Exploring dialogic interactions in grandparent-grandchild conversations over video chat in the United States

Many families use video chat to sustain relationships between children and distanced family members, such as grandparents. However, little is known about the nature of these interactions. Could grandparent-grandchild video chat provide not only opportunities for meaningful social interaction but act as a source of high-quality linguistic experiences? High-quality language experiences that include question-asking and distancing prompts has shown to support children’s language and subsequent academic success. The current study asks whether grandparents and grandchildren produce high-quality language (e.g. questions and distancing prompts) with each other as they engage with media (watching a video and series of pictures) through video chat. Forty-three grandparents (23% male) and their grandchildren between the ages of 48- to 72-months (grandchildren 42% male, 91% White) participated in a one-time video chat session with both these activities. Results revealed that grandparents were eager conversational participants, primarily using statements and questions when interacting with their grandchildren instead of directing grandchildren’s behavior and attention. Grandparents facilitated dialogic interactions using distancing prompts 26% of the time and tended to open these bouts through question-asking. Findings suggest that including videos and pictures during video chat may promote rich interactions between grandparents and grandchildren.