Observation #1: Functions of Communication

Participants: Haley – female, age 7; Paul-Anthony – male, age 2

Setting: Haley and Paul-Anthony are in the living room of my mother’s house in Salida,

CA. Paul-Anthony is guiding a Nintendo Wii remote up and down in the air. There are

other relatives and older girls moving about the house, celebrating Paul-Anthony’s

sister’s 11th birthday.

Description of Interaction:

Interaction Context
H: Whatcha doin, Papa? Speaking to P-A.

PA: Huh? Makes eye contact with Haley.

H: You playin’ Superman? Clarifying her question.

PA: Soo-man? Looks down to remote.

H: Superman! Haley enunciates “Superman.”

PA: No! Spa-man! Grimaces, pulls remote to his chest.

H: Be careful with the controller, okay? Points at the remote.

PA: Wan pay game! Points at the Wii console with remote.

H: Game? You wanna play a game? Turns on the TV.

PA: Pay game! Shakes Wii remote at the TV.

H: Kay, hold on. Turns on the Wii console.

PA: Game! Wan pay golf! Continues shaking the remote.

H: Can I play? Finds a second remote.

PA: No! Shifts away from Haley, remote to chest.

Communication Acts Observed and Stategies Employed to Achieve them:

Haley: Attention-getting. Questioning (Informing).

Paul-Anthony: Acknowledging. Ritualizing.

Haley: Trying to clarify Paul-Anthony’s role. Imagining.

Paul-Anthony: Requesting clarification of reference. Questioning (Informing)

Haley: Correcting. Controlling.

Paul-Anthony: Rejection, correcting. Controlling.

Haley: Persuading. Controlling.

Paul-Anthony: Directing. Controlling.

Haley: Complying with direct request. Ritualizing.

Paul-Anthony: Directing. Controlling.

Haley: Acknowledging, directing. Controlling.

Paul-Anthony: Directing. Controlling.

Haley: Indirect request. Controlling.

Paul-Anthony: Rejecting. Controlling.

My Thoughts:

As Haley was too young to interact with the older girls, she attempted to connect
with the younger Paul-Anthony, who was engaged in role-play on his own. Paul-
Anthony resists Haley’s attempts by rejecting her assumptions, and then tries to
manipulate her by directly requesting to play a video game. Haley, seeing this as an
opportunity to socialize, complies with his request, but is rejected once again when Paul-
Anthony denies her request to play the game together.