Making knowing visible: tracking the development of the response token yes in second turn position

This study is a longitudinal investigation of the development of the token yes in second turn position in Summons/Response and in yes/no Question/Answer adjacency pairs. The study draws on data from the interactions between two children aged 10 months to 24 months with their parents. Noting the strong association of yes with the actions of affirming, agreeing and acknowledging, analysis follows its trajectory from its initial non-verbal design at around 10 months, achieved through gaze, bodily orientation and physical action, to a more distinctive head nod in response to questions from around 15 months and to an increasingly verbal yes formulation as the child approaches her second birthday. Analysis also focuses on how the child construed the action that the parent’s question projected.