Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze teacher-child interactions considering teachers' linguistic styles and the development of children's socio-communicative skills, based on the Social Interactionist Theory. Observations of interactions between 3 teachers and 8 children at the ages of 24, 30, and 36 months were conducted in dyadic and polyadic storytelling contexts. Interactional categories were created for data analysis. At the age of 24 months, the children presented great number of No answers and Adequate verbal answers. At 30 months, Adequate Verbal Answers prevailed, followed by Spontaneous speeches around the age of 36 months. Teachers were more Assertive and used more Directives with 24-month children, and the use of Requests was more common with children aged 30-36 months. The use of linguistic styles that can foster the development of children's socio-communicative skills, such as Requests and Recasts, prevailed in the dyadic contexts.
Keywords:
Child day care centers; Child development; Social interaction; Language
