Maternal Teaching Talk within Families of Mexican Descent: Influences of Task and Socioeconomic Status

Abstract

This study examined the influences of socioeconomic status (SES) and task on teaching interactions between mothers and children of Mexican descent. Twenty middle-class and 20 working-class mothers and their 4-year-old children were audiotaped during interaction in a school-type construction task (block building) and a homelike construction task (baking biscuits). There were significant effects of task and SES for both mothers’ and children’s behavior. Mothers asked more questions during block building but discussed more complex concepts during baking. Children asked more questions and discussed more complex concepts in baking than in block building. Middle-class mothers discussed more complex concepts than did working-class mothers, but working-class children were more directive and asked more questions than did middle-class children. The results suggest that future studies of parent-child conversation within families of Mexican descent should consider children’s contributions to the learning environment and should examine interaction in a greater variety of tasks.