CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENTS CONVERSATIONS - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

This study reports a longitudinal investigation of conversational beha viours within normal adolescents (grade 7/age 12-13 years to grade 12/ age 17-18 years). Four males and four females were studied under two e xperimental conditions: talking with an unfamiliar adult of the opposi te gender and talking with a peer of one's choice. The data documented patterns of normal development during adolescence across macro-, micr o-, and midlevels of conversation. The results revealed that adolescen ts interacting with a peer were more likely to use a variety of questi on types, more frequent figurative language expressions, and new and a brupt topic shifts, as well as the communication functions of entertai ning, getting information, and getting the listener to feel/believe/do something. Gender-related differences revealed that males used return s to topic and the functions of getting the listener to feel/believe/d o something and entertaining more frequently than females. Grade-level differences revealed three dominant patterns: (a) for some behaviours a more or less consistent trend up (or down) across grades (e.g. nega tive interruptions, abrupt topic shifts); (b) for other behaviours a m ore or less equal frequency of occurrence at seventh and twelfth grade s, with significant differences in one or more middle grades (e.g. non -specific language, verbal mazes); and (c) for still others a relative ly flat pattern with similar frequencies of occurrence at all grades ( e.g. one-appearance negation, giving information). This study contribu ted to a foundation of longitudinal research on adolescents' communica tion, and the authors suggested expansion of this research to provide for better comparisons between normal adolescents and those with langu age disorders.