Pedagogical Questions in Parent–Child Conversations

Abstract

Questioning is a core component of formal pedagogy. Parents commonly question children, but do they use questions to teach? This article defines “pedagogical questions” as questions for which the questioner already knows the answer and intended to help the questionee learn. Transcripts of parent–child conversations were collected from the CHILDES database to examine the frequency and distribution of pedagogical questions. Analysis of 2,166 questions from 166 mother–child dyads and 64 father–child dyads (child's age between 2 and 6 years) showed that pedagogical questions are commonplace during day-to-day parent–child conversations and vary based on child's age, family environment, and historical era. The results serve as a first step toward understanding the role of parent–child questions in facilitating children's learning.