Description du développement de microstructures dans des récits spontanés d’une dyade plurilingue d’enfants fréquentant un centre de la petite enfance québécois

Abstract

This article describes the development of oral (verbal and non verbal) microstructures present in the spontaneous narratives of a plurilingual dyad. This dyad is composed of a French-speaking and a Spanish-speaking child. The first child is 38 months old at the first time of data collection and 43 months at the second time, 5 months later. The second child is aged 40 months at the first collection time and 45 at the second. We analyze their spontaneous narratives in regards to their smallest components, in other words, the microstructures, as well as in terms of the amount of microstructures observed in their propositions. We also analyze their spontaneous narrative in terms of complexity, especially with regard to the length and richness of their propositions through their spontaneous narratives. Our results show non-significant differences in the use of verbal and nonverbal language of these children. However, mother tongue seems to have an impact on language productivity in their spontaneous narratives, to the detriment of language complexity.