Scaffolding

Abstract This article proposes a micro-sequential and multimodal approach to scaffolding in parent-child interactions. We argue for a more detailed understanding of how parents manage to transform their scaffolding into a time-limited intervention, transferring responsibility for the task to the child as soon as possible. In a social-interactional perspective following usage-based accounts of language acquisition ( Tomasello, 2003 ), adults play a supportive role, helping children to develop linguistic and discourse skills through structured and dialogical interactions (cf. the Language Acquisition Support System LASS, Bruner, 1981 , and the Discourse Acquisition Support System DASS, Hausendorf & Quasthoff, 2005 ). Whereas traditional approaches focus on asymmetry — where adults model and correct language — a more dynamic perspective, namely the Interaction Acquisition Support System (IASS, Behrens & Pfänder, 2024), recognises interaction as a collaborative and dynamic process. Based on the notions of contingency , fading and transfer ( Van de Pol, Volman, & Beishuizen, 2010 ), we propose a more nuanced view of these three elements of caregivers’ scaffolding. Based on recordings of French families living in Germany, we present a refined scaffolding approach that provides a detailed understanding of how parents manage to limit their intervention while encouraging their child’s active agency.