 14 i wanna have (.) i wanna have (the) petrol truck. yes. ((to PET)) wha- (.) well not if you do not (.) not if youre gonna go on (.) on mine. ((ie. draw on LUKs part of the paper)) (0.3) PET: i wo:nt. (1.1) LUK: there you can go there. ((on the paper))
On all other occasions, withholding threats were based on withdrawing friendship or an invitation to the speakers birthday party. Evidently, both friendship and parties rank as highly desirable for children of this age, indeed I wont be your friend functions as a form of social control (Corsaro, 1985). In each of the examples below the threat to withhold friendship preceded a breakdown in
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collaborative activity as the disputes were not actively resolved (abandoned in Ob1.15 and Ob 2.7, and prompting teacher intervention in Ob1.26). Notably, whilst not as frequently as boys, girls also engage in issuing direct threats (cf. Danby, 1998) as seen in Ob2.7 and Ob1.27 below.
Ob1.15 18 PET: oka:y i will make with (0.2) Sam then ((to ADM)) i wont be your friend anymore Ob1.26 30 ADM: I WONT BE YOUR FRIEND
Ob2.7 21 ELI: im not gonna to be your friend if you dont ever give me that.
In the following episodes, withholding a party invitation serves as punishment for inappropriate behaviour (Ob1.7) or as a conditional threat (Ob1.27)
Ob1.7 11 JON: its not nasty to hit (1.4) Tess now you (0.2) cant (0.4) come (0.2) to any (0.4) birthdays.
Ob1.27 13 FEL: dont SAY those sort of things >otherwise you cant come to my party<.
Party invitations were also the withheld consequence in implied or indirect threats. In Ob2.17, Simon hints at a conditional threat (line 12), and Garys response is to restate this threat overtly.
Ob2.17 12 13 SIM: >Gary do you wanna come< to my party? (0.8) GAR: if you- (0.3) if you dont give those (0.4) those things to me (.) you wont come to my par:ty.
This sequence is repeated in subsequent episodes by the same children.

Ob2.19 3 SIM: ill let you come to my par:ty:? (0.4)
Dispute Outcomes 4
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GAR: and if (.) you (.) dont give me (0.5) one of those (1.0) one of those big thi:ngs (0.6) you [cant come to my par:ty].
Ob2.20 9 GAR: then (you cant) come to my party.
Two of these episodes were abandoned (Ob2.19, Ob2.20) but the other three were resolved. In Ob1.7 and Ob2.17 the hearer conformed to the directive made in the prior threat, and Ob1.27 was resolved by clearing up a misunderstanding (as to who uttered the offending statement). On one of only two occasions where producing a threat did not result in the end of the dispute, threatening the withdrawal of an invitation to a birthday party was met with a counter challenge (not threat), and subsequent mid-episode topic shift to arguing about the birthday calendar.
Ob2.19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 SIM: GAR: SIM: GAR: SIM: SIM: GAR: SIM: GAR: Gary: (0.5) this afterno:on i saw you put the (x x). (0.7) n:o:. ill let you come to my par:ty:? (0.4) and if (.) you (.) dont give me (0.5) one of those (1.0) one of those big thi:ngs (0.6) you [cant come to my par:ty]. [hey Ga::ry]? (0.7) my partys befo:re you:rs no MY partys before yours.= =not bef[ore mine]. [but mine is] (0.3) yours- (0.6) my: mum said yours is in February. (1.3) SIM: no it isnt. (0.4) GAR: when i:s it. (1.4) SIM: Ga:ry if you- (0.7) if you let me have that one xx. (0.3) GAR: what birthday is in your- (0.4) <is in>- (0.3) is yours? SIM: my brothers in Febru[ary]. GAR: [my] brother is si:x %com: continuing conversation focuses on ages of siblings.
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A point of interest in this dispute is Simons challenge (line 6) to the validity or power of Garys threat (line 4). As Simon contests that his party will be held first, it follows that he has the first right of (un)invitation. However, threatening to uninvite a prospective party guest is seldom related to the date of the actual event and at this age, children typically invite most, if not all, of their preschool group to their birthday party. The party need not be imminent for the threat to be persuasive; the birthday may have recently been celebrated or the child might not have a temporal understanding of when their birthday party will be held. As with the more abstract concept of removing friendship, these threats are not actually played out: children play together the next day and attend birthday parties, regardless of the response to these types of threats. The other threat that did not bring about the closing of the dispute (either through resolution, abandonment or teacher intervention) was heard in Ob1.28 (see below). Johns ineffectual threat (lines 16 and 18) promises that he will dob (tell the teacher) if his house gets broken. Benoits (1983) finding that unspecified or tell-authority threats are least powerful plays out in this instance.
Ob1.28 6 FEL: 7 CHE: 8 FEL: 9 LUK: 10 FEL: 11 CHE: 12 JON: 13 CHE: 14 JON: 15 FEL: 16 JON: 17 FEL: 18 JON: LUK: 19 20 CHE: 21 FEL: 22 JON: [that] doesnt look like a house. it doesnt look like one? no:?= =it looks like a tram track doesnt it. [yes]. [yes]. (0.2) no it doesnt (.) its a different sort of house. (0.4) ill break it? (0.4) no dont break it! (0.2) i will [break it]? [otherwise] ill tell the teacher. (0.5) i will break it John. DONT BREAK it OTHERWISE I WILL TELL [THE TEACHERS on you]. [John (0.3) Jo:hn] i wont break your [house]. [i] cant break my: things. (0.3) i dont break my: things. (0.7) dont break my house (.) like that! (1.1)
Dispute Outcomes 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 CHE: LUK: GGG: JON: CHE: JON: LUK:
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[i (break) my things]. [how about making] (0.2) tram [tracks xxxx], [this can be Winne] the Poohs house. (0.7) well dont break my house (0.8) coz (0.2) its (0.3) very special [what i made]. [is not]? (0.5) it is so= =how bou[t i can] join my tram (0.2) rail round to your house. CHE: [it is not]. JON: yes (0.5) eh (0.4) (yes good) idea. %act: JON now becomes involved in the building with LUK.
Based on the data collected, there is a temptation to claim that only withholding an invitation to a birthday party functions as a successful (i.e. precursor to resolution) threat, but there are too few examples in the data to make such a claim (although earlier research suggests that withholding actions/object threats are powerful). Additionally, we should be wary of over-attributing the content of the threat, as other factors (children involved in the dispute, type of dispute, and sequential context previous and subsequent turns) are related to outcome. It could be claimed, however, that concrete threats where the speaker controls the punishment are most likely to close an argument. Threats operate differently in the disputes when compared with the earlier categories of justified objections (dispreferred turn shapes); they leave little if no room for further negotiations. Only two options are available to the hearer: comply or suffer the penalty stated in the threat. The status of threats as an endpoint is further implied in the immovability of the speakers position. Once the speaker has issued an ultimatum, failure to impose the stated consequences of the threat relinquishes any position of power or authority. Consequently there is little opportunity for either the speaker or hearer to negotiate once a threat has been issued. The implications of this finding relates specifically to the position of threats in the sequential organisation of arguments. Threats do not appear in the early stages of disputes, and result in the submission of one party (an outright win/ loss resolution) or a breakdown collaborative play (abandonment). Consequently, threats function as a last resort strategy. Threats in sequences Overwhelmingly, then, threats appear in the closings of the dispute. Regardless of the outcome (resolved or abandoned), other conflict strategies are seldom produced once a threat or counter exchange of threats has been uttered. Subsequently, our
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attention shifts to the preceding context of threats, that is, the sequences of turns which lead to these last resort strategies. In Ob1.7, the threat (party invitation) follows failed attempts to gain the teachers attention to intervene.
Ob1.7 7 SAM: 8 TES: %com: 9 SAM: %com: 10 11 12 0 ((%act: SAM succeeds in reclaiming the boxes (0.6))) ((whines)) .hhhh Sam took the boxes from me. directed towards teacher who does not hear (0.4) but (0.5) she did it fi:rst. also directed to teacher with no response (1.6) JON: she hit (0.4) Sam. (1.7) JON: its not nasty to hit (1.4) Tess now you (0.2) cant (0.4) come (0.2) to any (0.4) birthdays. (1.1) JON: not till you (0.2) say sorry Sam.
The threat is not made contiguously to Tess objection. Furthermore, the conditional component of the threat (line 12) follows the consequence stated in line 11, after a considerable pause (1.1). Tess complies with this condition and apologises to Sam (she has to repeat the apology to satisfy Sams expectation of sincerity). The threat is built upon a reprimand of Tess behaviour, as John claims she hit Sam. Tess compliance with the threat is tied to acceptance of her wrongdoing. This compliance is made without any significant delay. In Ob1.27, Felicity makes a conditional threat (line 13) in response to Lukes earlier teasing (he claims that he is doing the puzzle faster then Felicity). Cherie misinterprets the threat as directed towards her, presumably because she is the immediately prior speaker to Felicitys threat.
Ob1.27 11 12 13 14
LUK: CHE: FEL: CHE:
((to CHE)) last is you. (1.0) i got (part of xxxx). (0.7) dont SAY those sort of things >otherwise you cant come to my party<. (0.2) i didnt say it.
Dispute Outcomes 15
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FEL: i didnt mean you i meant Luke:. %com: three children continue to play together with no further reference to this exchange.
Although Luke does not acknowledge Cheries rebuke in line 13, his acceptance of the conditions of the threat consists of a zero response; he no longer teases Felicity. As in the example above (Ob1.7), there is a considerable delay between Lukes turn (line 11) and the threat made by Felicity (line 13). Garys implied threat in Ob2.17, also follows a lengthy pause, and represents a different approach, a change in strategy, to his prior (unacknowledged turn).
Ob2.17 10 GAR: [i dont want] those jets (going) off. (0.2) 11 SIM: i wont break it. (1.8) 12 SIM: >Gary do you wanna come< to my party? (0.8) 13 GAR: if you- (0.3) if you dont give those (0.4) those things to me (.) you wont come to my par:ty. (0.2) 14 SIM: (now) do you wanna come to my party? (0.3) 15 GAR: you can- (0.4) leave it for me (0.3) leave it you cant come to my par:ty. %act: SIM places object on ground and returns to basket to look for other plastic connector pieces.
Simons indirect threat in line 12 is met with a reciprocal, recycled threat from Gary (slightly delayed). Garys repeat is subsequently upgraded from the conditional wont to the definite cant (line 15). This modal upgrade is effective, as Simon relinquishes the object under dispute. The restarts or hesitations (lines 13 and 15) are compatible with dispreferred turn shape. Indeed in each of the threats used in the closings of these resolved disputes, the turn shape could be characterised as dispreferred: delayed, opposition deferred, and containing further evidence (if not account) of the speakers position. Gary and Simon produce more birthday party threats in Ob2.19, although in this instance, Simons prior turn consists of a conditional promise rather than an implied threat (line 3).
Ob2.19 2 GAR: n:o:. 3 SIM: ill let you come to my par:ty:? (0.4)
144 4 5 6 7 GAR: SIM: SIM: GAR:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes and if (.) you (.) dont give me (0.5) one of those (1.0) one of those big thi:ngs (0.6) you [cant come to my par:ty]. [hey Ga::ry]? (0.7) my partys befo:re you:rs no MY partys before yours.=
In line 6, Simon challenges the validity of the threat made by Gary, and the dispute moves to an exchange of preferred turn shapes (e.g. line 7). Subsequent questions produced by Gary (asking when Simons birthday is) diffuse the primary conflict and the dispute is abandoned (no further opposition from Gary or Simon). In this instance, although the dispute is dropped, Simon does not concede to Garys threat, as there is a topic shift (to a disagreement about birth dates). Another abandoned party episode (Ob2.20), features Gary making a threat during an object dispute with Rob, the consequences of which Rob rejects.
Ob2.20 8 ROB: this is mine (0.7) 9 GAR: then (you cant) come to my party. (2.7) 10 ROB: i >dont wanna come to your< party. (2.4) 11 ROB: i dont want to come to your party anyway. 12 SIM: i dont wanna come to your party anyway either. %com: no further response.
Rob repeats his rejection of Garys threat (again after a lengthy pause) and Simon jumps on the bandwagon by repeating the rejection (although he is not directly involved in the dispute). Garys threat is rendered powerless: if the withheld event is discounted by the hearer, the consequence is no longer a persuasive entity. The dispute is abandoned as the boys have reached a stalemate. A stalemate is also reached in the following object dispute between Elinor and Caroline (Ob2.7) about who gets to play with the girl doll.
Ob2.7 16 17 18 ELI: CAZ: ELI: (youve got) both the girls. (0.3) no: theres another girl (0.2) but i dont like that girl. (6.8)
Dispute Outcomes 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
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ELI: you cant have two girls. ((petulant tone)) (0.7) ELI: well thats the boy and i hate boys. (1.1) ELI: im not gonna to be your friend if you dont ever give me that. (1.0) CAZ: im not gonna ever give that to you. ELI: okay (.) im getting out of here. CAZ: alright? (1.1) CAZ: there you are? %act: throws the boy/disliked girl doll out to ELI %com: ELI moves away from play area.
The most striking feature of this episode is the number of attempts Elinor makes to gain possession of the girl prior to issuing the conditional threat in line 21. Each of these turns is performed in dispreferred shape (lines 18-20), which suggests further attention should be paid to quality of the account (i.e. efficacy or persuasiveness of the referent) in the dispute. The following dispute is abandoned (Ob1.15), because Adam ignores Peters continuing attempts to use one of Adams cars.
PET: but which one can i have then. (1.0) ADM: (i have) nothing for you. (0.4) PET: why:. (2.3) 17 SAM: ((to PET)) make with me! (0.2) 18 PET: oka:y i will make with (0.2) Sam then ((to ADM)) i wont be your friend anymore (0.4) 19 PET: ((to SAM)) now can i have that one? (0.9) 20 SAM: here you go. ((gives car to PET)) Ob1.15 14 15 16
In the sequence above, Adam ignores not only Peters threat (Peter has already shifted his allegiance to Sam at this point), but also his prior request for explanation (line 16). The length of pause (2.3 seconds) and redirection by a third party (Sam in line 17) suggest that the dispute was in fact abandoned by Adam after his turn
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in line 15. At the very least the threat in this episode is not made as a contiguous, next-turn opposition. In Ob1.26, threatening to withdraw friendship resulted in teacher intervention, because Adam was shouting at Cherie, and both children had begun to push one another.
Ob1.26 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 CHE: ADM: CHE: ADM: CHE: %act: ADM: CHE: ADM: %act: YYY: %yyy: [plea:se] can you go away from us? coz (0.3) [coz (0.5) coz]-, [were playing a game]. coz coz coz coz [(you got)-,] [GO AWAY] FROM US! pushes ADM (0.3) DONT PUSH ME! ((to TES)) go on get him. (0.4) I WONT BE YOUR FRIEND CHE is still pushing ADM so he pushes back. um excu:se me Adam. Teacher engages ADM in another activity
Cherie ignores Adams threat (line 30) and continues to push Adam away from where she is playing with Tess. In this instance, the dispute has escalated before the threat is produced: Cherie has already pushed Adam and he has begun shouting in response, prior to issuing the threat. This suggests that there is a point in the discourse where resolution is unlikely (following physical rebukes and escalating volume), regardless of the form of subsequent utterances. As noted in the previous section, a threat of harm/physical punishment was heard only once in the observation sessions.
Ob2.10 %act: PAU is pulling some of the pieces off the ladder. (3.6) 16 FRE: DONT (.) WRECK i:t! (0.2) 17 PAU: i wanna make something (.) and you werent even using it. (1.0) 18 FRE: but i (.) i will use it later. (1.2) PAU: no you were:nt no you werent even using it no:w 19 (0.7)
Dispute Outcomes 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 FRE: PAU: FRE: PAU: JIM: PAU: JIM: PAU: %com:
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yeah now- (0.5) then- (0.3) youre (wrecking it) ill kill your whole building down? (0.3) huh? (0.3) kill your whole building down if you dont-, (0.3) i didnt i didnt even make a building. (0.5) yes you di:d what. (0.7) your um (0.6) bits:. (0.4) yeah (0.3) and ill break your head off. JIM and FRE ignore PAU and continue imaginative play in the spaceship.
A point of interest in Ob2.10 is the turn shapes which precede the first threat in line 20. The dispreferred turn shapes produced by both parties (lines 18 and 19) fail to influence the other speaker, emphasising the last resort strategy nature of threats. Fred has moved from a direct order (line 16) to justifying his objection (line 18) with no effect, finally issuing a threat after false starts/hesitation (line 20). Similar to the earlier example in Ob2.19, Paul challenges the validity of the threat (he didnt even make a building). Dropping this side sequence (whether or not Paul has a building which may be killed) Paul produces a counter harm-threat (line 27) which is ignored by Fred and his offsider Jim. As noted in Chapter 2, one way in which disputes escalate is through cycles of threats and counter-threats (OKeefe and Benoit, 1982; Haslett, 1983). A withhold-object threat which was successful in resolving the dispute (Ob1.20 below) involves access to a petrol truck that Luke has brought from home (these novel toys are always highly sought-after objects at preschool).
Ob1.20 1 2 3 4 5 6 PET: LUK: LUK: PET: 0 ((%act: draws on LUKs side of the paper)) ((to PET)) no this is the moo:n. (0.8) no: youre drawing on the moo::n.= =but this is where the sun is. (1.9) LUK: 0 ((%act: pushes PETs hand away)) PET: ((whines)) dont draw mi::ne. (0.2)
148 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 LUK: LUK: %com: PET: ADM: PET: LUK: PET: LUK:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes no you (.) you draw on you:r part. (1.3) then im - (0.5) well then (.) i wont let you have a turn on (0.2) the petrol truck. this is a toy LUK has brought from home. (0.5) yes. i wanna have (.) i wanna have (the) petrol truck. yes. ((to PET)) wha- (.) well not if you do not (.) not if youre gonna go on (.) on mine. ((ie. draw on LUKs part of the paper)) (0.3) i wo:nt. (1.1) there you can go there. ((on the paper))
In his previous attempts (lines, 2, 3, 5 and 7), Luke has not been able to stop Peter drawing on his side of the collective paper (Peter claims rights to this part of the paper as he believes this is where the sun should be in the picture line 4). Luke resorts to issuing the powerful conditional promise of permission to play with his petrol truck. In this instance the threat is successful and Peter complies. The finality of the threat is recognisable in contrast to the possible alternative outcome: if Peter had not complied, the threat would have been rendered powerless, leading to a break in interaction.
Ob1.23 3 SAM: 4 LUK: 5 6 7 8 9 SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: SAM: %act: dont do that Luke. i want to crack it. (2.2) if you crack heads youll die: (0.3) do you want to die:: (0.3) and then your mummy will cry:? (1.3) yes. (1.5) dont you like your mummy. yes i do. (0.3) then dont (0.3) then dont die yourself. LUK stops hitting his head with the block
In Ob1.23 Sam is successful in instructing Luke not to hit himself in the head, by equating the action with disrespect for his mother. In line 5 Sam claims
Dispute Outcomes
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that continuing this action will cause distress to Sam (defined as threat due to undesirable consequences). Luke is obliged to stop hitting himself in the head or otherwise risk contradicting his own professed affection for his mother. The analysis has demonstrated that threats operate, if not outside the boundaries of preference, in a slightly different manner to other opposing turns (e.g. do not share typical dispreference markers). However, it has also been established that threats function as a dispreferred response to opposition, as they are not designed to sustain the dispute, but to end the argument through submission of the other party. A distinctive feature of threats in sequences of discourse is the expectation of response. A preferred second pair part (to a first part threat) is acquiescence through no further challenge, and conformability to the direction inherent in the threat (i.e. cease the objectionable/offensive action). Evidently, a zero response or submission to the speakers wishes does not perform elsewhere in disputes as a preferred second, given that overt disagreement serves to sustain this type of discourse. It remains to be seen why certain threats lead to resolution while others prompt a breakdown in shared activity, a consideration for the next chapter. Dispute closings In the 60 recorded disputes, three distinct types of dispute closings were identified: resolution, abandonment and teacher intervention. Each of these possible outcomes was arrived at through a variety utterances, seemingly unrelated if considered from a speech act perspective. The most significant finding presented in this chapter, however, points to the constancy of turn shape implicated in outcomes. That is, disputes were always resolved through final utterances performed in dispreferred turn shapes or threats. Conversely, preferred turn shapes were prevalent in concluding sequences of abandoned or intervened conflict. Through classification and analysis of the dispute closings, preference organisation (as identified throughout Chapter 4 by the presence or absence of markedness) emerges as an influential principle in the development and outcome of disputes: dispreferred turn shapes lead to resolution; preferred turn shapes are not heard in the final utterances of resolved disputes. As only the final turns of each episode were considered in this chapter, we cannot infer that all dispreferred turn shapes resolve disputes. Sequences of discourse need to be examined to consider where dispreferred turns shapes are successful in securing mutual acceptance of the dispute closing. Therefore, the discussion now moves to address the specific features of dispreferred turn shapes which are implicated in resolution.
Chapter 6
Preference and Dispute Outcomes
Introduction In the previous chapter, it was established that the final utterances of resolved disputes are overwhelmingly performed in a dispreferred turn shape. It does not follow, however, that dispreferred turns always secure resolution. It remains to be seen, then, if some finer distinction exists; if there are particular sequential characteristics of these utterances that are implicated in resolution. The analysis of dispreferred turn shapes in Chapter 4 pointed to accounts as the most prominent component of these turn shapes in the childrens disputes, so the focus now shifts to an analysis of justifications. As seen in the earlier analysis, a variety of accounts are used throughout dispute episodes. Are certain accounts apprehended as more persuasive than others? Are persuasive accounts attributed to content? Can examples of successful accounts (appearing dispute-final position) be found in early stages of other arguments? What types of accounts are implicated in a restart of preferred turn exchanges? Responding to these questions and subsequently uncovering sequential patterns in the childrens arguments forms the substance of this chapter. Accounts in final utterances of resolved disputes Accounts are the universal feature of dispreferred turn shapes in the data: while most dispreferred turns are prefaced with delay (pause or marker), all incorporate some kind of account. In Chapter 4, various types of accounts were identified in the disputes, namely: (1) references to personal desire (want, need, (dis)likes); (2) claiming ownership of objects or play area; (3) stating properties of objects, play space or play script; (4) invoking behavioural obligations (e.g. rules of sharing); and (5) epistemological claims. Whilst these categories are not proposed as finite, a grouping of accounts based on content allows for exploration of possible distribution according to referents. Fundamentally, does the referent of the account (what the justification is based upon) influence the persuasiveness of the turn and subsequently the outcome of the conflict? This question will be answered first by considering the types of accounts appearing in the closings of resolved disputes. A review of the final sequences of turns in resolved disputes shows a predominance of accounts which refer to properties of entities under dispute. More accounts are based on these concrete qualities than all other four types of
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accounts combined. Illustration of the sequential context of these accounts in each resolved dispute follows.
Ob1.3 2 KOY: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 JON: KOY: KOY: ADM: KOY: ADM: KOY: ADM: %act: where i can go Adam? (1.1) nowhe[re]. [i] got a rocket? (1.3) i got a rocket (and a jet). (1.3) no thats a- thats got ehhm no only jets and rockets. (1.4) im a rocket too. (0.5) no: cause (0.3) rockets are not allowed to come in (.) only (0.4) a rocket and a jet (0.4) cause theres no space in there. (0.2) im a jet. (0.8) now this is gonna have a bigKOY joins ADM and JON at the table.
In Ob1.3, Adam supports his refusal to allow entry of Koyos rocket (line 8) by stating that only objects which are a combination of rocket and jet have access to the landing strip (table), suggesting he did not hear the barely audible second part of Koyos utterance in line 5 (and a jet). As Koyo conforms to the criteria set by Adam (only a rocket and a jet) by changing his description of his rocket to jet, Adam makes no further objection and the dispute is resolved (boys continue in collaborative play).
Ob1.2 1 ADM: ((to JON)) move out the way! 2 JON: no no (0.3) no this [spacesh-] 3 ADM: [no no no] (.) no [no] this one hasnt got any le:gs. 4 JON: [but-] (0.9) 5 JON: but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. (3.6)
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Johns successful utterance in line 5 (no further challenge made by Adam) was preceded by Adams justified objection this one hasnt got any legs. Johns dispreferred turn shape features a number of restarts, noticeably changing the account from a property of the object (the spaceships not ready) to an inclusive depiction of the participants (were just not ready yet). Significant in this account is the plural pronoun we (vs. the less persuasive Im not ready), and the mitigating just. This appeal enlists Adam and secures resolution of the episode.
Ob1.13 14 15 16 17 18 %act: KOY: ADM: ADM: ADM: ADM puts his car next to the blocks =STO::P! NO i have to stay out of the garage (0.3) (o)kay (0.3) coz its fat. (0.9) see? its got this- (0.2) its got (0.3) hard job to do. (2.6) LUK: ((to ADM)) im making one for you. %com: Play continues and ADM is now part of the group.
Prior to this segment of the dispute (Ob1.13), Koyo has refused Adams entry into the garage because his car is too big. Adam placates Koyo by incorporating this objection into his own account for placing his car next to the garage (line 13). This account (conforming to the size requirements established by Koyo) is successful as no further objection is made, and Adam is accepted as legitimate member of the garage-making, car-driving play group.
Ob1.16 7 8 9 10 11 12 %act: SAM: ADM: SAM: %com: SAM: SAM: ADM: ADM pulls down a block that SAM has placed upright no: (0.4) that is UP. (0.7) no but i wanna make CRECHE. (0.3) but its my bui:ldi:ng (.) i: did this bridge. (3.2) ADM is watching SAM move the blocks. and its-, (1.6) and these (0.3) these go over like that.= =yeah but (0.2) but thats the river you remember that (.) .hhh thats the river. (0.3)
154 13 14
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes SAM: thats the river going (0.9) going u:nder it. (0.4) ADM: yes. (2.7) %com: cooperative play continues.
Adams account for his objection in line 8 fails to persuade Sam, who responds with his own dispreferred turn. Both boys base their early opposition on reflexive motivations: I want, I built. Sams account in line 9 is not challenged by Adam, suggesting rights to the play script are strengthened by prior claim (the fact that Sam originally built the bridge holds more sway than Adams plans to turn the building into creche). Adam accepts Sams authority, but saves face by making his own addition to the play script (line 12) which is taken up by Sam. It is consensus to the properties of the bridge ((i) that it is a bridge and (ii) that there is a river going under it) that secure the mutually contrived closing.
Ob1.19 1 LUK: 2 SAM: 3 4
(%act) puts a block on the shelf. leave them there (0.3) Adams (.) Adams in charge of putting them away (0.3) Luke? (5.7) LUK: i saw you: put one away= SAM: =that doesnt matter cause it wasnt a block it was a cylinder. %com: LUK makes no further comment.
In Ob1.19, line 2, Sam explains his objection to Luke putting blocks back on the shelf by stating that this responsibility has been assigned to Adam. Luke challenges the quality of this opposition (why should he not be allowed to put blocks away when he saw Sam do the same thing). Sam immediately counters this objection by qualifying his own actions, clarifying the distinct features of the object he returned to the shelf: it wasnt a block it was a cylinder. This specificity is met with no further opposition from Luke and the dispute is quickly resolved.
Ob1.33 1 2 3 4 5 6 PET: CHE: PET: CHE: now: (0.6) you have to have a baby: now [you]-, [no] (0.3) theres no baby in this one. ye:s its [xx], [no] (0.2) coz (0.2) first we need to do it again (0.3) at the start. (1.9) no::. PET: CHE: (goes there). (0.9)
Preference and Dispute Outcomes 7
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PET: no:: weve already been (near) the start. %com: Cherie makes no response. Parallel play continues
Cheries dispreferred turn shape in line 4 is based on necessity first we need to do it again. Peter objects in a preferred turn shape (line 5) then accounts for his opposition by challenging the content of Cheries prior account (line 7). In this utterance, Peter corrects Cheries version of the play script. Cheries zero response and the continuing play indicates resolution.
Ob1.34 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ADM: PET: FEL: PET: ADM: FEL: ADM: PET: ADM: =i wanna have a turn. but i:m not fin(.)ished ye::t.= =yeah:. (0.6) well .hh, (1.9) no:,= =no[:]. [tha]ts a long tu:rn. (0.2) ive got four more minutes (left). (0.4) ((to FEL)) no i think hes got four more minutes
Peters early attempt to justify his refusal to let Adam use a toy car Im not finished yet and his subsequent abandoned dispreferred turn (line 11) fails to satisfy Adam and Felicity. The account in Peters next turn addresses Adams objection (thats a long turn) by specifying a restricted period of time after which he will relinquish the car, and presumably allow Adam to play with it (Ive got four minutes left). This justification is validated by Adam: hes got four more minutes.
Ob2.5 2 3 4 5
LOU: you did it. (0.4) ELI: no i didnt?= LOU: =coz you were- (0.4) you were putting (0.3) your (.) h:ands on it. (0.3) ELI: no .hh coz i was helping with Hilary. %act: LOU and ELI start rebuilding.
In Ob2.5, the adjacency pair of preferred turns (lines 2 and 3) is followed by a dispreferred turn shape produced by Louise (line 4). Elinor subsequently rejects the prior account and provides an alibi she could not be held responsible for the
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blocks falling down because she was helping with Hilary. This justification, describing concrete actions, is accepted by Louise (no further challenge) and the dispute is resolved.
Ob2.12 1 2 3 4 5 WIN: LOU: LOU: WIN: LOU: %com: do:nt youre wrecking everything. well im trying to go round. 0 ((%act: knocks another set of blocks)) DO:NT! well im trying to get through and you put so many things here. WIN makes no further comment.
In Ob2.12, Louise defends her first infringement (knocking over the block bridge) as unintentional well Im trying to go round. In response to the next attack (line 4) Louise points to Winnies role in the accident you put so many things there which successfully resolves the dispute. The examples above illustrate that most accounts in final turns of resolved disputes are based on concrete entities of the play objects, play space, play script or play actions. The common feature of these properties is the transparency of the justification. That is, in each of the successful dispreferred turns above, the content of the account is visible or verifiable to the opposing party. These accounts are based on tangible properties, present in the interaction. More abstract accounts were also implicated in resolution, although less frequently. Epistemological claims, for example were used by children in Ob2 to secure resolution. In Ob2.14 below, Toms (actual) knowledge of how to read the time is tacitly accepted by Don. In line 8, Tom challenges Dons statement its one oclock in a preferred turn format. His correction is only successful, however, when he provides a further account of the actual time (ten oclock) in line 10.
Ob2.14 7 DON: [one] oclo:ck (0.4) yea::h (.) its one oclock. (0.2) 8 TOM: no its not. (2.3) 9 DON: (on (.) on the) time it says-, 10 TOM: its not thats ten oclock. %act: ALI then draws DONs attention back to the spaceship play.
Similarly, in that the justification is based on the speakers knowledge, a truth account appears in Ob2.23.
Preference and Dispute Outcomes Ob2.23 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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ROB: NIG: SIM: NIG:
youve gotta have a muffin with [me]. [i] already had-, (0.4) ive already had mi:ne? (0.4) ive >already had morning tea< too (1.3) NIG: we already had morning tea:? (0.6) ROB: did not Nigel. NIG: yeah i did (0.2) >you didnt< see us
Rob challenges Nigel and Simons claims that they have already had morning tea (line 8). Nigel claims that Rob is not in a position to disbelieve them as he did not witness the event (an event that Simon and Nigel maintain has occurred). Importantly, Robert only accepts their claims once this account (you didnt see us) has been made. Invoking behavioural norms or expectations of appropriate behaviour has been identified in the data as a justification used by children. This type of account was heard, although not frequently, in the closings of resolved disputes. In the two episodes below, references to expectations of appropriate behaviour secured acquiescence.
Ob1.8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 JON: TES: JON: TES: TES: JON: JON: oh you got my one (.) x ing it. no: we are sharing John? no (0.3) no you got my blue one. (0.4) but we (0.3) but (0.5) but we are just sharing. (0.8) that one goes in there [John]. [yeah] oh yeah coz-, (1.0) oh yeah coz.
The persuasiveness of mitigating dispreferred turn shapes is exemplified in Ob1.8. Tess invokes the sharing rule in her first opposition (line 2), but is only successful when she repeats this account in a marked turn shape (repetition of but at the beginning of the utterance) and includes the modifier just. Notably, the plural pronoun we (as in Ob1.2 above) is implicated in resolution of this episode. Also, the rule of sharing is produced as a description by Tess rather than as a more direct (confronting) instruction (e.g. you have to share).
158 Ob2.4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
JAK: oh (then the two of us can) do it today? LOU: no i can do it (0.2) JAK: NO: I WANNA Do it. (0.5) JAK: the the teacher said i will do it. (0.3) LOU: no:w (.) i know which day (0.2) and i can do it= JAK: =i can do it too. (0.6) LOU: no (.) i i can do it [I-], %act: pulling arrow from JAK JAK: [its] gonna break >its gonna break< (0.3) LOU: i know but im very gentle. %act: puts arrow on Friday %act: both children return to collaborative play with connector pieces.
Each childs turn in Ob2.4 is designed to establish their authority to put the arrow on the calendar. Jack upgrades his justification from I wanna do it to incorporating external validation of his claim the teacher said I will do it. Louise persists in stating her ability (line 5 and 7) which is repeated by Jack (line 7). In response to Jacks complaint that the arrow will break (line 8), Louise acknowledges this (I know) and promotes her ability to manage the situation (but Im very gentle), underscoring the appropriate (and therefore defensible) quality of her actions. Louise has possession of the arrow by this stage and places it on the calendar with no further objection from Jack. Ownership accounts were similarly infrequent in dispreferred turns in the closings of resolved disputes. In the following two examples, ownership rights to objects (blocks, a car) are stated as accounts, although in Ob2.13 the claim is revoked as a mistake.
Ob1.21 2 CHE: 3 4 5 dont break ours Peter? (1.2) but we need lots of (these). PET: (1.6) CHE: but but dont take o:urs. (0.5) PET: no we wont.
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Peters dispreferred turn in line 3 (Ob1.21) is based on a necessity claim we need. Cherie counters with another delayed, marked utterance which invokes ownership rights to particular blocks. Given that there are enough blocks for both parties in this instance, Cheries turn in line 4 is acknowledged and accepted by Peter in the subsequent turn.
Ob2.13 1 2 3 4 5 WIN: LOU: WIN: LOU: WIN: %com: 0 ((%act: drives a car onto the blocks)) i want to u:se (.) i was using that car. (0.4) no you were using that car. (0.6) what? (0.8) that car that youve got already Lou makes no response
Winnie resolves the dispute Ob2.13 by clarifying which car Louise was using i.e. challenging the content of Louises initial objection (line 2). An interesting feature of this initial objection is Louises revision from basing her opposition on volition I want to use to claiming prior ownership I was using that car; an intra-utterance upgrade of accounts, discussed further below. Winnie points to the falsity of this second account and consequently settles the dispute. On only one occasion in the data was an account based on personal desire heard in the final utterance of a resolved dispute. Noteworthy in this instance, however, is that the dislike is attributed to another party rather than claimed by the speaker himself. In Ob1.6 (below), Sam claims that John does not like pink (and consequently should be able to fish for red fish exclusively). Importantly this claim is supported by a reference to equal distribution of fishing rights.
Ob1.6 1 SAM: John you got a red- (.) you have to get a red one (0.3)[you have to pick up red.] 2 TES: [no: i need r]e:d (0.3) coz i like that colour as well. 3 JON: NO: 4 SAM: no:. (1.0) 5 TES: no i like that colour as we:ll (0.8) 6 SAM: drop (0.2) (Johns got those) (0.7) you got those ones Johns got these ones. (0.9)
160 7 TES:
but (0.3) i got three coz i need (1.3) that many. (1.6) 8 SAM: but then (0.4) John will have three (0.3) and you dont like pink do you John. (0.9) 9 JON: hmm (0.3) no. (4.4) %com: TES makes no further attempt at topic.
Whilst the summary of analysis above has a quantitative appearance, it is the distribution of accounts rather than the frequency of occurrence which is of primary interest. The features of each turn have been considered in relationship to the outcome of the dispute. In other words, the examples above have been used to demonstrate specific qualities of dispreferred turn shapes in the closings of resolved disputes, for the purpose of identifying an organising principle of influence. Dispreferred turn shapes, however, are not limited to final utterances of resolved disputes. Having discussed the types of accounts which appear in resolved sequences, our attention turns to justifications used by the children which fail to persuade their playmates. Specifically, where dispreferred turns are followed by preferred turn shapes. Are particular types of accounts more likely to precede a restart of overt conflict? If certain types of accounts are prevalent in resolved disputes, are different types of accounts found in earlier stages of disputes, or in adversative interaction which is abandoned or closed through teacher intervention? Accounts preceding preferred turn shapes The effectiveness of concrete accounts has been demonstrated, as most disputes are resolved through dispreferred turns incorporating tangible, verifiable or quantifiable justifications. Conversely, more abstract types of accounts, particularly those which are based on personal volition, are less frequent in the final sequences of resolved disputes. This suggests that properties of objects, play space or play script are more likely to function as successful accounts. If this assumption holds, we would expect to see fewer of these types of accounts in the early stages of all arguments and in the closings of unresolved episodes. Moreover, the fact that accounts based on personal volition are scarce in the closings of resolved disputes, suggests that they may appear elsewhere in unpersuasive turns. The examples in this section appear throughout the data in all types of disputes (resolved and unresolved). As the sequences of utterances remain the analytical focus, our attention is directed to types of accounts produced in dispreferred turns which precede preferred turn shapes. That is, are particular types of accounts unsuccessful, not only in failing to persuade the other party, but by prompting a reversion to overt opposition displayed in preferred turn shape? Are certain
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accounts more likely to reignite the conflict rather than move towards some sort of mutually acceptable outcome? Firstly, it is noted that the types of accounts heard in the closing stages of resolved disputes are not always successful. In the following abandoned episode (Ob1.15), for example, a justification based on properties of the object under dispute is rejected by the subsequent speaker.
Ob1.15 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 PET: ADM: ADM: RON: SAM: ADM: SAM: PET: ADM: PET: ADM: PET: but [but can i have] this one? [that that-], (0.2) no coz that ones little tiny and (.) its got .hhh little pieces (0.3) .hhh and you might choke on them (0.4) .hhh [and] its (0.2) and theres a sharp thing up the back. [what-], (1.1) thats a tow bar thats what thats called a [tow bar]. [yeah but] but ah (0.2) coz i dont have a- but i dont have a trai:ler. (0.6) it doesnt matter if you dont have a trailer .hhhh [coz its too xxx.] [no but i:] but i: want (.) one of those. (1.2) yeah but i (.) but i dont have any more. (1.3) but which one can i have then. (1.0) (i have) nothing for you. (0.4) why:. (2.3) ((to PET)) make with me! (0.2) oka:y i will make with (0.2) Sam then ((to ADM)) i wont be your friend anymore (0.4) ((to SAM)) now can i have that one? (0.9) here you go. ((gives car to PET))
17 SAM: 18 PET: 19 PET: 20 SAM: @End
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In Ob1.15 Adam defends his refusal to let Peter use a car by referring to properties of the object itself which make it unsuitable (line 7). Following a side sequence between Adam and Sam about tow bars and trailers, Peter counters with an account based on personal volition in line 12 (but I want one of those). Adams delayed response claims that he has no more cars to give to other children. When Adam does not respond to Peters request for further information (line 16), Peter accepts Sams offer (line 17) and issues a parting threat to Adam (who makes no response). In Ob1.15, although Adams account in line 7 is rejected by Peter, this rejection is not performed in preferred turn shape. However, property accounts do sometimes appear as first pair parts to preferred turn shape second pair parts.
Ob2.20 2 ROB: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 hey thats mine Gary:. (1.2) GAR: its just a little one (0.2) ROB: hey dont! (1.5) GAR: you didnt see it (.) that [xx if you can] the (fishy) one this (.)((singsong voice)) eeny meeny miney moo (0.2) catch a tiger by the toe (.) if you holler [[let him go eeny meeny miney]] moo, ROB: [no:: (give it) back]! %act: takes piece from GARs construction ROB: [[you cant take it FROM SOMEONE ELSE]]! (0.9) ROB: this is mine (0.7) GAR: then (you cant) come to my party.
In Ob2.20, Robs objection that Gary has taken a piece that belongs to him (thats mine) is met with the justified opposition its just a little one (line 3). This is immediately responded to with a preferred turn shape from Rob. Subsequently the episode reaches a stalemate of exchanged threats. Properties of the play script were also rejected as persuasive accounts in the following two disputes. In Ob1.20, Luke rejects Peters prior account (but this is where the sun is) by pushing his hand away (line 5), which Peter subsequently responds to with a preferred turn shape. In Ob1.32, Sam opposes Koyos version of the play script (the show is finished). Koyo repeats this justification as a form of opposition throughout the episode.
Preference and Dispute Outcomes Ob1.20 3 LUK: 4 PET: 5
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no: youre drawing on the moo::n.= =but this is where the sun is. (1.9) LUK: 0 ((%act: pushes PETs hand away))
Ob1.32 4 KOY: the show is finished (0.4) Sam the (.) .hhh show is finished Sam you cant - (0.2) [now you], 5 SAM: [noea]ngh::. ((whines))
In the following two examples (appearing in disputes resolved by the teacher Ob1.14 and by the participants Ob1.7), an account based on the speakers defence of his own actions is rejected outright by the opposing party. Throughout Ob1.14, Sams repeated account (I was trying to balance it), identifying his actions as unintentional, is consistently met with preferred turn shapes from Luke. In Ob1.7, Tess claims rights to the boxes used in the magnet game because she is doing fishing, an account met with nonverbal rejection by Sam (as he takes back the boxes).
Ob1.14 3 4 5 6 7 LUK: SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: [o]:h YOU DID THA:T!= =i was trying to bal[ance it]. [tst oh] oh [oh oh no: ]. ((whining)) [i was trying to balance] i:t.= =NAUGHTY!
Ob1.7 TES: but (0.3) i am doing fishing. 6 7 SAM: 0 ((%act: SAM succeeds in reclaiming the boxes)) (0.6)
Accounts based on concrete properties of objects, play script and actions, therefore, are not always successful in securing resolution. The frequency of distribution of this type of account, however, is of fundamental importance. This type of account appeared in the majority of final dispreferred turns in resolved disputes. Conversely, this type of account was least common in eliciting a preferred response (i.e. reinitiation of overt conflict) throughout all disputes. Other types of accounts are more likely to be met with unmarked opposition. Justifications based on factual or epistemological claims, for example, were more often than not promptly rejected. In Ob2.7, although Carolines response occurs after a delay (1.2 seconds), the content of Elinors prior claim is overtly challenged.
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Ob2.7 8 ELI: i know she is (.) but thats a boy (.) i know that. %com: referring to doll (1.2) 9 CAZ: girls can have short hair.
In another abandoned dispute (Ob2.19), Garys preferred opposition (no) in line 2 follows a claim made by Simon that he witnessed some objectionable action (epistemological account). The interaction then moves to a series of exchanged threats.
Ob2.19 1 SIM: Gary: (0.5) this afterno:on i saw you put the (x x). (0.7) 2 GAR: n:o:.
In Ob2.3, Garys claim that he is going home before lunch, is directly contradicted by Tom (no you arent). It should be noted that leaving before lunch is an unusual occurrence in this child care centre.
Ob2.3 6 GAR: Im going befo:re lunch. (1.0) 7 TOM: no you are::nt.
In Ob1.25, Koyos objection to Sam taking the car is based on a claim to prior ownership (its mine and I was using it). Sam accounts for his actions by explaining that he was under the impression the Koyo was no longer using the car, an impression corrected by Koyo in subsequent turns. This epistemological account (line 4 etc.) is inherently subjective, relying on Sams perception of the availability of the toy. Notably, the interaction breaks down as both boys persist in repeating their prior objection.
Ob1.25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SAM: KOY: KOY: SAM: KOY: 0 ((%act: picks up a car that KOY had been using)) its mi::ne. (0.9) i was us[ing it-], [BUT i] thought you werent using i:t,= =im using it (0.3) i wanna- (.) tha[ts (mine)]. SAM: [i thought you] werent using i::t.= KOY: =i wanna (.) but (.) i was- that was mi:ne.
Preference and Dispute Outcomes 8 9 SAM: but i thought you werent using i:t. YYY: ((to SAM)) well i think he still is
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Epistemological accounts were also rejected in two instances in the early stages of resolved disputes. In Ob1.13, Koyo immediately challenges the claim of thirdparty permission made by Adam (line 3).
Ob1.13 1 ADM: 2 KOY: 3 4 0 ((%act: drives duplo car towards garage)) no big cars! (2.4) ADM: yeah but Luke said i can come in. KOY: Luke (doesnt have) big cars.
In Ob2.23, Robert negates Nigel and Simons prior claims that they have already had morning tea (truthful claim). As Nigel subsequently points to the fact that Robert is not in a position to contradict him (because he did not see them eat morning tea), the dispute is brought to an end.
Ob2.23 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ROB: NIG: ROB: NIG: SIM: NIG: Nige::l (.) (come and have a) muffin with me. (0.4) what? (0.2) youve gotta have a muffin with [me]. [i] already had-, (0.4) ive already had mi:ne? (0.4) ive >already had morning tea< too (1.3) NIG: we already had morning tea:? (0.6) ROB: did not Nigel. NIG: yeah i did (0.2) >you didnt< see us %act: ROB walks off to have morning tea.
Accounts based on appeals to acceptable/permissible behaviour were also responded to with overt (preferred) opposition in the data. In Ob1.11 Nancys turn invoking an obligation to share is met with a preferred (although delayed) response from Cherie, prompting a cycle of preferred turns throughout the remaining dispute.
Delay may be accounted for in this instance by prior opposition made by Felicity, i.e. next-speaker selection is not automatic or straightforward in multiparty disputes.
166 Ob1.11 11 NAN: 12
you have to sha:re (.) dont get away. (1.2) CHE: we (.) a:re.
In Ob1.12, Adams protest in line 6 is based on the rule of sharing. This turn, and his following upgrade in line 8 (stating the rule is imposed by the teacher), is met with overt (shouted) opposition by Luke (lines 7 and 9). The episode then breaks down to a series of repeated short utterances, until Adam abandons his attempts to join the group.
Ob1.12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 LUK: ADM: LUK: LUK: SAM: ADM: LUK: ADM: LUK: ADM: LUK: KOY: ADM: against the wall? (0.7) no you need to make a hu:ge house. (0.3) were no:t. (0.9) none for A- (.) none for Adams. (0.2) no. you HAFta SHARE. (0.6) NO:? (0.6) yeah but the teacher says (0.4) share. (0.5) NO:? (0.2) <YES she does>. (0.6) [no:]? [im mak]ing a garage. (0.6) Y[ES:].
In Ob2.21, Nigels opposition is based on the centres rule that outside play cannot begin until a teacher has moved outside (which has already occurred in this instance, witnessed by Simon but not by Nigel). Following a request for clarification (presumably Simon did not hear Nigels utterance in line 2), Simon opposes Nigels admonition outright.
Preference and Dispute Outcomes Ob2.21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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SIM: NIG: SIM: NIG: SIM: NIG: SIM: %act:
im going outsi:de. (0.3) no youre not allowed to (1.0) wha:t? (0.3) youre not allowed to go outside, yea:h (0.3) no youre not, i a::m? SIM opens door and goes outside.
In Ob2.20 Robs utterance in line 7 is also unsuccessful, although it is not met with immediate opposition, because the behaviour rule is ignored by Gary.
Ob2.20 6 ROB: [no:: (give it) back]! %act: takes piece from GARs construction 7 ROB: [[you cant take it FROM SOMEONE ELSE]]!
In Ob1.17, Adam objects to Peter taking all the blocks by invoking the rule of sharing (line 7), which is explicitly rejected by Peter in the next turn. Adam repeats this account throughout the dispute and Peter invariably responds with the most direct form of opposition, using the single word no. Adams final shouted objection (prior to bursting into tears) claims that the blocks do not belong to Peter.
Ob1.17 6 PET: im gonna get all of these (0.4) little blocks,= %act: PET starts removing blocks from shelf. 7 ADM: =yeah but YOU HAVE TO SHARE. (1.5) 8 PET: but were not gonna share with our toys [are we]((this directed to SAM and KOY)) 9 ADM: [yeah but] you [HAVE to]. 10 KOY: [>we dont want to share] with [you<.] 11 PET: [NO.] (0.2) 12 KOY: no. (0.5)
168 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes ADM: yeah BUT YOU HAVE TO. (0.8) PET: no. (0.3) ADM: .hh NO BUT YOU HAVE TO SHARE. (1.1) KOY: NO. %act: PET and KOY start taking blocks from the floor that ADM has taken from the shelf. (0.6) PET: yeah weve got all of our-, %act: takes more blocks. (1.3) ADM: THEY ARE NOT YOU:R BLOCKS. %act: PET and KOY continue to take ADMs blocks. (0.4) ADM: if you (0.6) (that) (.) NO:.((starts to cry)) %yyy: teacher intervenes, saying to observer Somebody needs a sleep today.
In two resolved episodes, behavioural accounts (invoking rules/norms of comportment) failed to persuade the other party in the earlier stages of the dispute. In Ob2.1, in response to Mirandas claim that the plastic lids are not distributed equally (because youve got lots there) which indirectly invokes the rule of sharing, Caroline restates her refusal to give any of her lids to Miranda.
Ob2.1 3 CAZ: no: (0.3) (Ive got these). 4 MIR: then give one to me Caroline because youve got lots there. (1.0) 5 CAZ: im not giving any of these to you
In Ob2.25, Pauls complaint (line 8) rests on the charge of Jim cheating and the claim that Paul needs a block. This utterance and the (delayed) accompanying action (pulling the blocks apart) are overtly opposed by Jim. The dispute is subsequently resolved by Paul stating a compromise.
Ob2.25 6 7 8 JIM: PAU: PAU: 0 ((%act: pushes the ramps together)) hey youre making it differe::nt. (0.3) youre cheati:ng i need o:ne. ((whining))
Preference and Dispute Outcomes 9 10 PAU: 0 ((%act: pulls blocks apart)) (2.3) JIM: o::y:.
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More frequent in the data were examples of ownership accounts (claiming (prior) rights to objects or play space) followed by preferred turn shapes. Whilst this type of account was only heard twice in the closings of resolved disputes, dispreferred turns incorporating these accounts were typically rejected overtly by the next speaker. On two occasions in the data, the account referred to rights to play space.
Ob2.9 5 PAU: 0 ((%act: continues to touch blocks)) 6 LOU: do:nt! (1.1) 7 PAU: you can still (.) fix it (1.1) ((to WIN)) Pauls spoiling- (0.3) ((to PAU)) we 8 LOU: were here fi:rst. (0.5) 9 PAU: we were here first. (0.4) 10 PAU: xx [ xxx] 11 LOU: [we (need)] the-, 12 LOU: we were- off you go because we were here first! (3.4) 13 LOU: youre wrecking everything. %act: PAU moves away from block area.
At the beginning of Ob2.9 Louise makes continued objections to Pauls nonverbal behaviour (he is touching what Louise and Winnie have made with wooden blocks). Louises first account is produced in line 8, claiming prior rights to the play space, countered with a repeat from Paul we were here first. Louise abandons her next attempt, we need and reverts to telling Paul to leave because we were here first. Paul gives up and moves away. In Ob2.2 below, Mirandas claim of ownership is immediately rejected by Jake (line 8).
Ob2.2 7 MIR: [but that] was our fairy [spaceship]. 8 JAK: [no::]!
Elsewhere, ownership claims rejected by the opposing party referred to objects under dispute. In Ob2.7, for example, Carolines ownership claim is responded to with a short, direct counter-claim by Elinor.
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Ob2.7 11 CAZ: no thats mine (i got mi:ne) mine! (0.4) 12 ELI: its mine.
In Ob1.4, in response to Tess claim that everybody is entitled to sing the Barbie song, Hilarys objects that the song is hers to sing if she wants to, repeating in the subsequent turn that its my song (line 3). This prompts a counter claim from Tess that the song belongs to her, not Hilary. Throughout the remaining dispute this claim is repeated by the girls in short turns with increasing volume (on Tess part).
Ob1.4 1 TES: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 HIL: HIL: TES: HIL: TES: TES: YYY: everybody can sing it (0.5) not just you:? (4.6) well i sing my song if i want. (1.7) its my: so:ng its my song too: and its not your song. (0.2) it is my song. (0.5) NOT YOUR: SONG. (0.6) EENGHH ((screeches in frustration)) .hhh (.) ITS NOT YOUR SONG Hilary. (1.5) Tess are you okay?
In Ob2.8, Winnie rejects Pauls continued ownership claims. Paul upgrades his account of prior ownership by specifying the period in which the object was in his possession. Winnie immediately contradicts this claim (line 9). Pauls response is to resort to a tell-authority threat.
Ob2.8 1 WIN: 2 3 4 5 6 7 PAU: WIN: PAU: WIN: PAU: WIN: ive got a great idea what we can do with this (2.5) give it to me! i [found it]. [no i-](.) no i had i:t. i found it no i had it a while ag[o]? [no]. (0.5)
Preference and Dispute Outcomes 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 PAU: WIN: PAU: WIN: PAU: PAU: %com: WIN: PAU: %yyy:
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i had it a while ago.= =no you did[nt]. [well] im telling on you. (0.7) excuse me [Y]YY. [no] um Caroline gave it to me. Caroline is not present in the play (0.5) excuse me [YYY]. [Caroline] gave it to me. teacher intervenes but response is inaudible.
Overwhelmingly, however, accounts based on the speakers volition prove to be the least effectual. Personal accounts (based on the speakers wants, needs or (dis)likes) are predominantly met with a preferred turn shape from the opposing party, and subsequently are much more likely to promote rather than resolve conflict. Most of these personal accounts invoke need as the reason for opposition. The exigency may be attributed reflexively to the speaker (I need), to the other party (you need) or as an inclusive attempt to engage the opposee (we need). Most examples represent a collective need, comprising both parties. For example, in Ob1.33, Peter objects outrightly to Cheries claim that they need to return to the beginning of the pretend play script. He later accounts for this opposition (successfully) by explaining that they have already been near the start.
Ob1.33 2 3 4 CHE: [no] (0.3) theres no baby in this one. PET: ye:s its [xx], CHE: [no] (0.2) coz (0.2) first we need to do it again (0.3) at the start. (1.9) PET: no::. CHE: (goes there). (0.9) PET: no:: weve already been (near) the start. %com: Cherie makes no response. Parallel play continues
5 6 7
In Ob1.31, Sam complains that he wants to add more carrots to the mixture. This is opposed by Adams account that adding more corks (not carrots in Adams version of the play script) is unnecessary. Sam objects almost immediately (overlapping with Koyos turn). This exchange is followed by a series of preferred turn shapes, ultimately interrupted by the teacher.
172 Ob1.31 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
SAM: ADM: KOY: SAM: ADM: KOY: ADM: SAM: KOY: SAM: JON: YYY:
(i want to put) some more of those in. (0.6) no we dont need to put corks in.= =excuse m[e:]. [no] theyre food (0.7) they[re] carro[ts.] [no], [>put](them) in<. no theyre not. (0.2) theyre carrots! (0.4) look (0.2) theyre carrots. (0.4) ((to teacher)) theyre not [xxx]. AHH: HA. whoopsie (you) dropped the food. (1.4) SAM: ((to teacher)) <hes not letting me put->, KOY: excuse me [xxx]. YYY: [talk to] your friends talk to your friends.
In Ob1.12, Adams first turn (line 2) is based on a claim of necessity, in an attempt to direct the play. Lukes response is made in preferred turn shape, a prompt rejection of Adams suggestion.
Ob1.12 1 2 3 LUK: ADM: LUK: against the wall? (0.7) no you need to make a hu:ge house. (0.3) were no:t.
In Ob2.25, Pauls complaint, challenging the cheat of Jims actions, is accompanied by the plea I need one. This claim and the accompanying action are overtly challenged by Jim (line 10).
Ob2.25 8 PAU: youre cheati:ng i need o:ne. ((whining)) 9 PAU: 0 ((%act: pulls blocks apart)) (2.3) 10 JIM: o::y:.
Tess stance in Ob1.6 is unusual in that she incorporates two volition accounts in a single utterance (line 2). The immediate, bald rejection made by both John
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and Sam, applies to the turn as a whole and could address either account as objectionable. Interestingly, however, in this turn, the liking serves as the account for the opposition.
Ob1.6 2 TES: 3 4 [no: i need r]e:d (0.3) coz i like that colour as well. JON: NO: SAM: no:.
Like or dislike typically appears in sequences as an account which is met with direct opposition (preferred turn shape). Only in Ob 1.6 (above) does the speaker refer to personal appreciation as a form of justification. Each other instance invokes dislike as an account for opposition and is expressed in the first person. On one occasion (Ob1.6) this type of account is attributed to another speaker, but is heard in the closing of a resolved dispute rather than preceding continuing conflict. In Ob2.11, Freds antipathy is expressed through the more forceful hate. This account for getting rid of the helmet (having thrown it out of the play area) is rejected by Paul as a justification for his (objectionable) actions.
Ob2.11 3 FRE: i hate this helmet.= 4 PAU: =you cant even throw em out.
An expression of hatred is also used by Elinor in Ob2.7, (upgraded from a prior account of I dont like). These utterances are not met with preferred verbal responses, but instead are ignored by her play partner Caroline.
Ob2.7 17 CAZ: no: theres another girl (0.2) 18 ELI: but i dont like that girl. (6.8) 19 ELI: you cant have two girls. ((petulant tone)) (0.7) 20 ELI: well thats the boy and i hate boys. (1.1)
In Ob1.31, Sam uses the expression I dont like that (line 23). It should be noted that this utterance is not a response to Sam or Koyos immediately prior turns, but rather follows the teachers advice in line 18. This utterance and the accompanying action, however, (he is trying to add more carrots to the mixing bowl) is opposed immediately by Adam.
174 Ob1.31 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
SAM: KOY: YYY: SAM: ADM: SAM: KOY: SAM: ADM:
((to teacher)) <hes not letting me put->, excuse me [xxx]. [talk to] your friends talk to your friends. 0 ((%act: again tries to put carrots in bowl)) thats [got] them. ehh. this ones [mine]. [i (.) dont](.) like that= =NO THATS YYYs.
Wanting is similarly rejected in the data as a weak account, failing to persuade the opposing party. In Ob1.4, Tess effectively ignores the justification made by Tess (line 2) and pursues instead the ownership claim.
Ob1.4 2 HIL: 3 4 well i sing my song if i want. (1.7) HIL: its my: so:ng TES: its my song too: and its not your song.
This account (I want) is similarly ignored by Caroline in Ob2.7, as she addresses Elinors subsequent claim that she (Caroline) has both the girl dolls.
Ob2.7 14 15 16 17 ELI: ELI: ELI: CAZ: i wanna have (.) a gir:l (0.4) i wanna have a one girl. (0.7) youve got two: gi:rls. (0.4) (youve got) both the girls. (0.3) no: theres another girl
Although seemingly performed in dispreferred turn shape, Sams challenge in line 8 (Ob1.10) is an inverted repeat of Tess prior account for opposition. Both claims are disregarded and the play breaks down.
Ob1.10 7 TES: well Milly (0.5) Milly wants to have a turn (0.2) ((then to MIL)) do[nt you]. 8 SAM: [well i:] want to have a turn? (1.3)
Preference and Dispute Outcomes 9 10 11 12
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JON: well (0.9) WELL (0.7) NObody can have (.) my fishing rod. (2.0) TES: ((to MIL)) Mil- (.) im gonna share my: fishing rod. (0.8) JON: well (0.4) im going to share mine with Sam. (1.6) JON: ((to girls)) not you.
It has already been mentioned that the categories of accounts proposed above were not designed for prescriptive or quantitative analysis, but rather have provided a framework for discussion. Sequences of utterances have been reviewed in this chapter to determine possible influences on the development of disputes. Specifically, the components of turns preceding resolution or re-initiation of conflict have been analysed, and the quality of accounts has proven to be responded to in particular ways by the children. Earlier in the analysis, accounts were identified as fundamental properties of dispreferred turn shape, and the type of account is implicated in the form and force of the response. Whilst it has been shown that certain types of accounts are more persuasive (e.g. referring to properties of objects) or more likely to be followed by overt opposition (e.g. accounts based on personal volition), something should be said of a general principle operating throughout the disputes. Analysis of the proposed categories of accounts has generated findings that illustrate broader or generic influences of justifications for opposition. Essentially, by studying different types of accounts, a continuum of objectivity has been discovered. Continuum of objectivity Throughout this chapter, an inverse distribution of types of accounts and outcomes has been identified. That is, where opposition is based on a justification which refers to properties of objects, play space or play script, resolution is the most likely outcome. Conversely these types of accounts are least likely to be followed with overt opposition (preferred turn shape). At the other extreme, accounts based on personal volition (e.g. I want) are overwhelmingly responded to with a direct challenge from the opposing party, and almost never implicated in resolution of disputes. A hierarchy of accounts appears to be operating in the childrens disputes, from most frequently implicated in resolution at the top to least at the bottom. Figure 6.1 illustrates the finding that concrete entities are more likely to secure resolution than factual claims, that factual claims are more effective than challenges invoking behavioural obligations, and so forth, where each account type has proven to be more persuasive than the next. This ranking can be seen as representing degrees of persuasiveness. Importantly, this hierarchy does not only operate in relationship to resolution. In inverse order, each category of account
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is more likely to be met with a preferred turn shape from the opposing party. Justifications such as I want (personal volition) are typically responded to with brief and direct objections. Invoking ownership rights is the next most likely to be met with overt opposition, and so forth. The order, therefore, represents both a gradation of likelihood of resolution, and inversely, the continuation of conflict. From this hierarchy of accounts, a governing rule emerges. Throughout the analysis, the five categories of accounts have been imposed as a framework for investigation; if these categories are removed (to avoid imposed constructs), an overriding pattern emerges. The gradation of persuasiveness or effectiveness presented in Figure 6.1 reveals a paradigm of relative objectivity as an organising principle. In other words, the hierarchy of accounts can be considered in terms of the objectivity of the justification, where objectivity relates to the properties of the referent. The more real, actual or tangible the account, the more likely the utterance will lead to resolution. Conversely, the more subjective or reflexive the account, the more likely the dispute will re-ignite.
properties of objects, play space or play script
epistemological/factual claims
behavioural obligations
ownership rights
personal volition
Figure 6.1 Continuum of account objectivity Qualities of objects or play space are concrete, real entities, and, as such, are openly verifiable to all parties. Factual claims are also palpable (e.g. its ten oclock), but because such a claim is not always open to immediate authentication by the opposing party, the account proves less effective (less objective) than when the referent is a physically present wooden block or toy car. In turn, accounts based
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on behavioural expectations refer to a collective norm, but are acceded to in a subjective manner. That is, sharing is a universal rule, but the application of the rule allows for individual interpretation. Continuing down the scale of objectivity, ownership rights are also subjective and fluid in the preschool classroom, as most objects do not actually belong to any of the children. Use of an object establishes ownership (possession is perhaps greater than nine tenths of the law!) yet claiming prior possession or shared object rights is open to debate. Finally, the least objective or most subjective of the accounts identified in the data refer to personal desire (want, need, like or dislike) as the justification is wholly based on the speakers internal motivation. A criticism could be levelled at the type of analysis presented in this chapter, as a preoccupation with content does not appear to follow conversation analytic principles, and the categories of accounts proposed purely for the purpose of description of data (Chapter 4) appear here as analytic categories. That said, the analysis of dispreferred turns presented here rests on their sequential positioning in the discourse, and their relevance both to the subsequent turn, the immediately prior turn and the turns at talk that precede in this sequence. Importantly, I am not making claims about these accounts proving effective; they are shown to be so by the childrens responses to the dispreferred turn. Claims are made on the basis of how these particular turns with particular accounts are attended to by the children themselves. Certainly, how these accounts are collectively grouped is open to challenge, as these categories are not proscribed by the participants, but the responses remain transparent for the analyst as realised by the participants themselves. Considering accounts in terms of objectivity of the referent, frees the analysis from assigning fixed categories, categories which are not organically derived. Objectivity or subjectivity, however, are wholly recognisable to the children themselves. Indeed it is possible cognizance of the claim which serves as the property of persuasiveness. Where the account refers to something visible or verifiable it is more likely to be effective in persuading the opposing party. It should be emphasised that this hierarchical principle operates as a continuum between objectivity and subjectivity (rather than an either/or nomination). The more objective the account, the more likely it is to promote or result in resolution in subsequent turns. Relative objectivity is found not only across different types of accounts but within the variant performances (i.e. form) of the account. For example, the property of an object is a more tangible referent than an account based on features of the play script (as these features are negotiable). This is exemplified in the following two extracts; Koyos version of events proves ineffectual (Ob1.32), whereas Sams detailed defence based a highly specific description of suitability (he is allowed to return a cylinder to the shelf because it is not technically a block) stumps Luke into submission (Ob1.19). These examples illustrate the lesser influence of less objective accounts. In Ob1.32 Koyo fails to stop Sam from opening the stage doors by claiming that the show is finished, according to his version of the play
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script. Conversely, Sams justification in Ob1.19 is essentially irrefutable, given that he states the palpable property of the object.
Ob1.32 4 KOY: the show is finished (0.4) Sam the (.) .hhh show is finished Sam you cant - (0.2) [now you], 5 SAM: [noea]ngh::. ((whines)) Ob1.19 LUK: i saw you: put one away= 3 4 SAM: =that doesnt matter coz it wasnt a block it was a cylinder.
Similarly the subject or agent of the account operates on a continuum of objectivity, ranging from the collective pronoun we as relatively objective when compared to I as most subjective. The influence of objectivity is reflected in the comparative effectiveness of subject pronouns in the data. Whilst referring to ownership is essentially a subjective justification and subsequently does not usually secure acquiescence, evidence in the data suggests that a plural subject is more persuasive than insisting in the first person singular.
Ob1.21 4 CHE: but but dont take o:urs. (0.5) 5 PET: no we wont. Ob1.4 5 HIL: it is my song. (0.5) 6 TES: NOT YOUR: SONG.
The ranking of effectiveness in terms of objectivity of account is therefore evident across and within the provisional categories of accounts, and as such serves as a comprehensive and unifying feature of justifications used in the childrens arguments. The gradation of objectivity is perhaps most clearly observed in different types of threats, as discussed below. Elsewhere, the relative strength or weakness of accounts is manifested in extended sequences, where upgrading or downgrading is apparent. Objectivity in threats A continuum of objectivity also holds across varieties of threats. Threats produced in the final utterances of disputes led either to outright resolution (submission of one party) or abandonment (dissolution of collaborative play); so outcomes
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may at first appear random. The dispute could go either way: be resolved abruptly or collapse. Interpreted through a paradigm of objectivity, however, persuasive threats are identifiable. Elsewhere, categories of threats are defined by the outcome proposed by the speaker, e.g. withhold action/object (Benoit, 1983). If, however, the content of the threat is considered in terms of relative objectivity an interesting finding presents itself. In earlier parts of the analysis, the majority of threats in dispute closings were identified as promising to withhold desirable objects or rights (a threat of physical harm appeared in the final turns of only one dispute Ob2.10). Threats to withhold incorporated a restricted set of entities: a petrol truck (I wont let you have a turn on the petrol truck), invitations to the speakers birthday party (you cant come to my party), and friendship (I wont be your friend anymore). Of these three referents, access to the petrol truck and access to birthday parties are concrete entities, whilst friendship is subject to individual interpretation. As such, it could be proposed that the more subjective the punishment inherent in promising to remove or withhold friendship, the less persuasive the threat. Where these friendship threats are produced, the episode is either abandoned or closed through teacher intervention. Conversely, birthday party threats appearing at the end of episodes secure resolution. It could be inferred that attending a peers birthday party is prized above being their friend, but the prior analysis of accounts in typical dispreferred turn shapes implicates objectivity as relevant to outcome. The concept of relative objectivity is further supported by the examples of compromise heard in the data. In Chapter 5, the effectiveness of compromises in securing resolution of conflict was discussed. These turns which acknowledge and incorporate the wishes of both parties were identified as non-opposition, as the turn was designed to appease rather than oppose the prior speaker. However, in terms of acknowledging the other speakers point of view, compromises can be identified at the positive extreme of a continuum of objectivity. A compromise acknowledges the position or perspective of the other speaker, and consequently is antithetical to subjective justification for opposition. Essentially, the more objective a justification for opposition, the more likely it is to successfully persuade or placate the other party. This claim at first appears intuitively simple. However, it is through the microanalysis of turns at talk facilitated by a conversation analytic approach to the data that this conclusion is supported. Upgrading/downgrading in dispute sequences Perhaps the idea of a continuum of objectivity in justifications for opposition is best viewed through extended sequences of interaction. In adjacency pairs (across different episodes) a hierarchy of persuasiveness is not directly discernable. The building of turns in disputes, however, provides an opportunity to see an upgrading or downgrading of accounts. Although there is not a constant trend in either
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direction in all disputes (speakers may provide accounts of varying objectivity in varying order) the tendency for upgrading to occur in resolved disputes and downgrading to occur prior to a breakdown in play merits further consideration. Upgrading On the assumption that a hierarchy of accounts is based on objectivity, upgrading consists of subsequent accounts whose referent is increasingly objective. In other words, each speakers new turn is justified by an entity which is more concrete (less dependent on the speakers own perspective) than his or her previous turn. For example, in Ob1.16 below, the accounts move from want (line 2) to need (line 3), to obligation (line 5). Although Adam reverts to his earlier justification of wanting to make crche (line 8), Sams response upgrades to the more tangible, authoritative claim of ownership, as he originally built the bridge (line 9). The upgrading continues to the final utterances which refer to concrete properties of the object (the bridge and the river flowing beneath the bridge).
Ob1.16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ADM: SAM: ADM: SAM: ADM: ADM: %act: SAM: ADM: SAM: %com: SAM: SAM: how bout we make creche:. i wanna make a road (.) and you:r (0.2) rocket (0.2) is under it. (0.7) yeah but (0.6) we need those (.) .hhh coz (0.2) .hh this is- (0.2) how bout we make creche Sam (0.7) no. (1.3) yeah but we have to. (2.1) that (.) that can be (0.5) umm, (2.5) pulls down a block that SAM has placed upright no: (0.4) that is UP. (0.7) no but i wanna make CRECHE. (0.3) but its my bui:ldi:ng (.) i: did this bridge. (3.2) ADM is watching SAM move the blocks. and its-, (1.6) and these (0.3) these go over like that.=
Preference and Dispute Outcomes 12 ADM: 13 SAM: 14 ADM:
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=yeah but (0.2) but thats the river you remember that (.) .hhhthats the river. (0.3) thats the river going (0.9) going u:nder it. (0.4) yes. (2.7) %com: cooperative play continues.
Upgrading may also occur within the same type of account, where the shift is made through the subject rather than the content of the utterance. For example, in Ob1.6, the liking is attributed to a third party as an upgrade on Tess original claim of liking the red fish.
Ob1.6 5 6 7 8 9 TES: SAM: TES: no i like that colour as we:ll (0.8) drop (0.2) (Johns got those) (0.7) you got those ones Johns got these ones. (0.9) but (0.3) i got three coz i need (1.3) that many. (1.6) SAM: but then (0.4) John will have three (0.3) and you dont like pink do you John. (0.9) JON: hmm (0.3) no. (4.4) %act: TES makes no further attempt at topic.
An account may also be considered as upgraded where the speaker rephrases his or her original utterance to include third party authorisation (specifically teacher permission or instruction).
Ob1.12 2 3 4 5 6 ADM: LUK: LUK: SAM: ADM: no you need to make a hu:ge house. (0.3) were no:t. (0.9) none for A- (.) none for Adams. (0.2) no. you HAFta SHARE. (0.6)
182 7 8 9 LUK: ADM: LUK:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes NO:? (0.6) yeah but the teacher says (0.4) share. (0.5) NO:?
Ob2.4 2 LOU: no i can do it (0.2) NO: I WANNA Do it. 3 JAK: (0.5) the the teacher said i will do it. 4 JAK: (0.3) 5 LOU: no:w (.) i know which day (0.2) and i can do it= 6 JAK: =i can do it too. (0.6) 7 LOU: no (.) i i can do it [I-], %act: pulling arrow from JAK 8 JAK: [its] gonna break >its gonna break< (0.3) 9 LOU: i know but im very gentle. %act: puts arrow on Friday %act: both children return to collaborative play with connector pieces.
In both examples above, invoking the teachers authority is not the only instance of upgrading. In Ob1.12, Adams first opposition (line 2) is based on a necessity account. In his next turn (line 6) he states a behavioural expectation (rule of sharing), before insisting (line 8) that the teacher supports this norm. In Ob2.4, Louise claims that not only is she able to put the arrow on the calendar, shes aware of the arrows fragility and possesses the necessary competency or ability to carry out the action properly. In the data, there are also instances of upgrading made by the same speaker in the same turn (restart). In Ob2.13, Louise moves from stating personal desire as a reason for her objection, to a claim of prior ownership. In Ob1.2, John revises his statement that the spaceship is not ready and attributes the state of unreadiness to both parties (i.e. inclusive, plural subject). In Ob1.16, Adam shifts from invoking a necessity claim to providing an alternate suggestion for the play script. In Ob2.25, Paul revises his initial ownership claim to the play space and proposes that the entire zoo belongs to the group.
Ob2.13 2 LOU: i want to u:se (.) i was using that car.
Preference and Dispute Outcomes Ob1.2 5 JON:
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but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. (3.6)
Ob1.16 3 ADM: yeah but (0.6) we need those (.) .hhh coz (0.2) .hh this is- (0.2) how bout we make creche Sam Ob2.25 2 PAU: thats my si- (0.2) this is all our fun zoo.
Essentially, in an upgraded utterance, the speaker provides further information or further evidence to support his or her position.
Ob2.12 1 WIN: 2 LOU: 3 LOU: 4 WIN: 5 LOU: %com: do:nt youre wrecking everything. well im trying to go round. 0 ((%act: knocks another set of blocks)) DO:NT! well im trying to get through and you put so many things here. WIN makes no further comment.
Downgrading Downgrading is found in disputes which are not actively resolved (i.e. abandoned or brought to end through teacher intervention). In contrast to the examples above, the following episode demonstrates subsequent dispreferred turn shapes which incorporate progressively weaker (more subjective) accounts.
Ob2.7 4 5 6 7 ELI: CAZ: %act: well (0.5) thats- i know thats a boy. (0.2) coz shes wearing pants (0.3) shes a girl? pointing to the observer (1.8) ELI: whos wearing pants. (0.3) she is. CAZ: %act: points to observer (1.9)
184 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes ELI: i know she is (.) but thats a boy (.) i know that. %com: referring to doll (1.2) CAZ: girls can have short hair. ELI: x x x x x. (2.5) CAZ: no thats mine (i got mi:ne) mine! (0.4) ELI: its mine. (1.1) CAZ: then ill have these. (3.3) ELI: i wanna have (.) a gir:l (0.4) i wanna have a one girl. (0.7) ELI: youve got two: gi:rls. (0.4) ELI: (youve got) both the girls. (0.3) CAZ: no: theres another girl (0.2) ELI: but i dont like that girl. (6.8) ELI: you cant have two girls. ((petulant tone)) (0.7) ELI: well thats the boy and i hate boys. (1.1) ELI: im not gonna to be your friend if you dont ever give me that. (1.0) CAZ: im not gonna ever give that to you.
Although upgrading is not essential to secure resolution, nor does downgrading inevitably lead to a collapse of collaborative play more extensive data is needed to establish a conclusive pattern of escalating (or de-escalating) accounts across disputes these sequences provide further evidence to support a relationship between objectivity of accounts and outcome. Inevitably, allowances should be made for other influential features of the interaction (particularly the relationship between the participants involved, issues of motivation associated with topic of dispute, and so on). However, the findings presented here demonstrate a pattern of turn shapes where specific accounts function as more powerful referents for opposition than others. Arguably, the notion of objectivity in accounts provided by the children is one imposed here by the analyst rather than categorically referred to by the children
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themselves even though particular responses are made to particular types of accounts. It is the function of accounts more generally, however, that proves the significant finding in this research. Throughout this chapter, the types of turn shapes appearing in the closing of disputes have been considered. We have seen that preference organisation is an organising principle in disputes, in that preferred turn shapes invariably sustain the disputes and resolution can only be achieved where children provide justification for their opposition.
Chapter 7
How to Resolve Disputes
The analysis throughout Chapters 4, 5 and 6 has underscored the saliency of preference organisation in young childrens peer disputes. Preference features (i.e. markedness or its absence) were produced consistently throughout the childrens arguments, and sequences of specific turn shapes have been tied to specific outcomes. It remains, in this concluding chapter, to defend the isolation of accounts as a dominant feature of dispreferred turn shapes. The role of preference in adversative discourse is also revisited, followed by examples from the data which serve as a summary of findings, findings which illustrate how young children resolve arguments with peers.
Saliency of accounts The focus in the previous chapter was directed to accounts provided for opposition. Justifications have been considered in terms of persuasiveness, particularly where notions of upgrading are tied to resolving disputes. It is important, given the conversation analytic approach employed in this study, to demonstrate why these accounts have received so much attention in the analysis. Although much of the analysis seemingly isolates utterances in discussion of preference features, it should be noted that these features are interpreted as responsive to the prior turn. It is argued that the saliency of accounts is oriented to by the children themselves: accounts are of primary importance because the children treat them as such. Frequently in the data, opposition to the prior utterance/speaker consists of challenging the content of the prior account, as exemplified in the segments below.
Ob1.1 6 LIA: no: animals allowed under the bridge (0.9) or on top of the bridge. (0.5) 7 CHE: y[es]! 8 NOR: [(well)] that lions on top of the bridge? Ob1.13 3 ADM: yeah but Luke said i can come in. 4 KOY: Luke (doesnt have) big cars.
188 Ob1.19 2 SAM: 3 Ob2.2 2 3 4 Ob2.7 1 2 3 Ob2.10 20 21 22 23 LUK:
leave them there (0.3) Adams (.) Adams in charge of putting them away (0.3) Luke? (5.7) i saw you: put one away= Jack <we were playing in tha:[:t>]. ((whines)) [(hey] were playing with) that. (0.3) no: (.) you were over there.
MIR: CAZ: JAK:
CAZ: heres another big girl (0.4) ELI: thats not a girl thats a bo::y. (0.2) girls wear pants. CAZ: FRE: yeah now- (0.5) then- (0.3) youre (wrecking it) ill kill your whole building down? (0.3) huh? PAU: (0.3) FRE: kill your whole building down if you dont-, (0.3) i didnt i didnt even make a building. PAU:
Ob2.11 5 FRE: we dont need them do we? (0.2) then why dont you need them. 6 PAU: Ob2.13 2 LOU: i want to u:se (.) i was using that car. (0.4) no you were using that car. 3 WIN:
In challenging the content of a prior account, the speaker is also challenging the authority of the opposing party. When the quality of the account is called into question, so too is the competency/knowledge/position of the author of the account. These challenges are made to all types of accounts, but the majority not surprisingly occur contiguously to more subjective justifications (open to
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verification challenges). Interestingly, these corrections function as instances of other-initiated repair, performed as unmitigated opposition. These types of challenges are not extraordinary because the very existence of conflict is based on next-position opposition. The point underscored here is the frequency with which opposition is content-tied to the account in the prior utterance. The powerful status of accounts, then, is not only evidenced by their role in resolving conflict, but also where they fail to justify the speakers position, a failure which may be noted explicitly by the hearer. It has been suggested elsewhere that a supported turn may secure agreement or acceptance when an unsupported turn would ordinarily get argument (Jackson and Jacobs, 1980: 258). Fundamentally, it is the quality of the account which instigates the opportunity for resolution. Why preference? Oppositional turns in young childrens verbal disputes with peers are predominantly performed in one of two ways: confrontation is direct, or the child attempts to persuade by providing a reason for his/her challenge. This pattern, found throughout the disputes recorded in the two child care centres, mirrors the organisation of preference identified in (adult) conversation (e.g. Atkinson and Heritage, 1984; Levinson, 1983; Pomerantz, 1984). Whilst turn initial pauses were not always consistent markers of preference in the data, turns were recognisably performed in preferred or dispreferred turn shape. As demonstrated earlier, for arguments to exist or continue, disagreement is a preferred action. Evidently opposition may not be personally preferred by the speakers, but the discourse is structured such that counter-objection orients to objection, and counter-opposition to opposition. For conflict to perpetuate, the next speaker must oppose (preferably overtly and without delay) the prior utterance. Where this opposition is not overt, it is marked as dispreferred, characterised by delay and the provision of an accompanying account or justification for opposition. In other contexts, accounts in dispreferred turn shapes provide for the absence of a preferred second pair part. This holds in childrens disputes; essentially the child accounts for a less direct form of opposition. Labelling overt opposition as preferred may appear counter-intuitive, given that overt opposition is essentially face-threatening. Yet preference operates as a conversational structuring device; preference in this context relates to the existence or continuation of adversative discourse. As discussed in Chapter 3, the problems of applying preference relate to confusion with lay interpretation of the term preference and misapplication to fixed categories of action. That is, preference does not necessarily reflect the individuals motivation, nor are certain actions (e.g. agreement) invariably preferred. Through analysis of preference features, this study has uncovered characteristics of turns in sequence which promote or preclude resolution of disputes. Having identified the function of preference
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organisation in the outcomes of young childrens disputes, we can move to identify these turn shapes as something other than preferred or dispreferred, to clarify the significance of unequal turn status. Preferred turns in the childrens dispute episodes are just that: immediate, brief and overt objection is preferred if the argument is to continue. Whilst the discussion in Chapter 3 identified conflict as an inversion of conversational expectation (see Kotthoff, 1993), it is an inversion only where a universal preference for agreement exists. In childrens arguments, there is no deference to agreement. The resolution of conflict points to this: seeking mutual ground and avoiding overt opposition (performed in dispreferred turns) leads to a closing rather than continuation of disputes. The function of preference as an indicator of outcome, indicates that in the context of childrens disputes, the term preferred could be replaced with sustaining. That is, turns produced in preferred turn shapes serve to provoke and sustain conflict, whilst dispreferred turn shapes are non-sustaining (designed to bring the dispute to a close). This concept of sustaining vs. non-sustaining moves is reflected in the influence of turn shape on the outcome of disputes. As demonstrated in Chapter 4, simple contradiction of the prior speakers utterance is universally unsuccessful in persuading the opposing party. Moreover, this type of immediate, short direct opposition (e.g. line 9 in Ob2.8 below) invariably prompts further opposition and therefore the continuation of the dispute. It is the expected form of the (rejoining) second pair part which denotes this turn shape as sustaining. The overall conclusion is both simple and striking: short, direct forms of opposition do not resolve disputes.
Ob2.8 8 PAU: i had it a while ago.= 9 WIN: =no you did[nt].
Conversely, dispreferred turn shapes function as non-sustaining, mitigating moves. They are dispreferred in that they are not designed to perpetuate conflict but rather are produced to appease the opposing party. Furthermore, final utterances in resolved disputes are preceded by dispreferred turn shapes. That is, there is an established pattern of speakers justifying their own positions, rather than simply contradicting the prior speaker. Sequences of non-sustaining (i.e. dispreferred) turn shapes in resolved disputes typically allow for negotiation, rather than bald conflict. A fundamental characteristic of non-sustaining turns is the provision of novel content in attempting to persuade the opposing party. Sustaining turn shapes, on the other hand, typically contain minimal or negligible novel content. It has been shown in earlier research (e.g. Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981), and replicated here, that repetition is a weak form of opposition, one which promotes a cycle of counter challenges. As seen in the analysis, repetition of prior utterances is implicated in disputes which prompt teacher intervention (e.g. Ob1.14, Ob1.25),
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underscoring the ineffectualness of simply repeating prior objections. Introducing novel content in the dispute, by providing additional or alternative reasons for opposition therefore constitutes a move towards reconciliation. This analysis not only informs dispute practices between young children, but reinforces the theory of preference organisation. Turn shapes in opposition moves were consistently performed in one of two ways: directly or overtly in short utterances (sustaining), or delayed with accompanying accounts (non-sustaining). This supports the argument made at the end of Chapter 3 for the reliability of linguistic markedness in distinguishing preference organisation. Turn shapes in sequence The significance of preference organisation in young childrens disputes is best represented in examples of extended sequences of discourse. In Ob1.4, the countercycles of typically preferred turn shapes continues until the teacher intervenes. The short and direct forms of opposition throughout this episode serve to sustain the dispute.
Ob1.4 1 TES: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 HIL: HIL: TES: HIL: TES: TES: YYY: TES: HIL: YYY: everybody can sing it (0.5) not just you:? (4.6) well i sing my song if i want. (1.7) its my: so:ng its my song too: and its not your song. (0.2) it is my song. (0.5) NOT YOUR: SONG. (0.6) EENGHH ((screeches in frustration)) .hhh (.) ITS NOT YOUR SONG Hilary. (1.5) Tess are you okay? (1.3) Hilary just said the song is hers and its not its mi:ne. (0.9) well it is mine too:. (3.8) girls (0.4) whats the problem. (1.5)
192 12 13 14 15 16 17 HIL: TES: HIL: TES:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes it is my song too:. its not you:r song too:: (0.2) it is. (0.4) no:. (2.5) HIL: i heard it on the radio. (0.4) YYY: okay whats the matter over here. %yyy: teacher goes on to explain that songs belong to everybody.
In contrast, the brief episode below (Ob1.2) is characterised by an exchange of justified opposition. In line 3, Adam produces an objective account based on the properties of the object he is building. In response, John counters in dispreferred turn shape (i.e. non-sustaining move), attributing a state of unreadiness not only to himself but to Adam as well. This inclusive account proves successful in resolving the dispute.
Ob1.2 1 ADM: ((to JON)) move out the way! 2 JON: no no (0.3) no this [spacesh-], 3 ADM: [no no no] (.) no [no] this one hasnt got any le:gs. 4 JON: [but-], (0.9) 5 JON: but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. (3.6)
Through studying preference features in childrens disputes, characteristics of sustaining and non-sustaining turns have been identified. Turn shapes have been labelled as preferred or dispreferred throughout this book because the function of these unequal second pair parts has been discovered during the course of sequential analysis. Having completed the analysis, however, these turn shapes can now be identified by their role in the outcome of disputes. While a more generic substitutive term might be markedness (Mey, 2001), preference organisation in young childrens adversative discourse delineates sustaining and non-sustaining utterances. To sum up, the more overt the opposition, the more likely the dispute will continue. Conversely where children account for their opposition (i.e. providing novel content), a mutually acceptable outcome becomes possible.
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Overwhelmingly, the more objective the childs position or justification, the more likely resolution will be secured. Existing research has illustrated the social context, function, and frequency of disputes, and the role of argument in developing social cognition. Related to developing communicative competence, earlier studies concentrate on types of strategies in childrens adversative discourse (Chapter 2), the range of which is not contradicted in the research reported here. The present study, however, has moved beyond classification of single utterances and has provided a theoretical framework through which these arguments may be better understood. The distinctive value of using a conversation analytic approach (Chapter 3) was to further explore childrens arguments as connected discourse. Features of preference organisation (Chapter 3), in particular, have been identified in this study as influential in the outcome of disputes. The analysis revealed the constancy of preference features throughout the data. Specifically, markedness is indicative of dispreferred turn shape, given that preferred turn shapes are essentially unmarked (Chapter 4). In order to consider the role of preference organisation in the development of disputes, closings were classified as resolved, abandoned or achieved through teacher intervention (Chapter 5). Final utterances of resolved disputes were almost universally performed in dispreferred turn shape; threats were shown to operate as atypical dispreferred turn shapes. Conversely, it became increasingly clear throughout the analysis that preferred turn shapes sustain disputes, given that overt opposition is likely to be responded to with further opposition. The type of justification provided for opposition proved of particular significance (Chapter 6), specifically the quality of the account. In attempting to bring about resolution, accounts which are most objective prove most influential. Applicability of findings The data presented here is representative of adversative discourse between Australian English-speaking four-year-old children from middle- and upper middleclass families living in Melbourne. The findings do not pretend to be applicable to all young childrens verbal disputes. However, the analysis uncovered patterns or sequences of turns which may occur elsewhere. It is proposed that preference organisation may operate as a universal organisational principle of sequences of adversative discourse. Importantly, patterns of preference organisation were performed constantly in both observation environments. Although the two groups of children differed as to frequency and distribution of types of disputes, there was uniformity in the manner in which objections were performed and disputes resolved. The findings are not necessarily peculiar to childrens disputes. Indeed, one would expect objective justifications to be more persuasive than overt opposition in the disputes of older children and adults. However, it is important to re-emphasise
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a point made in the introductory chapter; childrens competencies should not be viewed as imperfect adult productions. Rather, the pragmatic abilities demonstrated by young children continue to develop (building on earlier competencies) into adulthood. In managing interaction with peers, children are frequently encouraged to express their intrinsic reaction to another childs behaviour, e.g. I dont like that. Whilst this advice may be appropriate in other contexts, the analysis has shown that this is not an effective response or justification in disputes. This finding underscores the importance of studying patterns of peer interaction as they unfold, rather than imposing adult interpretation or impressions of childrens experiences. Child-directed strategies should be informed by actual child-child interaction. The analysis has demonstrated that, not only should children account for their objections in order to resolve disputes with peers, the more objective the account, the more persuasive the speaker will be. This finding obviously holds significant implications for teacher strategies in supporting childrens negotiations with peers. The ubiquitous instruction to use your words can be refined in this context to you need to give a reason for disagreeing with your friend. Beyond this book Whilst the theory of linguistic preference has proven instrumental in uncovering the sequential influence of turn shapes, it is not claimed here that preference organisation is the only significant feature of childrens disputes. The richness of the data precludes an exhaustive analysis of all features of this discourse. Subsequent analysis, for example, should be directed to paralinguistic features and nonverbal behaviour in the disputes (accessible through improved video recording). Although increased volume, for example, was not related to resolution (shouting appeared in disputes which were abandoned or brought to a close through teacher intervention), future research could properly examine suprasegmental cues. Further criticism may be made of a model of conflict resolution which does not account for shifting sociometric status in the preschool classroom. The present study, however, whilst not directly incorporating peer social status in the analysis, points to the manner in which this status may be realised; namely, through turntaking in conversation. The theory of social identity as created through local action (specifically conversation) is a legacy of Harvey Sacks and is of fundamental import in conversation analysis and membership catergorzation analysis as fields of study. In the domain of childrens arguments, we may look for the management of power relationships in the sequential organisation of the adversative discourse. The assumption is that high status (popular) children employ effective opposition moves, performed in non-sustaining (dispreferred) turn shape, and non-sustaining turns are produced by children who are able to influence peers. The conversational behaviour of young children and relative sociometric status can be seen as interdependent entities.
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Similarly, notions of facework and politeness theory were acknowledged in Chapter 3 but have not been directly accounted for in the analysis presented here. It remains to be seen if the performance of accounts (ie continuum of objectivity) is managed by the children in respect to face concerns, and how the performance of politeness or impoliteness is developed in early childhood. Indeed, it remains to provide a more comprehensive account of how analysis of childrens arguments contributes to a theoretical account for childrens developing social skills Evidently other features of the local social context influence childrens adversative discourse. Gender remains an issue in influencing how children argue, as boys and girls have been found to argue differently (see Chapter 2). Elsewhere, manifestation of gender has been identified not only in contextual variation (i.e. different types of play and dispute topics) but in the semantic content of oppositional turns. Although gender was not included as a component of analysis in this study, it is not dismissed as pertinent in the performance of adversative discourse. Importantly, however, a uniformity in the organisation of turn shapes was found throughout the data. That is, in both boys and girls disputes (and episodes involving both girls and boys) there was a stable relationship between turn shape and outcome. Further study is necessary to determine if gender influences proportion of turn shapes or types of accounts provided (cf. Kyratzis, 1992). Features of adversative discourse which have not been considered here belong, therefore, to prospective research. This research has uncovered an organising principle of verbal disputes between children. Only through closer attention to the sequences of turns, particularly the form of second pair parts, has a relationship between utterances and outcomes been established. Preference organisation has proven a viable framework for distinguishing types of turns which are most likely to bring about resolution of conflict. An obvious practical application of these findings relates to the content of adult intervention strategies. The introductory chapter emphasised the importance of encouraging pedagogical practice in preschool classrooms which is informed by child-centric research rather than adult intuition. The analysis presented here has identified processes in childrens peer disputes, specifically those related to resolution, contributing to a strong platform for greater understanding of childrens communicative abilities. Although these findings provide a basis to inform teaching strategies, it does not follow that children are floundering in conflict situations. The data collected in this study illustrate that competent and often complex sequences of talk are co-constructed by children at the age of four, providing further evidence of the developed and developing communicative competence of young children. Furthermore, an understanding of childrens adversative discourse not only illuminates childrens pragmatic abilities but provides a window to the organisation of childrens social worlds.
Appendix A
Table A.1 Transcription conventions

. , ? ! [ ] (0.7) (.) ___ : CAPS > < < > $ ( ) (( )) x %act %com text .hhh = Falling terminal contour Continuing contour (incomplete) Strongly rising terminal contour Rising terminal contour Emphatic/animated utterance terminator Abrupt halt Overlapping speech Latching (contiguous stretches of talk) Pause measured in tenths of a second Pause timed less than 0.2 seconds Stress on the word/syllable/sound Lengthening of previous sound Increase in volume Decrease in volume Significant rise or fall in intonation Faster than surrounding talk Slower than surrounding talk Audible inhalation Laughing while talking (smile talk) Uncertain words (best guess) Comments e.g. quality of speech or intended hearer Unintelligible speech Identifies (accompanying) nonverbal action Observer comment Feature of interest
Source: See Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1974.
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Observation 1 transcripts
@Begin @Participants: @File name: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NOR Norm CHE Cherie MIN Minnie LIA Liam FEL Felicity Ob1.1.ca Disc 2(1) (Begin) 9:50 1 MIN and LIA have spent considerable time constructing a jetty together for their lions. NOR, CHE and FEL approach and try to push their boats (blocks, each with a different animal as a passenger) under the bridge.
13 14
NOR: ((to Ch and F)) lets go to the li:on jetty:! (0.7) NOR: lets go to the jetty:. (1.5) NOR: lets [go to the jetty]. MIN: [no (.) no (0.3)] no no (0.4) no (we) dont want those (0.4) big anim[als x-], LIA: [no]. (0.3) LIA: no: animals allowed under the bridge (0.9) or on top of the bridge. (0.5) CHE: y[es]! NOR: [(well)] that lions on top of the bridge? (0.2) LIA: ((to the girls, teasing voice)) you cant go on (0.4) we: ma:de i:t. (1.1) MIN: but cept but cept [they can go] on (.) they ca:n. CHE: [but were new]. (1.4) CHE: going. %com: produced as statement of intent (1.7) me as well. FEL: (1.5) CHE: were [going through it].
Appendix A 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 @End LIA: LIA: MIN: FEL: %com: LIA: NOR: CHE: NOR: MIN: LIA: MIN: CHE: NOR: FEL: MIN: NOR: NOR: LIA: CHE: %com: %yyy:
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[uh uh]. ((negating prior utterance)) (1.3) uh uh= =uh uh (0.2) uh u[h]. [m]mmmm. sound of frustration as she tries to push her boat through but LIA stops her (0.3) no no [NAH] NO:: (0.2) No::: do:nt. im [up here]. ((places his animal on the jetty)) (0.6) xxxxxx (3.4) im up here (0.2) im up here (0.3) up (0.3) x that ones up.= =you s[ee lo]ok- (0.5) you see look what happened (0.8) your dog broke the jetty. [nah], ((whines)) (0.8) or maybe [he might broke] the jetty when he walks along. [(im breaking it)]. (0.5) no he can just stand there when he doesnt break it? (3.1) he can just stand there.= =break it Felicity. (0.5) get that up here. (1.3) up here [Im] up here. [no]. ill go and tell the teacher. i.e. to report she is not being allowed to push her boat through Teacher suggests to LIA that he should let the girls play and that they will help fix the jetty if they cause a piece to fall.
200 @Begin @Participants: @File name: @Tape: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ADM Adam JON John Ob1.2.ca Disc 3(1): (Begin) 0:48 2 ADM and JON are using Lego to make Astro spaceships.
ADM: ((to JON)) move out the way! JON: no no (0.3) no this [spacesh-], ADM: [no no no] (.) no [no] this one hasnt got any le:gs. JON: [but-], (0.9) JON: but (0.3) but (0.3) but (0.2) but this one (0.3) its not rea- the space- (.) this (0.2) were just not ready yet. (3.6)
ADM Adam KOY Koyo JON John Ob1.3 Disc 3(1): (Begin) 11:34 3 JON, ADM and KOY are landing their Lego rockets/jets on the table.
KOY: Adam (0.6) where i can go. (0.7) KOY: where i can go Adam? (1.1) JON: nowhe[re]. KOY: [i] got a rocket? (1.3) KOY: i got a rocket (and a jet). (1.3) ADM: no thats a- thats got ehhm no only jets and rockets. (1.4) KOY: im a rocket too. (0.5)
Appendix A 8 9 10 @End ADM: KOY: ADM: %act:
201
no: coz (0.3) rockets are not allowed to come in (.) only (0.4) a rocket and a jet (0.4) coz theres no space in there. (0.2) im a jet. (0.8) now this is gonna have a big-, KOY joins ADM and JON at the table.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TES: HIL: HIL: TES: HIL: TES: TES: YYY:
HIL Hilary TES Tess YYY Teacher Ob1.4.ca Disc 4(1): (Begin) 11:19 4 HIL and TES are sitting at a table, each placing coloured pieces into mesh frames. HIL has quietly been singing a popular tune about Barbie. Before the dialogue is picked up by the audio tape (prior interaction is obscured by the conversation of other children closer to the microphone) TES has started to sing the same song. HIL has told TES that shes not allowed to sing this particular song.
everybody can sing it (0.5) not just you:? (4.6) well i sing my song if i want. (1.7) its my: so:ng its my song too: and its not your song. (0.2) it is my song. (0.5) NOT YOUR: SONG. (0.6) EENGHH ((screeches in frustration)) .hhh (.) ITS NOT YOUR SONG Hilary. (1.5) Tess are you okay? (1.3)
202 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes TES: Hilary just said the song is hers and its not its mi:ne. (0.9) HIL: well it is mine too:. (3.8) YYY: girls (0.4) whats the problem. (1.5) HIL: it is my song too:. TES: its not you:r song too:: (0.2) HIL: it is. (0.4) TES: no:. (2.5) HIL: i heard it on the radio. (0.4) YYY: okay whats the matter over here. %yyy: teacher goes on to explain that songs belong to everybody
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TES: ADM: TES: SAM: ADM: SAM: SAM: TES: HIL:
TES Tess, ADM Adam, SAM, Sam, HIL Hilary Ob1.5.ca Disc 4(1) (Begin) 21:06 5 Children are playing near blocks. TES is some distance from boys, yet they overhear.
bum bum heh heheheh heh huh.((laughing)) (1.2) who said bum bum? (0.2) eh heh heh $me:$ he he. (0.8) ((serious tone)) Tess: (0.3) [its rude]. [cept] youre not allowed to say bum [bum]. [rude] rude rude. (2.0) babies say that sort of thing? huh huh [huh]. [yes] they do:: (.) dont they? (1.2)
Appendix A 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 @End ADM: SAM: ADM: TES: SAM: ADM: TES: SAM: HIL: TES: %com: HIL: TES: ADM: TES: %yyy:
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yes they-, (1.6) >they [do]<. [a:]ha thats what they say they say (.) bum bum. ha [hugnh hungh]. [they say] booboo as well. (0.2) .hhh yeah and they say (.) .hhhh hello mister booboo beebee but i (.) but i [cant say that xxx]. [ha hah ha $hey] who said that$ eh heh heh. (0.2) Adam (.) hes telling you (0.2) NOT (0.2) to say silly (.) words. (0.3) yes. (0.8) no i say xxxxx. utterance obscured by teacher giving directions to different group of children (3.2). shes (.) a (.) baby isnt she. (1.1) im not a baby. (1.4) yes (.) that means you say BUM BUM. (0.4) im not a baby so- (0.4) babies are very small (0.2) and i - when i was a baby next year (0.7) i said bum bum (0.3) booboo bumbum. Teacher interrupts to instruct children to start packing up.
204 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 @End SAM: TES: JON: SAM: TES: SAM: TES: SAM: JON: %act:
JON John, TES Tess, SAM Sam Ob1.6.ca Disc 5(1): (Begin) 0:23 6 JON and TES are fishing with magnet rods. The fish are coloured and the game involves putting the fish into the appropriately coloured boat (the boats are made from boxes). There are seven boats in all, four of which are placed in front of TES. One of the boats in front of JON is red. SAM is supervising their play.
John you got a red- (.) you have to get a red one (0.3)[you have to pick up red.] [no: i need r]e:d (0.3) coz i like that colour as well. NO: no:. (1.0) no i like that colour as we:ll (0.8) drop (0.2) (Johns got those) (0.7) you got those ones Johns got these ones. (0.9) but (0.3) i got three coz i need (1.3) that many. (1.6) but then (0.4) John will have three (0.3) and you dont like pink do you John. (0.9) hmm (0.3) no. (4.4) TES makes no further attempt at topic
Appendix A @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 @End TES: %act: JON: SAM: TES: %act: SAM: TES: SAM: TES: %com: SAM: %com: JON: JON: JON: TES: SAM: TES: JON: %com:
205
SAM Sam, TES Tess, JON John Ob1.7.ca Disc 5:(Begin) 4:39 7 SAM, TES and JON are playing with the magnet fish and fishing rods. The boxes to which they refer are designed to collect the corresponding coloured fish. TES grabs some of the boxes. The children were laughing together prior to this episode.
((silly voice)) these are mine (.) thats mine (.) thats mine (.) tha- my yeeiyeei [yeiyei], grabbing boxes [hey (.) hey,]= = hey sto:p (0.5) TE::S[S]::! ((whines)) [na]agnhh. both children are pulling boxes (0.5) Tess (0.4) dont SNA:tch! but (0.3) i am doing fishing. 0 ((%act: SAM succeeds in reclaiming the boxes)) (0.6) ((whines)).hhhh Sam took the boxes from me. directed towards teacher who does not hear (0.4) but (0.5) she did it fi:rst. also directed to teacher with no response (1.6) she hit (0.4) Sam. (1.7) its not nasty to hit (1.4) Tess now you (0.2) cant (0.4) come (0.2) to any (0.4) birthdays. (1.1) not till you (0.2) say sorry Sam. (0.4) ((silly voice)) sorry Sam deedee:huh. no: (.) properly. (0.3) s[orry] Sam. [prop-], play resumes
206 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 @End JON: TES: JON: TES: TES: JON: JON:
JON John, TES Tess Ob1.8.ca Disc 5(1): (Begin) 11:05 8 JON and TES are playing with the magnet fishing game. The fish are seven different colours. TES catches a blue fish even though the blue boat is in front of JON.
oh you got my one (.) x ing it. no: we are sharing John? no (0.3) no you got my blue one. (0.4) but we (0.3) but (0.5) but we are just sharing. (0.8) that one goes in there [John]. [yeah] oh yeah coz-, (1.0) oh yeah coz.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 TES: TES: JON: TES: SAM: TES:
JON John, TES Tess, SAM Sam Ob1.9.ca Disc 5(1): (Begin) 12:45 9 JON, TES and SAM are still playing with the fishing magnets. They have been putting he fish back into the large box, because they have been pretending that a shark is swimming near the smaller boats (boxes).
put the boats in there c- coz we are packing up (.) coz the sharks coming. (0.7) take everything (out),= =not the-, 0 ((%act: continues packing up the boats)) NO (0.5) leave it here! (1.0) b[ut we (.) we-,]
Appendix A 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 @End
207
SAM: [leave (.) all] of them here. (0.5) TES: the sharks coming. SAM: leave- (1.5) i know that (0.4) but were just pretending (.) and leave (0.3) the boats (0.4) out (0.4) you can put the fishes in (0.2) but (0.3) uh (0.4) not the boats. (1.2) SAM: coz [see (.) if people want to play with them (0.7) they wont be ready] for them (0.2) so-, JON: [look at this Sam: (0.3) look at this Sam]. (1.2) JON: $oh: you got my one (0.6) oh you got my one:$. (1.0) JON: i [got] my green one. SAM: [no-], (0.5) SAM: no they all in the-, (3.5) SAM: and i:m waiting to have (0.2) a go: and youre taking (.) so (0.3) l:o:ng. %com: JON offers one of the rods to SAM.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation:
JON John, TES Tess, SAM, Sam, MIL Milly Ob1.10.ca Disc 5(1): (Begin) 15:56 10 JON and TES are using the only two available fishing rods to catch magnet fish. MIL has just arrived and is watching them. Prior to this exchange, SAM asked TES if he could have a turn and she refused.
1 2 3 4
JON: TES: JON: %act: TES:
((to MIL teasing voice)) oh YOU havent got a fi: shing ro:d. 0 (3.6) ((%act: attempts to take JONSs fishing rod which he has put on the ground in order to pick up a fish with his hands)) ((rise throughout)) no no no no no. JON reclaims his fishing rod no (0.4) Milly and me are having a turn.
208 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 NAN: JON: JON: TES: SAM: JON: TES: JON: JON: %com:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes NO: (0.2) ive got a fishing rod (0.2) see:? (1.5) so dont (.) take (0.2) this (0.2) fishing rod off me. (0.6) well Milly (0.5) Milly wants to have a turn (0.2) ((turns to MIL)) do[nt you]. [well i:] want to have a turn? (1.3) well (0.9) WELL (0.7) NObody can have (.) my fishing rod. (2.0) ((to MIL)) Mil- (.) im gonna share my: fishing rod. (0.8) well (0.4) im going to share mine with Sam. (1.6) ((to girls)) not you. (3.1) Neither TES nor JON actually pass on the rods to MIL or SAM. Eventually the teacher steps in to allot turns to SAM and MIL who have not yet played.
FEL Felicity, CHE Cherie, NAN Nancy Ob1.11.ca Disc 6 (1): (Begin) 8:45 11 FEL and CHE are using the only two available fishing rods to catch the magnetic fish. NAN has been watching them for some time.
i want a turn of that fish. (2.1) NAN: Cherie. (0.8) FEL: wha:[t]? NAN: [i wan] i wanna tu:rn (0.7) i wanna turn of that. (0.4) FEL: well we (0.3) got here fi:rst? (0.3) NAN: we have to share (0.6) have to [share].
Appendix A 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
209
CHE: ((sings quietly to herself))[get the] little fishies out (0.2) in the little box. CHE: ((to FEL)) (these [are yours]). FEL: ([fishes]), (0.5) CHE: you put them in. (2.6) NAN: you have to sha:re (.) dont get away. (1.2) CHE: we (.) a:re. (0.6) NAN: no youre not sharing (.) youre (0.4) taking a long time. (3.4) FEL: mmm. NAN: dont say mmm. (1.1) mmm. FEL: NAN: dont (0.3) dont say THAT! (0.2) FEL: mmm. (0.4) NAN: DONT SAY THAT! CHE: put the [little fishies], NAN: [you dont have] to sa:y tha:t. (0.6) NAN: you dont have to sa:y that (0.7) anyway. (2.3) NAN: dont say that to me (0.3) [anyway]. (0.4) FEL: [MMM]. (0.5) NAN: D[O::NT (.)((whimpers)) i dont] like it. CHE: [fishes (0.2) theyre your fishes], %act: CHE and FEL move with their fishing rods to the other side of the room. NAN hesitates then follows.
@End
210 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 @End LUK: ADM: LUK: LUK: SAM: ADM: LUK: ADM: LUK: ADM: LUK: KOY: ADM: KOY: LUK: KOY: LUK: ADM: LUK: ADM: %com:
ADM Adam, LUK Luke, PET Peter, KOY Koyo Ob1.12.ca Disc 6 (1): (Begin) 25:9 12 LUK and SAM are making a house with wooden blocks. ADM is sitting 2m away.
against the wall? (0.7) no you need to make a hu:ge house. (0.3) were no:t. (0.9) none for A- (.) none for Adams. (0.2) no. you HAFta SHARE. (0.6) NO:? (0.6) yeah but the teacher says (0.4) share. (0.5) NO:? (0.2) <YES she does>. (0.6) [no:]? [im mak]ing a garage. (0.6) Y[ES:]. im [putting] in a bit of [garage]. [no:]? [lets make a] garage-, [here look] (0.2) lets make a very big [one]. [yes they do:]. (0.2) ((sing song voice)) the:y do: no:t. (0.2) yes they (.) say-, LUK becomes busy constructing the garage with other boys. ADM abandons this entry attempt.
Appendix A @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 @End ADM: KOY: ADM: KOY: ADM: LUK: LUK: PET: ADM: %act: LUK: PET: LUK: ADM: %act: KOY: ADM: ADM: ADM: LUK: %com:
211
KOY Koyo, ADM Adam, LUK Luke, PET Peter Ob1.13.ca Disc 6 (1): (Begin) 27:32 13 KOY, LUK, and PET are making garages with blocks. ADM drives his tall duplo car in the direction of one of the garages.
0 ((%act: drives duplo car towards garage)) no big cars! (2.4) yeah but Luke said i can come in. Luke (doesnt have) big cars. (1.3) excuse me (.) um (.) Luke can i come- (.) .hhhh can my car come in (0.3) um (.) um (.) mines only one of the li:ttle (0.5) flats. [if you-], [because] (.) because we wont make a house with that one. but [the but xxx] NO:. drives towards garage (0.5) ha ha ha[haha] [hahahaha} [i have to stay out] of the gargage (0.2) (get ou:t),= puts his car next to the blocks =STO::P! NO i have to stay out of the garage (0.3) (o)kay (0.3) coz its fat. (0.9) see? its got this- (0.2) its got (0.3) hard job to do. (2.6) ((to ADM)) im making one for you. Play continues and ADM is now part of the group.
212 @Begin @Partcipants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 @End SAM: SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: LUK: ADM: PET: SAM: ADM: LUK: ADM: LUK: SAM: YYY: LUK: YYY: SAM: YYY: %com:
LUK Luke, SAM Sam, PET, Peter, ADM Adam Ob1.14.ca Disc 6 (2): (Begin) 7:48 14 SAM and PET are assisting LUK in the construction of his bridge. SAM accidentally knocks the blocks over.
0 ((%act: knocks blocks over)) [ah], [o]:h YOU DID THA:T!= =i was trying to bal[ance it]. [tst oh] oh [oh oh no:.] ((whining)) [i was trying to balance] i:t.= =NAUGHTY! (0.5) i was trying to balance it [and it just] fe:ll.= [its naughty]. =((to PET)) say [naughty] Sam! [naughty]. naughty Sam. (1.1) i was trying to ba[lance i:t]. [HEY LOOK] (0.2) look at this! thats NAUghty. WA[TER]! [NAUGHTY] [THATS NAUGHTY], [I WAS TRYING TO] BALA:NCE I :T. (1.4) excuse me boys? Sam broke my [x:]. [well] [i dont think he] really meant to [i was trying-], (1.0) you can make it again This is followed by a nonverbal tussle between LUK and SAM, each trying to grab blocks, each bursting into tears.
Appendix A @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 PET: ADM: PET: ADM: PET: ADM: ADM: RON: SAM: ADM: SAM: PET: ADM: PET: ADM: PET: SAM:
213
PET Peter, ADM Adam, SAM Sam, RON Ron Ob1.15.ca Disc 7(2): (Begin) 0:51 15 ADM has brought toy cars from home.
but which one can i: have. (1.5) i have to have two. (1.2) and which one then then which [one], [i got] another one of the special car? (0.3) but [but can i have] this one? [that that-], (0.2) no coz that ones little tiny and (.) its got .hhh little pieces (0.3) .hhh and you might choke on them (0.4) .hhh [and] its (0.2) and theres a sharp thing up the back. [what-], (1.1) thats a tow bar thats what thats called a [tow bar]. [yeah but] but ah (0.2) coz i dont have a- but i dont have a trai:ler. (0.6) it doesnt matter if you dont have a trailer .hhhh [coz its too xxx.] [no but i:] but i: want (.) one of those. (1.2) yeah but i (.) but i dont have any more. (1.3) but which one can i have then. (1.0) (i have) nothing for you. (0.4) why:. (2.3) ((to PET)) make with me! (0.2)
214 18 PET: 19 PET: 20 SAM: @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes oka:y i will make with (0.2) Sam then ((to ADM)) i wont be your friend anymore (0.4) ((to SAM)) now can i have that one? (0.9) here you go. ((gives car to PET))
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ADM: SAM: ADM: SAM: ADM: ADM: %act: SAM: ADM: SAM: %com: SAM: SAM: ADM:
ADM Adam, SAM Sam Ob1.16.ca Disc 8(1): (Begin) 10:33 16 SAM is playing with the blocks. ADM joins him.
how bout we make creche:. i wanna make a road (.) and you:r (0.2) rocket (0.2) is under it. (0.7) yeah but (0.6) we need those (.) .hhh coz (0.2) .hh this is- (0.2) how bout we make creche Sam (0.7) no. (1.3) yeah but we have to. (2.1) that (.) that can be (0.5) umm, (2.5) pulls down a block that SAM has placed upright no: (0.4) that is UP. (0.7) no but i wanna make CRECHE. (0.3) but its my bui:ldi:ng (.) i: did this bridge. (3.2) ADM is watching SAM move the blocks. and its-, (1.6) and these (0.3) these go over like that.= =yeah but (0.2) but thats the river you remember that (.) .hhh thats the river. (0.3)
Appendix A 13 14 @End
215
SAM: thats the river going (0.9) going u:nder it. (0.4) ADM: yes. (2.7) %com: cooperative play continues.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episoe: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ADM: PET: ADM: PET: ADM: PET: %act: ADM: PET: %com: ADM: KOY: PET: KOY:
ADM Adam, PET Peter, KOY Koyo Ob1.17.ca Disc 8(1): (Begin) 30:37 17 ADM, PET, KOY and SAM have been playing with the blocks for some time. Classroom rules state that blocks on the shelf may be used by any child, but once they have been removed and used in construction they belong to that child (i.e. permission must be asked before using a block that is already on the floor). ADM approaches the shelf.
im gonna build xxxx. (0.2) oh no youre not. (0.2) yes i am. (0.2) no. (0.8) i am. (1.4) im gonna get all of these (0.4) little blocks,= PET starts removing blocks from shelf. =yeah but YOU HAVE TO SHARE. (1.5) but were not gonna share with our toys [are we] PET is addressing SAM and KOY. [yeah but] you [HAVE to]. [>we dont want to share] with [you<.] [NO.] (0.2) no. (0.5)
216 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 %act: SAM: KOY: TES:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes ADM: yeah BUT YOU HAVE TO. (0.8) PET: no. (0.3) ADM: .hh NO BUT YOU HAVE TO SHARE. (1.1) KOY: NO. %act: PET and KOY start taking blocks from the floor, blocks that ADM has taken from the shelf. (0.6) PET: yeah weve got all of our-, %act: takes more blocks. (1.3) ADM: THEY ARE NOT YOU:R BLOCKS. %act: PET and KOY continue to take ADMs blocks. (0.4) ADM: if you (0.6) (that) (.) NO:.((starts to cry)) %yyy: teacher intervenes, saying to observer Somebody needs a sleep today.
TES Tess, SAM Sam, KOY Koyo, PET Peter, ADM Adam, LUK Luke Ob1.18.ca Disc 8(2) (Begin) 10:24 18 All the children are packing away the blocks. KOY accidentally knocks some of the blocks off the shelf. KOY and SAM laugh. TES has just moved into this room from Kinder 1 (younger group) and is one of only two children in this playroom under the age of 4.
blocks knocked (accidentally) off shelf by KOY o:hh[h huh huh huh] [[huh huh,]] [hah hah hah,] [[THATS]] (.) VERY NAUGHty. (1.1) SAM: no Koyo didnt do it? (0.9) KOY: [no.] TES: [yes] he did [he] did.
Appendix A 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 KOY: SAM: KOY: TES: SAM: KOY: SAM: ADM: TES: PET: TES: LUK: PET: PET: KOY: TES: KOY: PET: KOY: KOY: PET: TES: PET: PET: PET: KOY: SAM: TES: KOY: SAM: PET: SAM:
217
[no]. a[(ctually)], ((to TES)) [see (.) $yo:u] did it$. (0.2) NO:: I DIDN:T. (0.9) Te:ss (.) too: lou:d. it hurts my ears. (0.3) it hurts (.) my ears as well (.) thats a ou:tsi:de (.) voice (0.3) isnt it A[dam]. [yes]. do you know what Sam (.) i tried a new-, [Tess we dont scream (0.3) not] at all.= = a(0.5) not (even) [one little bit]. [not at all]. (1.9) NOT AT ALL:,= =not [at all]. [i i] i didnt do it did i Nancy? (1.1) yeah you did it i did[nt]. ((to TES)) [yes] you did. (Adam didnt do it)? not [xx]. [xx-], 0 ((%act: TES gestures towards PET with a block)) ah! (1.2) thats not very nice. ((chanting)) [thats not very nice]. [not very nice] thats not very nice]. [thats not very nice] thats not very nice] thats not very nice. NO I DIDNT DO IT did i Nancy (0.5) Koyo did it= =no. (0.3) no Koyo didnt. (0.6) yea:h. it just fell down.
218 39 40 41 42 43 @End PET: ADM: TES: PET: YYY: %yyy:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes ((to TES)) you Miss Mup-, (0.5) you Miss Mu:shroom? IM NOT A MISS [MUSHROOM] im [TE::SS]. [hahaha] (0.5) [yes you are (0.2)] [[yes you are]], [[Tess]] Teacher intervenes by calling TES over to the other side of the room. TES is crying and her words are unintelligible by this stage.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 LUK: SAM:
LUK Luke, SAM Sam Ob1.19 Disc 9(1): (Begin) 40:59 9 Pack up time. The children are pretending to be cranes and are placing blocks next to ADM who has been given the responsibility of stacking the blocks on the shelf.
0 ((%act: puts a block on the shelf)) leave them there (0.3) Adams (.) Adams in charge of putting them away (0.3) Luke? (5.7) LUK: i saw you: put one away= SAM: =that doesnt matter coz it wasnt a block it was a cylinder. %com: LUK makes no further comment.
@End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2
LUK Luke, PET Peter, ADM Adam Ob1.20.ca Disc 10(2): (Begin) 10:48 20 PET, CHE, ADM, LUK and KOY are seated around a table drawing on one large piece of paper.
PET: 0 ((%act: draws on LUKs side of the paper)) LUK: ((to PET)) no this is the moo:n. (0.8)
Appendix A 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 @End LUK: PET: LUK: PET: LUK: LUK: %com: PET: ADM: PET: LUK: PET: LUK:
219
no: youre drawing on the moo::n.= =but this is where the sun is. (1.9) 0 ((%act: pushes PETs hand away)) ((whines)) dont draw mi::ne. (0.2) no you (.) you draw on you:r part. (1.3) then im - (0.5) well then (.) i wont let you have a turn on (0.2) the petrol truck. this is a toy LUK has brought from home. (0.5) yes. i wanna have (.) i wanna have (the) petrol truck. yes. ((to PET)) wha- (.) well not if you do not (.) not if youre gonna go on (.) on mine. ((ie. draw on LUKs part of the paper)) (0.3) i wo:nt. (1.1) there you can go there. ((on the paper))
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5
CHE Cherie, Ob1.21.ca Disc 11(1): 21 CHE and KOY PET and LUK a garage.
LUK Luke, PET Peter (Begin) 36:52 are building with blocks near who are using blocks to make
PET: 0 ((%act:picks up a few blocks which are on the ground near CHE)) CHE: dont break ours Peter? (1.2) PET: but we need lots of (these). (1.6) CHE: but but dont take o:urs. (0.5) PET: no we wont. (1.9)
220 6 7 @End LUK: PET: %act:
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes we need little blocks. (0.3) we need the little blocks and you can have the long blocks. CHE returns to her own building.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 @End KOY: ADM: KOY: ADM: KOY: ADM: %act:
ADM Adam, KOY Koyo Ob1.22.ca Disc 12(1): (Begin) 18:54 22 Pack up time. The children are trying to put blocks on the shelf. ADM has made something with the blocks on the shelf, KOY accidentally knocks it as he puts another block on the shelf.
0 ((%act: knocks block off shelf)) ((whines)) NO:: (.) YOURE BREAKING IT. (0.2) BECAUSE YOURE NOT PACKING UP. (0.6) yes i am. no (.) youre not packing= =YES I AM. KOY walks away to collect more blocks.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4
LUK Luke, SAM Sam Ob1.23.ca Disc 12(1): (Begin) 34:17 23 LUK is banging a block on his own head.
LUK: look Sam (0.3) ow ow.= SAM: =dont do that (.) thats-, (0.8) SAM: dont do that Luke. LUK: i want to crack it. (2.2)
Appendix A 5 6 7 8 9 @End SAM: LUK: SAM: LUK: SAM: %act:
221
if you crack heads youll die: (0.3) do you want to die:: (0.3) and then your mummy will cry:? (1.3) yes. (1.5) dont you like your mummy. yes i do. (0.3) then dont (0.3) then dont die yourself. LUK stops hitting his head with the block.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 @End LUK: RON: RON: LUK: RON: LUK:
LUK Luke, KOY Koyo, RON Ron Ob1.24.ca Disc 13(1): (Begin) 13:38 24 LUK and KOY have built separate roads with wooden blocks. LUK picks up an empty cardboard box to use as a tunnel under which his car can pass. (LUK built his road with KOY; RON built his with SAM).
we ca- (.) they have to join (under [there]). [no tha-] (0.3) we need tha:t (0.6) we need that. (0.4) how about we can put it in the mi:ddle:.= =yeah:. (0.5) so they can go through it. (4.1) RON: like tha:t. (0.5) yeah: like tha:t. LUK:
222 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 @End SAM: KOY: KOY: SAM: KOY: SAM: KOY: SAM: YYY:
SAM Sam, KOY Koyo, YYY Teacher Ob1.25.ca Disc 13(1) (Begin) 17:36 25 Koyo is driving cars near the block corner.
0 ((%act: picks up a car that KOY had been using)) its mi::ne. (0.9) i was us[ing it-], [BUT I] thought you werent using i:t,= =im using it (0.3) i wanna- (.) tha[ts (mine)]. [i thought you] werent using i::t.= =i wanna (.) but (.) i was- that was mi:ne. but i thought you werent using i:t. ((to SAM)) well i think he still is
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ADM: CHE: TES: CHE: TES: ADM:
ADM Adam, CHE Cherie, TES TESS, YYY Teacher Ob1.26.ca Disc 13(1): (Begin) 29:43 26 CHE and TES are sitting at a table playing with dominoes. ADM wanders around the room for a few minutes then approaches the two girls.
((sings)) meeny meeny miney moo:. (0.2) no we are not singing that song,= =were singing a different song. (0.3) we are singing a doggie (0.2) dog song. its not what we singing were [singing]-, [it it] its its its called (0.5) um (0.5) hhh .hhh aa:h its called (0.3) ah it- that that that (.) doggie song is called (0.5) um- (0.3) .hhh,
Appendix A 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 @End CHE: ADM: CHE: ADM: ADM: TES: ADM: ADM: CHE: ADM: CHE: CHE: ADM: TES: CHE: ADM: CHE: ADM: CHE: ADM: CHE: %act: ADM: CHE: ADM: %act: YYY: %yyy:
223
you arent gonna sing it! i just- (.) no ill show you what its called okay (0.4) um (0.4) um (1.6) ill sing it to you okay (0.2) um (0.6) um (0.3) the::,= =dont sing it [xxx] [yeah but i] but i just have to show you because-, (0.6) now (0.7) now u:m (0.3) um-, (2.0) we dont want to hear the doggie doggie. (1.7) no no no (0.2) no no doggie dog (0.4) .hhh ((starts singing)) doggie doggie (0.2) whos got the bone (0.3) someone stole it from your home. (0.7) thats the [song]. [im] (singing it). (0.3) you [have to say] doggie doggie whos got the bone. [go away]. GO away from us! dont you know doggie [doggie whos got]-, [we dont] ca:re dont we?= =go away from us! >yeah but< you: you dont have to say you dont care .hh coz .hh coz [coz coz]-, [plea:se] can you go away from us? coz (0.3) [coz (0.5) coz]-, [were playing a game]. coz coz coz coz [(you got)]-, [GO AWAY] FROM US! pushes ADM (0.3) DONT PUSH ME! ((to TES)) go on get him. (0.4) I WONT BE YOUR FRIEND CHE is still pushing ADM so he pushes back. um excu:se me Adam. Teacher engages ADM in another activity.
224 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 @End
CHE Cherie, FEL Felicity, LUK Luke Ob1.27.ca Disc 14(1): (Begin) 21:03 27 CHE, FEL and LUK are sitting at a table doing jigsaw puzzles. LUK is rushing to finish his first.
LUK: look (0.7) look (0.5) ((singsong voice)) i: beat you (.) didnt i:. (0.4) CHE: well im still doing mine so (you cant xxxx). (0.8) dont SAY dont beat me (0.2) [otherwise], FEL: CHE: [no im] not speaking to you (.) im (0.2) im saying it to Luke. FEL: you (0.3) you said my name? (0.5) CHE: no i didnt. FEL: yes i did i hear you. (0.3) CHE: no: i didnt say your name. FEL: i know: [because you- (.) i heared]. LUK: [youre going to beat Che]rie arent you. (2.2) LUK: ((to CHE)) last is you. (1.0) CHE: i got (part of xxxx). (0.7) dont SAY those sort of things >otherwise you FEL: cant come to my party<. (0.2) CHE: i didnt say it. FEL: i didnt mean you i meant Luke:. %com: three children continue to play together with no further reference to this exchange. %com: unintelligible utterances in this episode were obscured by voices of other children not involved in the exchange (playing nearby).
Appendix A @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
225
CHE Cherie, FEL Felicity, LUK Luke, GER Geri, JON John Ob1.28.ca Disc 14(1): (Begin) 22:26 28 JON has made a house by placing blocks together in an outline, GGG has been helping him. CHE, LUK and FEL approach holding cars.
LUK: 0 ((%act: starts driving his car along the blocks)) JON: no its not a- (0.5) its not a- (0.9) its not a road. (0.2) CHE: i know that. (1.7) LUK: im go[ing to make a tram track.] GER: [that (.) that doesnt look like] .hhh a house (0.6) but it is a house ((to JON)) isnt [it]. FEL: [that] doesnt look like a house. CHE: it doesnt look like one? FEL: no:?= LUK: =it looks like a tram track doesnt it. FEL: [yes]. CHE: [yes]. (0.2) JON: no it doesnt (.) its a different sort of house. (0.4) CHE: ill break it? (0.4) JON: no dont break it! (0.2) i will [break it]? FEL: JON: [otherwise] ill tell the teacher. (0.5) FEL: i will break it John. JON: DONT BREAK it OTHERWISE I WILL TELL [THE TEACHERS on you]. LUK: [John (0.3) Jo:hn] i wont break your [house]. CHE: [i] cant break my: things. (0.3)
226 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes FEL: i dont break my: things. (0.7) JON: dont break my house (.) like that! (1.1) CHE: [i (break) my things]. LUK: [how about making] (0.2) tram [tracks xxxx], GER: [this can be Winne] the Poohs house. (0.7) JON: well dont break my house (0.8) coz (0.2) its (0.3) very special [what i made]. CHE: [is not]? (0.5) JON: it is so= LUK: =how bou[t i can] join my tram (0.2) rail round to your house. CHE: [it is not]. JON: ((to LUK)) yes (0.5) eh (0.4) (yes good) idea. %act: JON now becomes involved in the building with LUK.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
CHE Cherie, FEL Felicity, JON John Ob1.29.ca Disc 14(1): (Begin) 28:16 29 John, Cherie and Felicity are playing with Lego.
JON: who broke my spaceship my winged spaceship. (0.8) CHE: no one. (0.4) JON: yes (.) she (.) did. (1.2) JON: Felicity did. (1.4) Felicity didnt. CHE: (0.4) Felicitys (0.2) shoe did it. JON: (2.6) JON: i know that (1.6) really. (9.5) FEL: 0 ((%act: FEL now approaches CHE and JON flying her Lego spaceship))
Appendix A 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 @End
227
FEL: brm brrm brrrm. JON: somebody breaked (0.5) the wing (0.6) ((to FEL)) did your shoe broke the wing? %act: CHE moves away. (0.8) FEL: no? (0.8) yes (.) it did (1.2) so say naughty shoe (that JON: breaked it). (1.7) im NOT A SHOE:. FEL: JON: it was. (0.7) FEL: no i:m no:t the shoe. JON: no (0.2) uh (0.6) yes thats the shoe that knocked my sp- (0.5) my wing. %act: FEL moves away to join CHE.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LUK: FEL: LUK: FEL: CHE: JON: FEL: JON:
LUK Luke, FEL Felicity, JON John, JO2 John (2), CHE Cherie, BIL Bill Ob1.30.ca Disc 15(1): (Begin) 27:07 30 LUK, CHE and FEL had built houses with blocks but were no longer playing with them. JO2 accidentally stepped on one of the houses as he was crossing the room to play with JON and BIL.
Cherie: .hhhh (.) Cherie look what they did to your house! thats my house. (0.2) look what they did to your house Felicity. (0.6) Cherie look what they did to your house. i was trying to get my [xxxx], [ma- (.) it wasnt] me who did (.) your (0.2) house (0.3) Felicity (0.3) it wasnt me and Bill? it was John. (0.5) it wasnt (0.2) it was that John.
228 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes JO2: i wa- i didnt do that. FEL: yes you did. JO2: no [i didnt]. LUK: [you did] so:! JO2: did no:t. (0.7) well who did that. JON: (0.6) LUK: John did it. JO2: no the [table done it]. JON: [i didnt]. (0.3) JO2: the table done it. (0.4) the table (0.6) the table done it. JO2: (0.7) FEL: did not? (0.5) [did too:]. JO2: LUK: [did not i] s-, JO2: the table [done it and then] it stepped on itself,= LUK: [i sa:w it.] LUK: =i saw what happened. (1.1) LUK: um how did- who did it? (0.7) FEL: um [Bill who did it]. JON: [i dont know] who did it. (0.5) JO2: we [dont know]. BIL: [ma:ybe:] (0.5) maybe somebody did it xxxx[x.] LUK: [it might] have been a (boy that had [xx).] FEL: [i know] who did it lion did. (1.2) BIL: may:be a bear came. (1.0) JON: yeah (0.3) well done.
Appendix A @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 SAM: KOY: ADM:
229
ADM Adam, SAM Sam, KOY Koyo, YYY Teacher Ob1.31.ca Disc 16(1): (Begin) 0:45 31 ADM, SAM and KOY are in the kitchen. ADM has already prepared a bowl of playdough for the teacher.
0 ((%act: places corks on top of the playdough in the bowl prepared by ADM)) and that-, thats Ys. (4.2) SAM: (i want to put) some more of those in. (0.6) no we dont need to put corks in.= ADM: KOY: =excuse m[e:]. SAM: [no] theyre food (0.7) they[re] carro[ts.] ADM: [no], KOY: [>put](them) in<. ADM: no theyre not. (0.2) SAM: theyre carrots! (0.4) KOY: look (0.2) theyre carrots. (0.4) ((to teacher)) theyre not [xxx]. SAM: JON: AHH: HA. YYY: whoopsie (you) dropped the food. (1.4) SAM: ((to teacher)) <hes not letting me put->, KOY: excuse me [xxx]. YYY: [talk to] your friends talk to your friends. SAM: 0 ((%act: again tries to put carrots in bowl)) ADM: thats [got] them. SAM: ehh. KOY: this ones [mine]. SAM: [i (.) dont](.) like that= ADM: =NO THATS Ys. (0.8) ADM: thats Ys. SAM: eneaghh ((whines)). (0.6)
230 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes KOY: i dont have my [xxx]. ADM: [thats where] the spoon goes. %act: takes corks out of bowl. SAM: 0 ((%act: attempts to return cork)) ADM: n[o:]. SAM: [eang]hh. (0.2) SAM: ADAM I WANT TO:::. YYY: okay whats the problem. ADM: its al- its already got [carrots in]. YYY: [yeah what does] what does Sam want to do Adam? ADM: um but this has already got carrots. %yyy: teacher continues dialogue with ADM regarding addition of carrots. She suggests that SAM cook with his own bowl.
KOY Koyo, SAM Sam, YYY Teacher Ob1.32.ca Disc 17(1) (Begin) 6:43 32 KOY and SAM have been playing with hand puppets. SAM still has puppets on the stage (cardboard box with flaps). KOY tries to shut the box.
SAM: 0 ((%act: pushes flaps open)) KOY: no: no it was clo:sed that. (0.4) it was closed now its closed. KOY: (0.5) the show is finished (0.4) Sam the (.) .hhh show KOY: is finished Sam you cant - (0.2) [now you], SAM: [noea]ngh:: ((whines)). KOY: the SHOW is FINISHED. SAM: 0 ((%act: continues to hold puppets in box)) KOY: 0 ((%act: tries to shut flaps)) SAM: no:. KOY: the show (.) is (.) finished (.) [(now)]. SAM: [no]:. ((whines)) %yyy: teacher approaches (1.6) KOY: ((to teacher)) the show is finished. (0.2)
Appendix A 13 14 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4
231
YYY: well i dont think Sam is finished. KOY: the show is finished Y. %act: KOY does not pursue topic and moves away from the puppet area.
PET Peter, CHE Cherie, FEL Felicity Ob1.33.ca Disc 18(1): (Begin) 4:07 33 PET, CHE, KOY and FEL are playing families in the home corner.
PET: now: (0.6) you have to have a baby: now [you]-, CHE: [no] (0.3) theres no baby in this one. PET: ye:s its [xx], CHE: [no] (0.2) coz (0.2) first we need to do it again (0.3) at the start. (1.9) PET: no::. CHE: (goes there). (0.9) no:: weve already been (near) the start. PET: %com: Cherie makes no response. Parallel play continues
PET Peter, FEL Felicity, ADM Adam, KOY Koyo Ob1.34.ca Disc 18(1): (Begin) 25:38 34 PET is driving one of the two cars KOY has brought from home.
FEL: hes having a long turn Koyo. (0.4) ADM: youre having a long turn. (0.3) no im not PET: (0.2) ADM: yes you are (1.4)
232 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes FEL: Peters having a long turn. (1.1) ADM: i [wanna have a turn]. KOY: [he might give you] (the turn) Felicity.= ADM: =i wanna have a turn. PET: but i :m not fin(.)ished ye::t.= FEL: =yeah:. (0.6) PET: well .hh, (1.9) ADM: no:,= FEL: =no[:]. ADM: [tha]ts a long tu:rn. (0.2) PET: ive got four more minutes (left). (0.4) ((to FEL)) no i think hes got four more ADM: minutes %com: argument ceases for two minutes but then ADM pursues PET to the other side of the room and resumes attempts to have a turn with the car.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 @End
ADM Adam, PET Peter Ob1.35.ca Disc 19(1): (Begin) 39:21 35 ADM picks up a lego construction that PET had left on the table.
ADM: now (0.2) (im gonna put that there). PET: HE::Y. ADM: >yeah but< you left it here? (1.3) but i:- (0.6) leave it there where i put it. PET: ADM: yeah now i: got it. PET: nnghehhngh: ((grabbing object)). %act: both boys struggle, holding onto Lego. YYY: Adam and Peter. %yyy: teacher intervenes and explains to ADM that PET was still using the Lego and that he must put it back on the table.
Appendix A
233
Observation 2 transcripts
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 @End MIR: MIR: CAZ: MIR: CAZ: MIR: %act: CAZ: MIR: CAZ: %com: MIR: CAZ: %com: MIR Miranda, CAZ Caroline Ob2.1.ca Disc 2: (Begin) 6:06 1 MIR and CAZ are playing in the spaceship. MIR is holding two plastic lids.
we both have two. (1.2) see? (0.8) no: (0.3) (ive got these). then give one to me Caroline because youve got lots there. (1.0) im not giving any of these to you (1.8) (if you dont) then ill just take it then. reaches to grab plastic lid STO::P! (0.3) gimme one of them. (0.2) i am not going to. .... (5.6) utterances inaudible lets just be nice and understand okay? (1.9) but we have to just type into the computer. MIR takes up this suggestion and both girls return to playing with the keyboards in the spaceship
234 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 @End %act: JAK: MIR: CAZ: JAK: CAZ: JAK: MIR: JAK: %act: TOM:
CAZ Caroline, MIR Miranda, JAK Jack, TOM Tom Ob2.2.ca Disc 2: (Begin) 22:45 2 CAZ and MIR were playing in the spaceship prior to dressing up for a wedding. JAK and TOM have come in from outside, and JAK has entered the spaceship.
girls attempt to enter the spaceship no! (0.2) Jack <we were playing in tha:[:t>]. ((whines)) [(hey] were playing with) that. (0.3) no: (.) you were over there. no: we still havent finished. well [we have-], [but that] was our fairy [spaceship]. [no::]! pushes CAZ as she tries to enter its a rocket ship (.) you guys. (1.1) CAZ: were playing we were playing in there fi:rst CAZ: and then were just next to there (0.3) and we got some fir:st [and we] just went to get married. JAK: [POW]! (2.3) ((to TOM)) come on! JAK: %act: CAZ starts moving towards teacher. CAZ: ((to Teacher)) excu:se [me:]. JAK: [HEY WAIT]! %act: JAK follows CAZ to teacher to argue his case.
Appendix A @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 @End
235
SIM Simon, GAR Gary, TOM Tom Ob2.3.ca Disc 5: (Begin) 12:46 3 SIM, GAR and TOM are playing in the block corner.
SIM: ((to TOM)) what time do you leave creche today? (1.4) SIM: are you going home before lunch or after lunch. (0.3) TOM: a:fter (0.3) i :m going after lunch are you? (0.2) SIM: im going (0.5) a:fter lunch. (0.2) TOM: me too. (0.9) GAR: im going befo:re lunch. (1.0) TOM: no you are::nt. (2.2) GAR: im not staying for lunch. (0.2) TOM: pardon? (0.3) GAR: im not staying for lunch. (1.2) TOM: youre (.) youre (0.3) youre tricking me:. (0.2) GAR: i am not! TOM: you you you are so youve got a smile on your face. (0.9) GAR: go and look in the book (0.4) go and have a look! %act: TOM goes to ask teacher if GAR is staying for lunch.
236 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 it= 6 7 8 9 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation:
JAK Jack, LOU Louise Ob2.4.ca Disc 6: (Begin) 32:56 4 LOU and JAK have been asking the teacher what day it is (Friday). They move towards the calendar to move the arrow to Friday.
JAK: oh (then the two of us can) do it today? LOU: no i can do it (0.2) NO: I WANNA Do it. JAK: (0.5) JAK: the the teacher said i will do it. (0.3) LOU: no:w (.) i know which day (0.2) and i can do JAK: =i can do it too. (0.6) LOU: no (.) i i can do it [i-], %act: pulling arrow from JAK JAK: [its] gonna break >its gonna break< (0.3) LOU: i know but im very gentle. %act: puts arrow on Friday %com: both children return to collaborative play with connector pieces.
LOU Louise, ELI Elinor, HIL Hilary Ob2.5.ca Disc 4: (Begin) 18:23 5 LOU, ELI and HIL are building a house with wooden blocks in the block corner.
1 2 3
%act: ELI: LOU: ELI:
a stack of blocks fall down of their own accord Loui:se, (0.7) you did it. (0.4) no i didnt?=
Appendix A 4 5 @End
237
LOU: =coz you were- (0.4) you were putting (0.3) your (.) h:ands on it. (0.3) ELI: no .hh coz i was helping with Hilary. %act: LOU and ELI start rebuilding
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LOU Louise, ELI Elinor, HIL Hilary Ob2.6.ca Disc 4: (Begin) 23:03 6 LOU and ELI are walking around the two walls that they have made out of blocks. While they are doing this, HIL has placed two blocks across the floor.
LOU: ((to ELI)) >why did you do< that. (0.4) ELI: i didnt. (1.2) who: did the:se. LOU: (0.7) ((to HIL)) did you? LOU: HIL: 0 ((%act: nods)) (0.8) LOU: $why did you do that$. (2.2) HIL: im not telling you why. (0.9) ELI: maybe coz she was (0.6) (making a floor). (1.5) LOU: oh >shall we make a< floor? (0.3) ELI: yes (0.2) >of course we< can.
238 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 CAZ: ELI: CAZ: ELI: CAZ: %act: ELI: CAZ: %act: ELI: %com: CAZ: ELI: CAZ: ELI: CAZ: ELI: ELI:
ELI Elinor, CAZ, Caroline Ob2.7.ca Disc 8: (Begin) 10:22 7 ELI and CAZ have been playing in the spaceship. CAZ is holding a doll that she has collected from the nearby dollshouse.
heres another big girl (0.4) thats not a girl thats a bo::y. (0.2) girls wear pants. (0.9) well (0.5) thats- i know thats a boy. (0.2) coz shes wearing pants (0.3) shes a girl? pointing to the observer (1.8) whos wearing pants. (0.3) she is. points to observer (1.9) i know she is (.) but thats a boy (.) i know that. referring to doll (1.2) girls can have short hair. x x x x x. (2.5) no thats mine (i got mi:ne) mine! (0.4) its mine. (1.1) then ill have these. (3.3) i wanna have (.) a gir:l (0.4) i wanna have a one girl. (0.7) youve got two: gi:rls. (0.4)
Appendix A 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 @End ELI: CAZ: ELI:
239
(youve got) both the girls. (0.3) no: theres another girl (0.2) but i dont like that girl. (6.8) ELI: you cant have two girls. ((petulant tone)) (0.7) ELI: well thats the boy and i hate boys. (1.1) ELI: im not gonna to be your friend if you dont ever give me that. (1.0) CAZ: im not gonna ever give that to you. ELI: okay (.) im getting out of here. CAZ: alright? (1.1) CAZ: there you are? %act: throws the boy/disliked girl doll out to ELI %com: ELI moves away from play area
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WIN Winnie, PAU Paul raining this morning, therefore more children inside than usual. Ob2.8.ca Disc 9(1): (Begin) 24:08 8 WIN and LOU are building garages with the wooden blocks. PAU has joined them. WIN picks up a plastic ladder made from connector pieces.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
ive got a great idea what we can do with this (2.5) PAU: give it to me! WIN: i [found it]. PAU: [no i -](.) no i had i:t. WIN: i found it PAU: no i had it a while ag[o]? WIN: [no]. (0.5) PAU: i had it a while ago.=
WIN:
240 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes WIN: =no you did[nt]. PAU: [well] im telling on you. (0.7) excuse me [Y]YY. WIN: PAU: [no], PAU: um Caroline gave it to me. %com: Caroline is not present in the play (0.5) WIN: excuse me [YYY]. PAU: [Caroline] gave it to me. %yyy: teacher intervenes but response is inaudible.
LOU Louise, PAU Paul raining this morning (more children inside than usual) Ob2.9.ca Disc 9(1): (Begin) 27:40 9 LOU and WIN have been building garages with wooden blocks. PAU approaches and touches one of the blocks with a plastic ladder.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
PAU: 0 ((%act: touches block with plastic ladder)) LOU: what are you do:ing. (1.5) PAU: 0 ((%act: continues to nudge the blocks)) LOU: what are you doing youre breaking everything. (2.2) PAU: 0 ((%act: continues to touch blocks)) LOU: do:nt! (1.1) PAU: you can still (.) fix it (1.1) LOU: ((to WIN)) Pauls spoiling- (0.3) ((to PAU)) we were here fi:rst. (0.5) we were here first. PAU: (0.4) PAU: xx [xxx] LOU: [we (need)] the-,
Appendix A 12 13 @End
241
LOU: we were- off you go because we were here first! (3.4) LOU: youre wrecking everything. %act: PAU moves away from block area.
FRE Fred, JIM Jim, PAU Paul raining this morning (more children inside than usual) Ob2.10.ca Disc 9(1): (Begin) 31:26 10 FRE and JIM are playing in the spaceship. PAU approaches them holding a plastic ladder made from connector pieces that he found in the block corner.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
PAU: Fred are you still using this? (0.5) FRE: ME. (1.4) yes he i:s. JIM: (0.2) well then (1.2) then how come youre not using PAU: it (0.5) JIM: C[O::Z]. FRE: [put it] over the::re! JIM: YEAH::! FRE: dont x (0.2) look after it xxxxx. (0.2) Paul DONT BREAK it! FRE: PAU: i wont. (0.2) JIM: (co:z). (0.3) I WONT. PAU: (0.4) FRE: alright. (0.2) you better watch it. JIM: (4.4)
242 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes FRE: ((to JIM)) you can kill the trolls alright (.) ((to PAU)) youre wrecking it. %act: PAU is pulling some of the pieces off the ladder. (3.6) FRE: DONT (.) WRECK i:t! (0.2) i wanna make something (.) and you werent even PAU: using it. (1.0) but i (.) i will use it later. FRE: (1.2) PAU: no you were:nt no you werent even using it no:w (0.7) yeah now- (0.5) then- (0.3) youre (wrecking it) FRE: ill kill your whole building down? (0.3) PAU: huh? (0.3) kill your whole building down if you dont-, FRE: (0.3) PAU: i didnt i didnt even make a building. (0.5) yes you di:d JIM: PAU: what. (0.7) JIM: your um (0.6) bits:. (0.4) yeah (0.3) and ill break your head off. PAU: %com: JIM and FRE ignore PAU and continue imaginative play in the spaceship.
Appendix A @Begin @Participants: @Note: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation:
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FRE Fred, JIM Jim, PAU Paul raining this morning (more children inside than usual) Ob2.11.ca Disc 9(1): (Begin) 34:33 11 FRE and JIM are still playing in the spaceship. PAU approaches them for a second time.
1 2 3 4 5 6 @End
0 ((%act: throws a party hat out of the spaceship)) PAU: dont (.) you cant wreck those (0.2) he:lmets. (0.4) i hate this helmet.= FRE: PAU: =you cant even throw em out. (1.4) FRE: we dont need them do we? (0.2) then why dont you need them. PAU: %com: FRE does not respond, PAU moves away.
FRE:
@Begin @Participants: @Note: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 @End
LOU Louise, WIN Winnie raining this morning (more children inside than usual) Ob2.12.ca Disc 9(2): (Begin) 3:59 12 LOU and WIN have been building bridges etc in the block corner for some time. As LOU drives her car around she is knocking over blocks.
WIN: do:nt youre wrecking everything. LOU: well im trying to go round. LOU: 0 ((%act: knocks another set of blocks)) WIN: DO:NT! LOU: well im trying to get through and you put so many things here. %com: WIN makes no further comment.
244 @Begin @Participants: @Note: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
LOU Louise, WIN Winnie raining this morning (more children inside than usual) Ob2.13.ca Disc 9(2): (Begin) 7:08 13 WIN and LOU are playing in the block corner.
WIN: 0 ((%act: drives a car onto the blocks)) LOU: i want to u:se (.) i was using that car. (0.4) WIN: no you were using that car. (0.6) LOU: what? (0.8) that car that youve got already WIN: %com: Lou makes no response
DON Don, ALI Alistair, TOM Tom Ob2.14.ca Disc 11(1): (Begin) 10:24 14 9:48 am. DON and ALI are playing in the spaceship. TOM approaches DON, who is wearing a watch.
TOM: whats the time Don. DON: 0 ((%act: shows watch to TOM)) ALI: can i see what the time is? (0.4) DON: one oclock. (0.8) ALI: thats the time? TOM: (yeah) th[at]-, DON: [one] oclo:ck (0.4) yea::h oclock. (0.2) no its not. TOM: (2.3) (on (.) on the) time it says-, DON:
(.)
its
one
Appendix A 10 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 @End MIR: %act: PAU: MIR: PAU: TOM: its not thats ten oclock. %act: ALI then draws DONs attention spaceship play.
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to
the
MIR Miranda, Pau Paul Ob2.15.ca Disc 12: (Begin) 5:37 15 PAU, FRE and MIR are listening to a story tape on headsets with another child. The children are having problems controlling the volume (there is a main control board with a volume switch for each headset plugged in).
i cant hea:r it. fiddles with buttons (0.2) hey. i cant hear it. (0.9) he:y dont youll break it like tha:t. (1.2) MIR: but i cant hea:r. PAU: 0 ((%act: turns the control button for MIRs headset)) (1.6) PAU: now you can hear
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2
MIR Miranda, Pau Paul, FRE Fred Ob2.16.ca Disc 12: (Begin) 5:52 16 PAU, FRE and MIR are still having difficulties with the volume control on the headsets.
PAU: 0 ((%act: turns volume control to another headset)) FRE: he[::y]. %act: pushing PAUs hand away
246 3 4 5 6 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes PAU: [hey]. (0.7) FRE: ive got this o:ne. (1.4) PAU: i cant hear anything. (1.1) FRE: well i can hear it. %act: PAU then turns to teacher for help.
GAR Gary, SIM Simon Ob2.17.ca Disc 14(1): (Begin) 5:03 17 GAR and SIM are playing in the block corner with the plastic connector pieces. SIM is looking for a piece and finds it in one of GARs constructions.
SIM: can i break this? (0.5) GAR: n:o. SIM: well >can i have a-< can i (break this) .hhh= GAR: =NO NO: (0.3) (no i built it) dont! (1.0) SIM: Gary: (1.0) can i have a little play of yours? (0.2) no. GAR: (1.3) SIM: can i? GAR: no. SIM: i wont [break it]. GAR: [i dont want] those jets (going) off. (0.2) i wont break it. SIM: (1.8) >Gary do you wanna come< to my party? SIM: (0.8) if you- (0.3) if you dont give those (0.4) GAR: those things to me (.) you wont come to my par:ty. (0.2)
Appendix A 14 15 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 @End SIM: GAR: SIM: GAR: SIM: GAR: SIM:
247
SIM: (now) do you wanna come to my party? (0.3) GAR: you can- (0.4) leave it for me (0.3) leave it you cant come to my par:ty. %act: SIM places object on ground and returns to basket to look for other plastic connector pieces.
GAR Gary, SIM Simon Ob2.18.ca Disc 14(1): (Begin) 6:12 18 follows episode 17 by 40 seconds (same context).
Gary can i break this. (0.8) no:. (2.0) plea:se can i have it. (0.2) n:o:.= =and then this afternoon you can make it agai:n. no (0.2) you will be- (0.3) you will (0.4) be (.) be here (0.2) but i wont. well-, (4.7) SIM: what time are you going ho:me? %com: dialogue between the two boys shifts to conversation about when lunchtime falls relative to GARs departure.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 SIM:
GAR Gary, SIM Simon Ob2.19.ca Disc 14(1): (Begin) 9:36 19 follows episode 24 by 3 minutes (same context).
Gary: (0.5) this afterno:on i saw you put the (x x). (0.7)
248 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes GAR: n:o:. SIM: ill let you come to my par:ty:? (0.4) and if (.) you (.) dont give me (0.5) one of GAR: those (1.0) one of those big thi:ngs (0.6) you [cant come to my par:ty]. SIM: [hey Ga::ry]? (0.7) SIM: my partys befo:re you:rs GAR: no MY partys before yours.= SIM: =not bef[ore mine]. GAR: [but mine is] (0.3) yours- (0.6) my: mum said yours is in February. (1.3) no it isnt. SIM: (0.4) when i:s it. GAR: (1.4) Ga:ry if you- (0.7) if you let me have that one SIM: xx. (0.3) GAR: what birthday is in your- (0.4) <is in>- (0.3) is yours? SIM: my brothers in Febru[ary]. GAR: [my] brother is si:x %com: continuing conversation focuses on ages of siblings.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 GAR: ROB:
GAR Gary, SIM Simon, ROB Robbie Ob2.20.ca Disc 14(2): (Begin) 6:07 20 ROB, GAR and SIM are playing in the block corner with connector pieces.
0 ((%act:takes piece near ROB)) hey thats mine Gary:. (1.2) GAR: its just a little one (0.2) hey dont! ROB: (1.5)
Appendix A 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6
249
GAR: you didnt see it (.) that [xx if you can] the (fishy) one this (.)((singsong voice)) eeny meeny miney moo (0.2) catch a tiger by the toe (.) if you holler [[let him go eeny meeny miney]] moo, ROB: [no:: (give it) back]! %act: takes piece from GARs construction ROB: [[you cant take it FROM SOMEONE ELSE]]! (0.9) ROB: this is mine (0.7) GAR: then (you cant) come to my party. (2.7) i >dont wanna come to your< party. ROB: (2.4) i dont want to come to your party anyway. ROB: SIM: i dont wanna come to your party anyway either. %com: no further response.
NIG Nigel, SIM Simon, Ob2.21.ca Disc 14(2): (Begin) 13:16 21 It has been raining and all children have been inside. Three minutes prior to this episode the assistant teacher has gone outside which means the children may now go outside and play under the veranda. NIG did not see the teacher move outside.
SIM: im going outsi:de. (0.3) NIG: no youre not allowed to (1.0) wha:t? SIM: (0.3) youre not allowed to go outside, NIG: SIM: yea:h (0.3) NIG: no youre not,
250 7 @End
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes SIM: i a::m? %act: SIM opens door and goes outside.
@Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 @End @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1
NIG Nigel, PAU Paul, SIM Simon Ob2.22.ca Disc 15: (Begin) 28:05 22 NIG, SIM and ROB are in the block corner. PAU comes in from outside and knocks over a tower of blocks that he originally built but that NIG has since remodelled.
PAU: 0 ((%act: knocks over tower of blocks)) NIG: you WRECKER. (0.7) we dont need it Nigel? SIM: (0.3) PAU: that was my one i made. (0.6) well (0.2) do you know what you did to it? NIG: (0.7) PAU: yes (0.9) i wrecked my thing (0.2) and it wasnt yours PAU: NIG: yeah and i put those things up there PAU: well it doesnt need them. %act: rebuilding (3.0) PAU: dont need >all of em<. %com: NIG does not respond
NIG Nigel, SIM Simon, ROB Robbie Ob2.23.ca Disc 16: (Begin) 17:19 23 SIM amd NIG are in the block corner. ROB approaches the two boys.
ROB: Nige::l (.) (come and have a) muffin with me. (0.4)
Appendix A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 @End NIG: what? (0.2) ROB: youve gotta have a muffin with [me]. NIG: [i] already had-, (0.4) SIM: ive already had mi:ne? (0.4) ive >already had morning tea< too NIG: (1.3) we already had morning tea:? NIG: (0.6) did not Nigel. ROB: NIG: yeah i did (0.2) >you didnt< see us %act: ROB walks off to have morning tea.
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SIM Simon, BRI Brian, GAR Gary Ob2.24.ca Disc 17(1): (Begin) 2:14 24 BRI and GAR are in the block corner making spaceships with connector pieces.
%act: SIM looks at GARs contruction. SIM: ((laughing)) he he look at Ga::rys heh heh, (0.3) BRI: $oh yu:ck$. (0.8) yours is yuck (.) Gary BRI: GAR: no it isnt (0.4) BRI: yes it is. (1.0) NO IT ISNT. GAR: (0.5) SIM: dont worry about it Brian. %act: BRI returns to making his own construction.
252 @Begin @Participants: @Filename: @Audio: @Episode: @Situation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 @End
PAU Paul, JIM Jim Ob2.25.ca Disc 20 (1): (Begin) 1:45 25 PAU and JIM have made two ramps leading to a swimming pool in the block corner. The ramps are for the zoo animals they are playing with.
PAU: heres my house (0.3) heres your house. (0.5) PAU: thats my si- (0.2) this is all our fun zoo. (0.2) thats your side (0.3) this is my side (0.2) we PAU: stay on our [own]-, JIM: [we c]an (.) we can wa:lk on each others? (0.2) PAU: yes except (0.2) we ca::nt (0.5) JIM: 0 ((%act: pushes the ramps together)) PAU: hey youre making it differe::nt. (0.3) PAU: youre cheati:ng i need o:ne. ((whining)) PAU: 0 ((%act: pulls blocks apart)) (2.3) JIM: o::y:. (0.2) PAU: look see:? (0.4) PAU: no youre a chea:ter:. (0.3) PAU: hey that can be both of ou:rs. (0.3) yeah. JIM: (0.3) PAU: see? %act: pushes blocks together (0.9) PAU: both of ours now.
Appendix A
253
Observation 1 summary
Type Ob1.1 Ob1.2 Ob1.3 Ob1.4 Ob1.5 Ob1.6 Ob1.7 Ob1.8 Ob1.9 Ob1.10 Ob1.11 Ob1.12 Ob1.13 Ob1.14 Ob1.15 Ob1.16 Ob1.17 Ob1.18 Ob1.19 Ob1.20 Ob1.21 Ob1.22 Ob1.23 Ob1.24 Ob1.25 Ob1.26 Ob1.27 Ob1.28 Ob1.29 Ob1.30 Ob1.31 Ob1.32 Ob1.33 Ob1.34 Ob1.35 Play script Play script Play script Possession Local rules Play script Local rules Object/possession Play script Object Object Play script Local rules Local rules Object/possession Play script Object Local rules Local rules Play script Object Local rules Local rules Object Object Play script Truth Play script Truth Truth Play script Play script Play script Local rules Object Outcome I Intervention (C) R Resolved R Resolved I Intervention (T) V * (Interrupted) (T) R Resolved R Resolved R Resolved A Abandoned A Abandoned A Abandoned A Abandoned R Resolved I Intervention (T) A Abandoned R Resolved I Intervention (T) I Intervention (T) R Resolved R Resolved R Resolved A Abandoned R Resolved R Resolved I Intervention (T) I Intervention (T) R Resolved A Abandoned A Abandoned R Resolved I Intervention (C) (T) I Intervention (C) R Resolved R Resolved I Intervention (T)
254
Observation 2 summary
Type Ob2.1 Ob2.2 Ob2.3 Ob2.4 Ob2.5 Ob2.6 Ob2.7 Ob2.8 Ob2.9 Ob2.10 Ob2.11 Ob2.12 Ob2.13 Ob2.14 Ob2.15 Ob2.16 Ob2.17 Ob2.18 Ob2.19 Ob2.20 Ob2.21 Ob2.22 Ob2.23 Ob2.24 Ob2.25 Object Object Truth Object Truth Truth Object Object Object Object Local rules Play script Object Truth Object Object Object Object Truth Object Local rules Object Truth Truth Play script Outcome R Resolved I Intervention (C) I Intervention (C) R Resolved R Resolved R Resolved A Abandoned I Intervention (C) A Abandoned A Abandoned A Abandoned R Resolved R Resolved R Resolved R Resolved I Intervention (C) R Resolved A Abandoned A Abandoned A Abandoned A Abandoned A Abandoned R Resolved A Abandoned R Resolved
References
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Index
abandoned disputes 120, 1223, 125, 127, 136, 164 abandonment 5, 27, 111, 120, 12330, 1401 failure to respond 1237 increasing volume 130 topic shifts 1279 acceptance 18, 245, 42, 44, 46, 11517, 1423 accountability 45, 47, 85 accounts behavioural obligations 1047 continuum of objectivity 1759 in dispreferred turn shapes 95108 downgrading 17980, 1835 epistemological 1078 in final utterances of resolved disputes 15160 hierarchy of 1756, 17980 ownership rights 99102 preceding preferred turn shapes 16075 properties of objects, play spaces and play scripts 1024 saliency in dispute resolution 1879 upgrading 17983 volition, necessity and personal preference 959 acknowledgement 90, 92 actions categories of 29, 47, 4951 dispreferred 43, 456, 49, 51 objectionable 98, 149, 164 preferred 45, 479, 51, 189 active resolution 123, 129 adjacency pairs 402, 46, 75, 155, 179 adult speech 2, 19, 75, 78, 109 adults 12, 5, 20, 36, 193 adversative discourse 25, 78, 10, 1819, 24, 5963, 1935 as productive interaction 3 adversative episodes 8, 11, 19, 234, 27, 57 age 2, 7, 13, 34, 53, 59, 13940 aggravation 17, 19 agreement 44, 46, 4951, 62, 111, 114, 18990 analysts 29, 349, 42, 177, 184 analytic research 32, 357, 55, 108 antecedent events 1012, 18 argumentation 3, 16 theory 2 argumentative sequences 19, 223, 26, 71, 125 Asher, R. 21 assertions 8, 1718, 234, 99, 133 Atkinson, J. M. 32, 367, 43, 457, 49, 189 atypical dispreferred turn shapes 934 atypical preferred turn shapes 758 atypicality 5, 759, 934, 193 authority 3, 1819, 23, 95, 102, 108, 130 teachers 182 Baker, C. D. 2, 26, 60 behavioural obligations 1047 Benoit, P. 89, 1213, 18, 21, 24, 136, 140 Berenz, N. 545 Bilmes, J. 468, 501 birthdays/birthday parties 113, 129, 13740, 1423, 179 Bloom, L. 3, 54 Boggs, S. T. 1819, 223, 61, 65 boundaries 89, 26, 31, 35, 41 of preference 136, 149 Boyle, R. 478, 501 boys 1516, 21, 57, 59, 91, 1834, 195 breakdowns in shared play/collaborative activity 5, 123, 137, 141, 149, 180 Brenneis, D. 3, 10, 1718, 22, 28, 61, 65 brevity 634, 68, 71, 75, 130 CA, see conversation analysis calendar 158, 182
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Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes contours, terminal 55, 197 contradicting routines 223 contradiction 8, 18, 223, 63, 70, 76, 126 contrived episodes/situations 13, 34 conversation development of 356 features of 357 maxims of 42, 45 sequential organisation, see sequential organisation conversation analysis 5, 7, 3052, 55 applicability 52 emic perspective 367 methodological advantages 337 theory 47 conversational preference 489, 62, see also preference correction 12, 19, 39, 156 Corsaro, W. A. 24, 810, 13, 15, 19, 24, 589 Coulter, J. 89, 50, 64 counter insults 18, 223 counter threats 1, 18, 147 counters 17 cycles of threats 18, 147 Danby, S. 2, 26, 60, 138 data-driven analysis 356 data, introduction to 534 Davidson, J. 44 Dawe, H. C. 1315 delay 435, 501, 636, 746, 8092 markers 63, 80, 8592, 94, 108 pauses 805 prefatory 78, 92 denials 8, 1718, 23, 50, 61 development of conversation 356 development of disputes 5, 175, 193 developmental psychology 7, 13 Di Paolo, M. 1415, 1718, 26, 28, 589, 61 direct opposition 39, 65, 75, 173, 1901 markers 62 short 5, 190 direct threats 138 directness 63, 712, 75, 130 discourse analysis 29, 32, 35, see also conversation analysis discourse markers 44
challenges 16, 19, 58, 90, 1012, 107, 1889 child-initiated intervention 133 Chomsky, N. 3 claims 203, 956, 989, 1068, 1412, 1579, 1767 epistemological 151, 156, 163, 176 factual 95, 108, 1756 ownership 16970, 174 prior 99101, 115, 154, 163, 165 closings 12, 267, 11112, 115, 12930, 133, 1401, 149, see also outcomes; resolutions of resolved disputes 151, 1578, 160, 169 communicative competence 34 developing 2, 4, 6, 21, 193, 195 communities, speech 22 compliance 136, 142 compromise 1718, 268, 61, 73, 112, 11519, 179 conditional directives 17 conditional threats 138, 142, 145 conflict between children 1 closings, see closings continuation 111, 176 definition 2, 78, 13 episodes 9, 12, 17, 23, 267, 36, 78 frequency 1316, 579 openings 1012 outcomes 20, 269, 52, 78 resolution, see resolutions situations 1, 21, 612, 108, 195 strategies, see strategies types 1316, 579 verbal 2, 4, 10, 80, 109, 111 connected discourse 33, 193 connector pieces 120, 158, 182 constraints 40, 57, 103 behavioural 1045 context 9, 36, 45, 75, 18990, 194 local 33, 42, 47, 501, 120 sequential 4950, 136, 141, 152 social 45, 31, 37, 193 contiguity 44, 46, 71 continuation of conflict 111, 133, 176, 18990 continuum of objectivity 1759, 195
Index discrepancies 10, 1415, 28, 567 dislike 95, 98, 159, 173, 177 dispreference 16, 44, 47 markers 85, 87, 109, 115, 149 dispreferred actions 43, 456, 49, 51 dispreferred responses 434, 467, 49, 149 dispreferred status 45, 50, 136 dispreferred turn shapes 5, 8093, 121, 149, 18990, 1923 accounts in 95108 atypical 934 disputes abandoned 120, 1223, 125, 127, 136, 164 closing of, see dispute closings closings, see closings frequency 14, 57, 5960, 193 multi-party 246, 789, 109, 165 object 1415, 589, 144 outcomes, see outcomes peer, see peer disputes resolution, see resolutions Ditchburn, S. 27 double-voice discourse 16 downgrading 17880, 1835 Du Bois, J. W. 54 Dunn, J. 11 dyads 245 Edwards, J. A. 54 effectiveness 99, 116, 160, 176, 1789 Eisenberg, A. R. 34, 811, 15, 1720, 23, 278, 59 emic perspective, conversation analysis 367 endings, see closings; outcomes; resolutions environments, observation 568, 60, 63, 91, 102, 106, 112 episodes adversative 8, 11, 19, 234, 27, 57 resolved 112, 123, 168 epistemological accounts 1078, 1645 epistemological claims 151, 156, 163, 176 Ervin-Tripp, S. 54, 88 escalation 18, 42, 65, 134 pattern of 19, 22 ethnomethodology 31 events, antecedent 1012, 18 exchanged threats 162, 164 existing research 4, 7, 12, 18, 57, 62 limitations 29 expectations 16, 3942, 4650, 60, 95, 149, 157 social 48, 51, 58, 105 explanation requests 17 extended sequences 55, 1789, 191 external intervention 1302
275
facework 49, 195 factual claims 95, 108, 1756 failures to respond 41, 44, 51, 11925 final sequences 151, 160 final utterances 5, 112, 124, 1267, 136 resolved disputes 121, 149, 15160, 193 first pair parts 401, 435, 51, 162 food 42, 70, 131, 172 format 9, 1516, 19, 51, 156 tying 24 Fraser, B. 19, 95 frequency, conflict 1316, 5760, 193 friendship 3, 20, 60, 137, 146 relations 13 threats 179 gaps 22, 37, 634, 80 Garvey, C. 4, 811, 15, 1719, 23, 278, 33 gender 13, 15, 57, 59, 195 Genishi, C. 1415, 1718, 26, 28, 589, 61 Gilligan, C. 16, 21 girls 1516, 21, 57, 846, 1445, 1735, 1834 Goffman, E. 31, 35, 43, 49 Goodwin, C. 4, 1516, 19, 21, 235, 33, 51 Goodwin, M. H. 34, 1516, 19, 21, 235, 28, 33 Gumperz, J. 4, 545 Halliday, M. A. K. 4, 24 harm-threats 18, 24, 136 Hartup, W. W. 3, 11, 20 Haslett, B. 1718, 136, 147 Hay, D. F. 3, 89, 14, 59 hesitations 19, 35, 434, 51, 62, 80, 85
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Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes acquisition 3 latched utterances 64 Laursen, B. 3, 11, 20 Lein, L. 3, 10, 1718, 22, 28, 61, 65 length, turn 63, 6874 Levinson, S. C. 19, 32, 35, 43, 45, 47, 49 Lewis, M. 41, 48 liking 99, 173, 181 linguistic markedness, see markedness linguistic preference, see preference local context 33, 42, 47, 501, 120 local rules 589, 95, 105 Lussier, C. 201, 130 markedness 435, 4750, 149, 187, 1923 markers 5, 434, 51, 73, 85, 878, 903 delay 63, 80, 945, 108 dispreference 85, 87, 109, 115, 149 maxims of conversation 42, 45 Maynard, D. W. 34, 812, 1819, 246, 28, 39, 78 McTear, M. 4, 73 methodology 13, 31, 337, 56, 62 mitigation 17, 1920, 95, 135 modified acceptance 11519 motivation 15, 28, 345, 478, 601, 177, 184 multi-party disputes 246, 789, 109, 165 Murray, B. 201, 130 mutuality 89 necessity 955, 99, 155, 172 negotiation 201, 278, 58, 135, 141, 190, 194 Newman, R. S. 201, 130 next-turn opposition 146 non-opposition 136, 179 nonverbal actions 1011, 35, 668, 197 novel content 65, 76, 118, 124, 132, 1902 novel positions 11718 object disputes 1415, 589, 99102, 1434, 1514, 1613, 17680 objectionable actions 98, 149, 164 objections 89, 256, 99100, 1045, 1212, 1267, 1525 justified 87, 141, 153 repeated 132
hierarchy of accounts 1756, 17980 ignoring 17 immediate responses 637 increasing volume 130 indirect threats 1, 138, 143 initial opposition 1012, 1718, 23, 63 insertion sequences 8, 25, 401 insistence 17 insults 1718, 224, 61 counter 18, 223 intentions 3, 14, 16, 18, 29, 45, 601 inter-turn pauses 63, 7980, 84, 109 interrogatives 126, 1289 interruptions 44, 123 intervention 1, 1303 child-initiated 133 external 1302 strategies 5, 60, 195 teacher 5, 20, 11112, 130, 1328, 140, 1934 teacher attitudes 601 teacher-initiated 130, 1334 intonation 19, 73, 197 inversion 22, 634, 70, 136, 190 invitations 423, 456, 489, 13742, 179 Israeli children 9, 78 Italian children 15, 19 Jackson, S. 29, 42, 189 Jacobs, S. 29, 42, 189 Jefferson, G. 31, 369, 47, 556, 197 justifications 17, 95, 1024, 1069, 1558, 1603, 17380 objective 193 quantifiable 160 retrospective 54 subjective 1789, 188 justified objections 87, 141, 153 justified opposition 5, 162, 192 knowledge 27, 33, 58, 1078, 156 Koplas, A. L. 3, 20 Kotthoff, H. 501, 190 Labov, W. 9, 15, 19, 32, 53 Lampert, M. D. 54 language 34, 7, 32, 50, 53
Index objectivity 17580, 184 continuum of 1759, 195 relative 1767, 179 in threats 1789 objects, see object disputes; properties of objects observation environments 568, 60, 63, 91, 102, 106, 112 observers 56, 94, 133, 168, 183, 197 Ochs, E. 4, 54 OKeefe, B. J. 2, 89, 1213, 18, 147 one-word objections/utterances 689, 71 openings, conflict 1012 opposition 25, 812, 1419, 956, 98103, 1079, 18993 categories of 17 delayed and justified 923 direct forms of 1901 initial 10, 12, 1718, 23, 63 initial statement of 1012 justified 5, 162, 192 markers 62, 723, 93, 126 next-position 189 next-turn 146 organisation of 118, 134 overt 10, 12, 19, 136, 1756, 18990, 193 unjustified 131 organisation of opposition 118, 134 sequential, see sequential organisation social 15, 28 organising principles 5, 24, 51, 53, 62, 160, 176 orientation 9, 16, 357, 42, 46 other-initiated repair 19, 39, 189 outcomes 56, 109, 11149 abandonment 12330 compromise 11519 dispute closings 149 failure to respond 11927 increasing volume 130 intervention 1306 modified acceptance 11519 and preference 15185 resolutions 11223 threats 13649 topic shifts 1279
277
win/loss 11215 overt opposition 10, 12, 19, 136, 1756, 18990, 193 ownership 59, 99100, 106, 134, 169, 1778, 180 claims 16970, 174, 182 rights 95, 99102, 115, 1589, 1767 pair parts 43, 50, 52, 149, 189, 192 first 401, 435, 51, 162 second 5, 405, 502, 136, 149, 162, 18990 pairs, adjacency 402, 46, 75, 155, 179 parents 7, 20, 53 part-Hawaiian children 18, 22 partial repetition 19 participant orientation, see orientation party invitations, see invitations patterns of discourse 25, 27, 59 patterns of escalation 19, 22 pauses 434, 624, 756, 805, 1089, 1425 inter-turn 63, 7980, 84, 109 peer disputes 53109 personal preferences, see preference, personal personal volition, see volition persuasiveness 111, 145, 151, 157, 1757, 179, 187 physical force 17 Piaget, J. 3, 16 pitch 22, 55, 67 play scripts 27, 589, 1024, 1546, 1623, 171, 1757 play space 1314, 57, 99104, 1256, 132, 169, 1756 politeness 16, 19, 49, 195 Pomerantz, A. 32, 445, 478, 50, 85, 108, 189 possession 1415, 956, 989, 134, 145, 158, 170 power 15, 1401 preference 20, 39, 4252, 62, 75, 98, 189 boundaries 136, 149 categorisation of actions 4951 and dispute resolution 18991 features 5, 47, 49, 623, 1089, 187, 1923
278
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes researchers 13, 16, 27, 336, 54, 56 resolutions 810, 278, 149, 1759, 1935 active 123, 129 compromise 11519 failure to respond 11923 how to resolve disputes 18795 modified acceptance 11519 saliency of accounts 1879 sequence of turn shapes 1913 why preference? 18991 win/loss outcomes 11215 resolved disputes 28, 112, 11516, 123, 1512, 15961, 190 closings 151, 1578, 160, 169 final utterances 121, 149, 151, 160 resources 1, 14, 578 responses dispreferred 434, 467, 49, 149 immediate 637 preferred 434, 467, 51, 80, 95, 136, 163 restarts 93, 100, 143, 151, 153, 160, 182 rights ownership, see ownership rights prior 99, 132, 169 Rizzo, T. A. 3, 8, 10, 13, 15, 1920, 589 Ross, H. S. 3, 78, 10, 1314, 59 rudeness 41, 105 rules 3, 334, 379, 1047, 1668, 1767 local 589, 95, 105 social 18 Sacks, H. 26, 31, 34, 3642, 449, 55, 62 Schegloff, E. 26, 312, 3642, 47, 55, 197 Schieffelin, B. 4 Schiffrin, D. 32, 44, 87 scripts, play 27, 589, 1023, 1546, 1623, 171, 1757 Searle, J. R. 32, 35 second pair parts 5, 405, 502, 136, 149, 162, 18990 self-repair 39 sequence of turn shapes and dispute resolution 1913 sequences argumentative 19, 223, 26, 71, 125 extended 55, 1789, 191 insertion 8, 25, 401 invitation 46, 49
function of 18990 interpretation differences 479 linguistic 489, 194 organisation 5, 4253, 62, 78, 109, 1915 and outcomes 15185 personal 46, 489, 959 problems with concept 4751 psychological 489 and psychology 456 status 435, 47, 4951, 68, 84 structural nature of concept 456 preferred actions 45, 479, 51, 189 preferred responses 434, 467, 51, 80, 95, 136, 163 preferred status 49, 71, see also preference, status preferred turn shapes 6374, 1346 accounts preceding 16075 atypical 758 multi-party disputes 7880 prior claims 99101, 115, 154, 163, 165 prior rights 99, 132, 169 prior utterances 2, 12, 25, 55, 623, 668, 18990 productive interaction, adversative discourse as 3 properties of objects 1024, 108, 160, 1756 Psathas, G. 312, 55 psychological inferences 478 psychological preference 489 real interaction, recording 335 reasons 17 recording of real interaction 335 referents 145, 151, 1767, 17980, 184 refusals 8, 1718, 24, 43, 102, 152, 155 rejections 18, 24, 446, 122, 144, 162 relative objectivity 1767, 179 repair 8, 12, 379 other-initiated 19, 39, 189 repeated objections 132 repetition 22, 41, 70, 132, 135, 157, 190 partial 19 research analytic 32, 357, 55, 108 existing, see existing research
Index side 8, 147, 162 of strategies 226 threats in 1419 sequential context 4950, 136, 141, 152 sequential organisation 33, 3742, 45, 52, 78, 121 Shantz, C. U. 89, 11, 1415, 33, 59 sharing 14, 17, 80, 89, 1668 rule 1067, 157 Sheldon, A. 16, 91 shifts 268, 31, 545, 58, 76, 117, 128 short utterances 68, 99, 191 repeated 166 shouting 60, 130, 134, 146, 194 side sequences 8, 147, 162 silence 44, 47, 64, 112, 119, 121 single utterances 29, 313, 35, 37, 55, 172, 193 social context 45, 31, 37, 193 social expectations 48, 51, 58, 105 social organisation 15, 28 social rules 18 social status 2, 194 social structure 3, 15 social worlds 23, 6, 195 space, play, see play space speech acts 5, 24, 323, 88 adult 2, 19, 75, 78, 109 communities 22 staff intervention 1312 stalemate 132, 144, 162 status dispreferred 45, 50, 136 preference 435, 47, 4951, 68, 84 preferred 49, 71 social 2, 194 strategies 4, 7, 257, 11617, 1413 sequences of 226, 612 types of 612 verbal 1621 stress 19, 22, 35, 55, 197 structures social 3, 15 syntactic 234, 64 subjective justifications 1789, 188 subjectivity 16, 48, 177 submission 26, 11213, 136, 141, 149, 1778 syntactic structures 234, 64
279
talk-in-interaction 23, 5, 9, 334, 37, 534, 78 teacher-initiated intervention 130, 1334 teachers 601, 1078, 1305, 140, 166, 1712, 182 conflict intervention attitudes 601 instructions 4, 106, 135 intervention 5, 20, 11112, 130, 1328, 140, 1934 tell-authority threats 24, 137, 140, 170 Thompson, S. A. 4, 32 threats 1718, 224, 94, 125, 13649, 1789 birthday party 143, 179 conditional 138, 142, 145 counter 1, 18, 147 direct 138 exchanged 162, 164 function 5, 125, 141, 149 harm 18, 24, 136 implied 114, 143 indirect 1, 138, 143 objectivity in 1789 in sequences 1419 tell-authority 24, 137, 140, 170 types 13641 unspecified outcome 18, 24, 136 withholding actions/object 24, 1367, 141, 147 topic shifts 24, 11719, 1279, 144 mid-episode 139 topics, dispute 95, 117, 184, 195 toys 14, 79, 106, 113, 155, 164, 167 transcription 546 conventions 545, 197 transcripts 12, 345, 5464 truth 14, 589, 107 turn length 63, 6874 turn shapes dispreferred, see dispreferred turn shapes preferred, see preferred turn shapes sequence and dispute resolution 1913 turn-taking 379
280
Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes volition 955, 99100, 15960, 162, 1756 volume, increasing 22, 130, 170 Vuchinich, S. 2, 7, 27, 11112, 123, 127 win/loss outcomes 11215 withholding actions/object threats 24, 1367, 141, 147
unspecified outcome threats 18, 24, 136 upgrading 159, 1789, 187 utterances short 68, 99, 191 single 29, 313, 35, 37, 55, 172, 193 verbal strategies 1621 video recordings 5, 53, 56, 58, 80

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PREFERENCE ORGANISATIoN AND PEER DISpUTES

Directions in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

AmELIA ChURCh University of Melbourne, Australia

List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements

1 Introduction 2 Defining Child Conflict

1 7 31 53 111 151 187

3 Conversation Analysis 4 Peer Disputes

5 Dispute Outcomes 6 7 Preference and Dispute Outcomes How to Resolve Disputes

197 198 233 253 254 255 273

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List of Figures and Tables

Table 2.1 Categories of opposition Table A.1 Transcription conventions

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For my parents, for making everything possible.

Conflict between children

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

For discussion of common ground, see Clark (1997).

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Source: Eisenberg and Garvey, 1981.

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Figure 2.1 Sequences in contradicting routines, Boggs (1978)

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Defining Child Conflict

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Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Related to the notion of scorekeeping put forward by Lewis (1979).

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

oh (then the two of us can) do it today? no i can do it

Preference Organisation and Peer Disputes

no i can do it (0.2) NO: I WANNA Do it.

List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements

1 Introduction 2 Defining Child Conflict

3 Conversation Analysis 4 Peer Disputes

5 Dispute Outcomes 6 7 Preference and Dispute Outcomes How to Resolve Disputes

Table 2.1 Categories of opposition Table A.1 Transcription conventions