ABSTRACT

In this chapter, we follow a group of young Norwegian and American children into their kitchens and dining rooms to observe the conversations they have with their families during mealtimes. Like other modern children, these children grow up in a variety of family constellations, some of them living with their mothers, some with two parents. Some children have siblings, others not. However, all these families also have something in common; they all have a child around the age of 3, the family members talk together while they eat, and they have agreed to allow the talk be recorded. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the influence of the participation structure, whether multiparty or two-party, on the opportunities these young children in two different cultures are offered for conversational participation and pragmatic learning during mealtimes.