Development of reasoning through arguing in young children

1329

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze how young children reason during argumentative conversations in different educational settings. According to the Vygotskian and socio-cultural perspective, we assume that the child’s thought is developed through discourse, especially during learning processes involving peer interactions and adult-guided discussions. In this paper, we present and qualitatively analyze some of our empirical data collected in order to show the relevance of narrative processes during argumentative activities involving young children in educational contexts. Firstly, we refer to counter-factual reasoning as the argumentative strategy used by preschool children in disputes about narrative. We show some specific spatial-temporal features, mainly linked to a need of generalization and logical bases (i.e. authority of sources, rituality of situations, and plausibility of consequences). Secondly, we analyze how during family conversations children use practical reasoning that derive from parental discourses about norms and directives. Finally, we present a case in which reasoning through arguing is applied in school to teach history to primary school children. Implications of reasoning among children in different educational settings are discussed in order to highlight the relevance of argumentation in school and family activities.

General Information

Keywords: Vygotskian perspective; socio-cultural perspective; reasoning; argumentation; preschoolers’ narratives; family conversations

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Pontecorvo C., Arcidiacono F. Development of reasoning through arguing in young children. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2010. Vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 19–29. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Atkinson J., Heritage J. (Eds.) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversational Analysis. Cambridge. 1984.
  2. Bruner J. Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, 1986.
  3. Bruner J. Acts of meaning: Four lectures on mind and culture. Cambridge, 1990.
  4. Button G., Lee J. (Eds.) Talk and social organization. Philadelphia, 1987.
  5. Capps L., Ochs E. Constructing panic: the discourse of agoraphobia. Cambridge, 1995.
  6. Collins A., Brown J. S., Newman S. E. Cognitive apprenticeship. Teaching the crafts of reading, writing and mathematics. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, learning, and instruction: Essays in honour of Robert Glaser. Hillsdale, 1989.
  7. Edwards D. Categories are for talking: on the cognitive and discursive bases of categorization // Theory & Psychology, 1(4), 1991.
  8. Edwards D. Sacks and psychology // Theory & Psychology, 5, 1995.
  9. Feyerabend P. Against method: outline of an anarchistic theory of knowledge. Milan, 1975.
  10. Garfinkel H. Studies in Ethnomethodology. New York, 1967.
  11. Gilbert G. N., Mulkay M. Warranting scientific beliefs // Social Studies of Science, 12, 1982.
  12. Goffman E. Relations in public: Micro-studies of the public order. New York, 1971.
  13. Goodwin C. Conversational Organization: Interaction between Speakers and Hearers. New York, 1981.
  14. Goodwin C. Notes on story structure and the organization of participation. In J. Atkinson, J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversational Analysis. Cambridge, 1984.
  15. Goodwin C. Professional vision // American Anthropologist, 96(3), 1994.
  16. Hymes D. Models of the interaction of language and social life. In J. Gumperz, D. Hymes (Eds.), Directions in sociolinguistics: the ethnography of communication. New York, 1972.
  17. Jefferson G. Sequential aspects of storytelling in conversation. In J. Schenkein (Ed.), Studies in the organization of conversational interaction. New York, 1978.
  18. Jost J. T. Toward a wittgensteinian social psychology of human development // Theory & Psychology, 5, 1995.
  19. Kuhn T. The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, 1962.
  20. Labov W. Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia, 1972.
  21. Latour B., Woolgar S. Laboratory life. Beverly Hills, 1979.
  22. Leont’ev A. N. Activity, consciousness and personality. Florence, 1977.
  23. Lucariello J., Nelson K. Remembering and planning talk between mothers and children // Discourse Processes, 10, 1987.
  24. Lurija A. R. Cognitive development. Its cultural and social foundations. Cambridge, 1976.
  25. Ochs E. Talking with children in Western Samoa. Language in Society, 11, 1982.
  26. Ochs E. Culture and language development: Language acquisition and language socialization in a Samoan village. Cambridge, 1988.
  27. Ochs E. Misunderstanding children. In N. Coupland, H. Giles, J. Wieman (Eds.), Handbook of Miscommunication. Clevedon, 1990.
  28. Ochs E. Narrative. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse as structure and process. London, 1997.
  29. Ochs E., Capps L. Narrating the self //Annual Review of Anthropology, 25, 1996.
  30. Ochs E., Pontecorvo C., Fasulo A. Socializing taste // Ethnos, 61(1-2), 1996.
  31. Ochs E., Schieffelin B. B. Language acquisition and socialization: three developmental stories. In R. Shweder, R. LeVine (Eds.), Culture theory: Mind, self, and emotion. Cambridge, 1984.
  32. Ochs E., Taylor C. Science at dinner. In C. Kramsch, S. McConnell-Ginet (Eds.), Text and context: cross-disciplinary perspectives on language study. Lexington, 1992.
  33. Ochs E., Taylor C. Science at dinner. In C. Kransen & S. McConnell-Ginet (eds.), Text and Context: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Language Study. Lexington, Mass., 1995.
  34. Ochs E., Taylor C., Rudolph D., Smith N. Storytelling as a theory-building activity // Discorse Processes, 15, 1992.
  35. Orsolini M., Pontecorvo C. Children’s talk in classroom discussion // Cognition and Instruction, 9, 1992.
  36. Pontecorvo C., Amendola S., Fasulo A. Storie in famiglia. La narrazione come prodotto collettivo // Età Evolutiva, 47, 1994.
  37. Pontecorvo C., Fasulo A. Learning to argue in family shared discorse about the past. In L. B. Resnick, C. Pontecorvo, R. Säljö, (Eds.), Discorse, Tools and Reasoning: Situated Cognition and Technologically Supported Environments. Amsterdam, 1997.
  38. Pontecorvo C., Fasulo A., Sterponi L. L’apprendistato reciproco nell’interazione familiare // Ikon, 36, 1998.
  39. Pontecorvo C., Fasulo A., Sterponi L. Mutual Apprentices. The Making of Parenthood and Childhood in Family Dinner Conversation // Human Development, 44, 2001.
  40. Pontecorvo C., Girardet H. Arguing and Reasoning in Understanding Historical Topics. Cognition and Instruction, 77(3-4), 1993.
  41. Resnick L. B., Levine J. M., Teasley S. D. (Eds.). Perspectives on socially shared cognition. Washington, 1991.
  42. Rogoff B. Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York, 1990.
  43. Rogoff B., Lave J. (Eds.) Everyday cognition. Cambridge, 1984.
  44. Sacks H. Lectures on Conversation. Cambridge, 1992.
  45. Sacks H., Schegloff E. A., Jefferson G. A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation // Language, 50, 1974.
  46. Schegloff E. A. Reflections on language, development, and the interactional character of talk-in-interaction. In M. H. Bornstein, J. Bruner (Eds.), Interaction in Human Development. Hillsdale, 1989.
  47. Schegloff E. A. Repair after next turn: the last structurally provided defense of intersubjectivity in conversation // The American Journal of Sociology, 97, 1992.
  48. Schenkein J. (Ed.). Studies in the organization of conversational interaction. New York, 1978.
  49. Schieffelin B. B. The Give and Take of Everyday Life: Language Socialization of Kaluli Children. New York, 1990.
  50. Schieffelin B. B., Ochs E. Language Socialization across Cultures. Cambridge, 1986.
  51. Sinclair J. M., Coulthard R. M. Towards an analysis of discourse. London, 1975.
  52. Stein N. L., Glenn C. G. An analysis of story comprehension in elementary school children. In R. Freedle (Ed.), New directions in discourse processing. Norwood, 1979.
  53. Sterponi L. Narratives and Speech activities: A functional perspective on family dinner storytelling. Manuscript. 1997.
  54. Toulmin S. The uses of argument. London, 1958.
  55. Valsiner J. Editorial: Discourse complexes and relations between social sciences and societies // Culture & Psychology, 1, 1995.
  56. Vygotskij L. S. Though and Language. Cambridge, 1962.
  57. Vygotskij L. S. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, 1978.
  58. Wells G. Revaluating the IRF sequence: A proposal for the articulation of theories of activity and discourse for analysis of teaching and learning in the classroom // Linguistics and Education, 5, 1993.
  59. Wertsch J. V. Culture, communication, and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives. Cambridge, 1985.
  60. Wittgenstein L. Philosophische Untersuchungen [Philosophical Investigations]. Oxford, 1958.

Information About the Authors

Clotilde Pontecorvo, PhD, Professor Emeritus in Psychology of Education, Head of the Faculty of Social and Developmental Psychology, Rome University “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy, e-mail: clotilde.pontecorvo@gmail.com

Francesco Arcidiacono, PhD, Professor at the Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland

Metrics

Views

Total: 2029
Previous month: 3
Current month: 0

Downloads

Total: 1329
Previous month: 3
Current month: 0