Interaction patterns of a mother with her children in dyadic and triadic situations

Abstract

This dissertation is based on observations of a mother's language when interacting with her children in dyadic and triadic situations. The mother, Alexia, was observed first with her older child, and then with her younger child. These two sets of dyadic observations were then compared with the interaction of the mother with both children in the room. Fieldwork for this study was carried out over a period of three months, in order to observe whether there were any differences in Alexia's language when speaking to either child. These differences were then compared to what was observed when the mother was interacting with both children. Rather than one level of language, the mother seemed to merge the two levels of language. During the triadic interaction certain characteristics observed seemed to take the level of the younger child, while others took the form of the older child, and in some cases a more advanced, adult like language was noted.