Producción narrativa en el contexto del aislamiento social por COVID-19 Un estudio exploratorio de interacciones niño–adulto mediadas por tecnologías

Abstract

This research seeks to contribute to the knowledge of the characteristics of technology-mediated interactions between adults and children in the context of social, preventive, and mandatory isolation (ASPO) in Argentina during the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Specifically, it aims to study whether the contexts of interaction with technologies give rise to children's narrative production, as well as the characteristics of adult interventions in relation to the story's construction and the adult interventions that are motivated by the conditions of technologymediated communication. For this purpose, a dataset of home video recordings of natural situations in which children between 2 and 6 years old use technological devices was analyzed (Rosemberg et al., 2021). The results show that situations that involve the use of technologies provide opportunities for children's narrative production. In addition, they agree with previous literature that underlines the relevance of adults' contingent participation during interactions involving technology for the development of children's language. Specifically, the analysis highlights adults' discursive strategies that aim to scaffold the development of children's stories (by restructuring, expanding, and reconceptualizing children's utterances and by encouraging children to continue narrating through evaluative comments) and to sustain virtual interaction (by repairing technical failures). Thus, this research stands as one of the few studies in our region that provides evidence about children's narrative production mediated by technology during confinement due to COVID-19 in Argentina, a new and challenging context.