Offers a fresh perspective on how conversation analysis can be used to highlight the sophisticated nature of what children actually do when interacting with their peers, parents, and other adults.

• Brings together a contributor team of leading experts in the emerging field of child-focused conversation analytic studies, from both academic and professional research backgrounds
• Includes examples of typically developing children and those who face a variety of challenges to participation, as they interact with parents and friends, teachers, counsellors and health professionals
• Encompasses linguistic, psychological and sociological perspectives
• Offers new insights into children’s communication as they move from home into wider society, highlighting how this is expressed in different cultural contexts

Hilary Gardner is a lecturer in Human Communication Sciences at Sheffield University, UK, and has worked as a speech and language therapist with children for over 30 years.

Michael Forrester is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Kent, UK. Previous publications include the Development of Young Children's Social- Cognitive Skills and Psychology of Language.