THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

CYNTHIA STOHL, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation describes and measures the basic attributes of young children's social networks and examines how these attributes relate to children's levels of communicative competence. Two measures were developed: (a) a social network inventory used to measure the formal and substantive attributes of children's social networks including the size, degree of interconnectedness, clustering, diversity, content and role multiplexity, satisfaction, continuity, frequency of interaction, and proximity of networks, and (b) a measure of young children's communicative competence based upon teachers' perceptions of children's performance of four functional competencies: controlling, heuristic, informative, and expressive, as well as sociolinguistic and interactive competencies. Based upon interviews with 55 mothers, a total of 965 links were identified as significant people within preschool children's networks. Systematic differences in component linkages and communicative patterns were identified. Using Smallest Space Analysis (Lingoes, 1973), eight types of network structures emerged. Significant differences in network size, degree of interconnectedness, percentage of kin, percentage of members living in the child's household, frequency of interaction, and number of people who participate in creative, physical, educational, play, and communication activities and go on special outings with the child were found among network structures. Three daycare center teachers filled out competence measures for each child. The results indicated high reliability among teacher ratings. Teachers perceived that children's communicative performance varied along two dimensions--effectiveness and politeness both strongly associated with overall assessments of competence. Females were reported to be significantly more competent than males and older children were evaluated as significantly more competent than younger children. The overall results suggest that children who were perceived to be more competent than other children had large, multiclustered networks with relatively low degrees of interconnectedness, high interaction frequency rates, and large numbers of people who participated in communication activities and special outings. The least competent children were isolated between two small and highly interconnected homogeneous clusters of network members. Two themes run throughout the interpretation of the results. First, based upon Bernstein's (1971) sociolinguistic theory, the advantages of increased diverse social interaction are discussed. Second, the advantage and strength of weak ties (Granovetter, 1973) are highlighted.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Communication

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