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This paper presents preliminary results from a study examining young girls' information seeking in family interactions. Video recordings of everyday interactions of families with girls between the ages of 3 and 6 years were coded for instances of information seeking, which were then analyzed using the methodology of conversation analysis. Results indicate that young girls' information seeking typically occurs in response to ongoing talk and action, with few instances of information seeking unrelated to the locally immediate context of the family interactions.

This paper explores 3- to 6-year-old children’s orientations to the video camera in video recordings of everyday family interactions. Children’s orientations to the video camera in these recordings were identified and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Types of orientations to the video camera included talking about the camera, engaging in camera-directed talk and/or action, and interacting with the camera. In some cases, these orientations occurred after a parent or sibling first oriented to the video camera; however, in other cases no prior orientation was evident. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Video-mediated technologies enable families with young children to participate in interactions with remote family members. This article examines how a family with young children uses the affordances of video conferencing to 'show' items or themselves. Findings indicate that there are two types of shows in these remote family interactions: those that are designed to receive identification, and those that are designed to receive appreciation and/or assessment. These shows are also often collaboratively produced between a child and her co-present parent. Finally, this paper considers the implications of these shows for our understanding of how families remotely participate in family life. Data are in American English.

Telling about your day is a documented component of close relationships. In examining nearly 31 hours of video-recorded English-speaking American and Canadian families with young children primarily between the ages of three and six, this paper analyses how children solve the problem of producing relevant updates about the goings on of their day. Findings indicate that child-initiated updates are ‘touched off ’ by prior talk or something in the immediate environment. I find that child-initiated updates occur in three sequential environments: (1) when they are prompted by a specific word/ phrase, (2) when they are prompted by an object in the locally immediate environment, and (3) when they are prompted by the local ongoing activity. Importantly, these updates are retrospectively activated in that they are responsive to what just occurred before, but also initiate a new sequence. The updating practices described here provide further evidence of the interactional sophistication of young children in that they show how children can exploit the ongoing environment to deliver updates about their own lives.