Abstract
Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophical orientation concerning dialogism offers a challenge to contemporary play theory. This study demonstrates the benefits of a Bakhtinian analysis of double voicing in early childhood programs. Bakhtin’s notion of dialogism, specifically Bakhtin’s ideas on genre and utterance, has received less attention in the analysis of play. Bakhtin’s conceptualization extends the notion of genre to all spoken utterances in play activities. The purpose of the present study was to examine the existence of Bakhtin’s typology of double voicing with preschool children as they talked and built structures with unit blocks. Bakhtin identified three basic varieties of double voice discourse: (a) unidirectional, (b) vari-directional, and (c) active discourse. The investigation took place in a preschool classroom that encourages a playful curriculum. Drawing on videotaped preschool classroom examples, preschoolers’ use of double voicing in the context of block play was analyzed. The data found the two types of passive double voicing: (a) unidirectional and (b) vari-directional, as well as active categories of hidden dialogicality, parody, and skaz. Bakhtin’s view of language acquisition is discussed by only a handful of early childhood play scholars, and this article suggests early childhood professionals use Mikhail Bakhtin’s double voicing typologies in classroom as a contemporary view for framing early childhood socialization and discourse.
Résumé
L’orientation philosophique de Mikhail Bakhtin concernant le dialogisme pose un défi à la théorie contemporaine du jeu. Cette étude démontre les avantages d’une analyse bakhtinienne de la double expression dans les programmes de la petite enfance. La notion de dialogisme de Bakhtine, spécifiquement les idées de Bakhtin sur le genre et l’énoncé ont reçu moins d’attention dans l’analyse du jeu. La conceptualisation de Bakhtin étend la notion de genre à tous les énoncés parlés dans les activités de jeu. Le but de cette étude était d’examiner l’existence de la typologie de la double expression de Bakhtin chez des enfants d’âge préscolaire, quand ils parlaient et construisaient des structures avec des blocs. Bakhtine a identifié trois variétés de base du discours de la double expression: (a) unidirectionnel (b) vari directionnel et (c) discours actif. L’étude s’est faite dans une classe préscolaire qui favorise un programme ludique. S’appuyant sur des exemples enregistrés sur vidéo en classe préscolaire, l’utilisation de la double expression par les jeunes enfants dans le contexte du jeu de bloc a été analysée. Les données montrent l’existence des deux types de double expression passive: (a) unidirectionnel et (b) vari directionnel, ainsi que de catégories actives de dialog caché, la parodie et le skaz. La perspective de Bakhtin de l’acquisition du langage n’est discutée que par une poignée de spécialistes du jeu en petite enfance. Cet article suggère que les professionnels de la jeune enfance utilisent les typologies de la double expression de Mikhail Bakhtin en classe en tant que point de vue contemporain pour encadrer la socialisation et le discours de la jeune enfance.
Resumen
La orientación filosófica de Mikhail Bakhtin sobre dialogismo ofrece un reto a la teoría de obra contemporánea. Este estudio demuestra los beneficios de un análisis de prácticas de doble sonoridad en programas de infancia temprana. La noción de Bakhtin de dialogismo, específicamente sus ideas sobre género y elocución, han recibido menos atención en el análisis del juego. La conceptualización de Bakhtin amplía la noción de género a todas las elocuciones habladas en actividades de juego. El propósito del presente estudio fue examinar la existencia de la tipología de Bakhtin de “doble voz” (el habla consigo mismo) con niños preescolares mientras hablaban y construían estructuras con bloques de unidades. Bakhtin identificó tres variedades básicas de discurso de doble voz: (a) unidireccional, (b) vari-direccional y el discurso (c) activa. La investigación tuvo lugar en un salón de clase preescolar que fomenta un currículo basado en el juego. Basándose en los ejemplos obtenidos de grabaciones de vídeo, se analizó el uso de doble sonoridad en el contexto del juego con bloques. Los datos encontrados muestran los dos tipos de sonoridad doble pasiva: (a) unidireccionales y (b) vari-direccional, así como categorías activas de dialogicidad oculta, parodia y sketch. La mirada de Bakhtin de la adquisición del lenguaje es discutida por un pequeño número de escolares de educación temprana durante el juego, y este artículo sugiere la utilización profesional de la tipología de doble voz en la sala de clases de infancia temprana como una visión contemporánea para enmarcar la socialización de la primera infancia y el discurso.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination. (M. Holquist, Ed., C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1984). The problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics. (C. Emerson, Trans.). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.
Clark, K., & Holquist, M. (1994). Mikhail Bakhtin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cohen, L. E. (2009). The heteroglossic world of preschoolers’ pretend play. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(4), 331–342. doi:10.2304/ciec.2009.10.4.331.
Cohen, L. E. (2011). Bakhtin’s carnival and pretend role play: A comparison of social contexts. American Journal of Play, 4(2), 176–203.
Cohen, L. E., & Uhry, J. (2007). Young children’s discourse strategies during block play: A Bakhtinian approach. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 21, 302–315.
Corsaro, W. A. (1986). Discourse processes within peer culture: From a constructivist to an interpretative approach to childhood socialization. In P. Adler (Ed.), Sociological studies of child development (pp. 81–101). New York: JAI Press.
Corsaro, W. A. (2005). The sociology of childhood (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Cresswell, J., Hawn, A. (2012). Drawing on Bakhtin and Goffman: toward an epistemology that makes lived experience visible. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forums: Qualitative Social Research, 13(1), http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1594
Dore, J. (1995). The emergence of language from dialogue. In A. Mandelker (Ed.), Bakhtin in contexts: Across the disciplines (pp. 151–176). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Dostoevsky, F. M. (1969). Notes from underground. (M. R. Katz, Trans.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Duncan, R. M., & Tarulli, D. (2003). Play as the leading activity of the preschool period: Insights from Vygotsky, Leont’ev, and Bakhtin. Early Education & Development, 14(3), 271–292.
Guilda, V. (2014). Intonation as a potential means for expressing heteroglossia. Paper presented at the 15th International Bakhtin Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, July 24, 2014.
Hughes, P. (2001). Paradigms, methods and knowledge. In G. MacNaughton, S. Rolfe, & I. Siraj-Blatchford (Eds.), Doing early childhood research. International perspectives on theory and practice (pp. 31–55). Buckingham: Open University Press.
Junefelt, K. (2007). Rethinking egocentric speech. Towards a new hypotheis. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Kyratis, A. (2010). Latina girls’ peer play interactions in a bilingual Spanish-English US preschool: Heteroglossia, frame-shifting, and language ideology. Pragmatics, 20(4), 557–586.
Lytra, V. (2007). Play frames and social identities. Contact encounters in a Greek primary school. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Morson, G. S., & Emerson, C. (1990). Mikhail Bakhtin. Creation of a prosaics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Pratt, C. (1990). I learn from children. New York: Harper & Row.
Pushkala, P. (2005). Crafting qualitative research: Working in the postpositivist tradition. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Sawyer, R. K. (1997). Pretend play as improvisation: Conversation in the preschool classroom. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sluss, D. J., & Stremmel, A. J. (2004). A sociocultural investigation of the effects of peer interaction on play. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 18(4), 293–305.
Stroud, J. E. (1995). Block play: Building a foundation for literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal, 23(1), 9–13.
White, E. J. (2009). A Bakhtinian homecoming: operationalizing dialogism in the context of an early childhood education centre in Wellington, New Zealand. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 7(3), 299–323. doi:10.1177/1476718X09336972.
White, E. J. (2014). ‘Are You ‘Avin a laff?’: A pedagogical response to Bakhtinian carnivalesque in early childhood education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 46(8), 898–913. doi:10.1080/00131857.2013.781497.
Woodhead, M., & Faulkner, D. (2008). Subjects, objects or participants? Dilemmas of psychological research with children. In P. Christensen & A. James (Eds.), Researching with children. Perspectives and practices (pp. 10–40). New York: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cohen, L.E. Layers of Discourse in Preschool Block Play: An Examination of Children’s Social Interactions. IJEC 47, 267–281 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-015-0138-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-015-0138-9