Parent-Child Interaction in a Letter-Writing Context

Abstract

This study investigated the interactions between 26 parents and their 3- to 5-year-old children as they collaborated to write a letter to someone during a 10-minute videotaped session. Observations of these sessions were coded using categories designed to indicate: (a) the manner of the exchange of information, (b) the types of information that parents and children exchanged during the writing, and (c) the nature of the children's written input into the resulting letter product. Regression analyses were used to examine how the parents' level of control was associated with: (a) the nature of the children's communicative input into the literacy exchange, (b) the type of information about writing upon which the interchange was focused, and (c) the nature of each child's written input into their letter product. Parents exhibiting higher levels of control tended to have children who exhibited higher levels of response and recognition that they heard the parents, had exchanges that focused on spelling, and had written products that were conventional in nature. Parents demonstrating lower levels of control tended to have children who exhibited higher levels of initiations and verbal input, had exchanges focused on the content of the letter, and had written products that were emergent in nature. These results are discussed in terms of the parents' perception of the experimental task and the amount of instructional support needed to complete the task.