Affording Social-Cognitive Skills in Young Children: the Overhearing Context

Abstract

In this chapter I set out to sketch a picture of why the more dominant views in social cognitive developmental research cannot provide the appropriate theoretical framework for investigating young children’s participation abilities in conversation. The suggestion will be made that of all conceivable social cognitive skills, the ability to understand and engage in conversations is the most important ability that a child must attain. We need to consider in more detail the ways in which this has a bearing upon our conceptions of language development. Arguably both constructivist/representational and social-functional perspectives of social cognitive development cannot easily accommodate a research strategy which places the dynamic, participatory and ‘online’ factors of conversation and dialogue at the forefront of its concerns. As an alternative, a framework will be outlined which incorporates elements of the ecological perspective and conversational analysis and against this outline, a model concerned with characteristics aspects of the role of overhearing is considered.