Cultural patterns of metacognitive guidance in Australian homes.

Abstract. This article provides insight into the cultural patterns of metacognitive guidance that occurs among children and mothers in selected Australian homes. Fourteen Anglo Australian and eight immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' interactions with their 4-year-old male and female children on a puzzle-solving task were videotaped. Mother-child dyads' interactions were analyzed with respect to metacognitive guidance. The results indicated variations in Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' metacognitive guidance, rooted in, respectively, cultural frames of independence (Australian) and interdependence (Indian). The results support the notion of cultural specificity in metacognitive guidance. Implications for early childhood practice are provided.

**********

Recent trends in child development suggest that much emphasis is placed on children's thinking and cognitive reflection. Metacognition, a term used to describe reflective thinking processes, and its approaches to education have been associated with positive academic outcomes, motivation, and self-regulation in children (Kramarski, Mevarech, & Arami, 2002; Zimmerman, 1994). Such approaches are also hailed as contemporary pedagogical approaches with extensive applications for teaching in diverse contexts (Fairchild, 1996; Montague, 1997; Wang, 1993). In view of the wider applications of metacognitive models for teaching-learning, it is important to understand the developmental origins of metacognitive development in young children.

The term "metacognition" is defined as thinking about thinking (Gray, 1991). Flavell (1976) first defined the term as "knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes and products or anything related to them (e.g., learning relevant properties information or data). Metacognition refers to, among other things, the active monitoring and consequent orchestration of these processes (self-regulation) in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear, usually in the service of some concrete goal or objective" (p. 232). The two important components of metacognition are knowledge of cognition and self-regulation of cognitive processes (Flavell, 1976). Cognitive self-regulation is associated with successful problem solving. It involves the tasks of planning, monitoring the success or failure of actions, staying aware of goals, and coordinating strategies to reach these goals (Baker & Brown, 1984; Brown, 1978). According to Brown and Barclay (1976), self-regulatory processes act as antecedents to planning and as precursors to reflections, and they enable children to solve problems successfully.

Individual Differences in Metacognitive Abilities of Children

Individual differences in children's academic abilities and achievements are explained in terms of variations in children's metacognitive skills (e.g., Kraayenoord & Schneider, 1999; Laing & Kamhi, 2002). The literature further reports gender and cultural differences in metacognitive abilities of children. In Carr and Jessup's study (1997) of mathematical problem solving, girls were found to use overt strategies more often than boys, and boys were noted to use retrieval strategies more than girls. In Carr, Kurtz, Schneider, Turner, and Borkowski's study (1989), German children were found to display more strategic abilities than American children did. Variations in the use of strategies of Australian, native Japanese, and Japanese students in Australia were also revealed. In this case, Japanese students used memorization strategies significantly more than did Australian students (Purdie, 1995). In the context of individual differences in metacognitive abilities of children, it is important to ask why there are variations in metacognitive abilities of children across genders and cultures, as well as how pedagogical equity may be achieved in classrooms that represent such diversity in learning.

Sociocultural Origins of Metacognitive Development

Research aimed at understanding children's development of metacognitive abilities suggests that their development is complex and is situated in sociocultural contexts. According to Wertsch (1985), the idea of social origins of metacognitive abilities is consistent with Vygotsky's (1978) cultural historical theory of the genesis of higher mental functions. Vygotsky (1978) claimed that cognitive processes are transmitted through social interactions. Adult or other collaboration in children's problem solving is believed to be helpful for modeling self-regulatory behaviors. According to Rogoff (1990), joint participation enables adults and capable peers to display cognitive processes, share cultural knowledge, and modify and correct children's novice functioning. She further states that experts have a chance to model important metacognitive processes to novices along with sharing their cognitive or metacognitive thinking. Therefore, analysis of collaborative guidance in cultural contexts is an important step in understanding the developmental origins and variations in children's metacognitive abilities (Rogoff, 1990).

The Need for Cross-cultural Studies on Adult Guidance of Metacognition

The literature on adult or collaborative guidance suggests variations in adult guidance as a function of age of the child (Plumert & Nichols-Whitehead, 1996), nature of the task (Kermani & Janes, 1999), gender of the child (Carr, Jessup, & Fuller, 1995; Carr & Jessup, 1997), and the family's socioeconomic status (Tzuriel, 1996). Most of the observations on adult or metacognitive guidance are limited to a few cultures and little is known, in particular, about cultural patterns of adult guidance of metacognitive development. There is some evidence to suggest that children's strategic choices on a memory task are influenced by the sociocultural contexts of learning (e.g., Ellis, 1997).

In support of Ellis's (1997) findings, Maimon (2001) demonstrated benefits of culturally based metacognitive strategies for improving the writing skills of students from a non-English speaking background. While the benefits of social guidance are widely documented in the literature on adult (Clark-Stewart & Beck, 1999) and peer guidance (e.g., Goos, Galbraith, & Renshaw, 2002; King, 2002), it is not yet known to what extent metacognitive guidance is rooted in cultural-familial processes, and whether variations in metacognitive guidance exist across cultures. However, based on the Vygotskian (1978) notions, it is also possible that individual differences in metacognitive abilities are consolidated through the variations in adult guidance of metacognitive learning. Further, Cole (1985) also suggested that variations in adult guidance are possible, due to the adaptation of individuals to specific cultural environments in guidance contexts. In addition, Wang (1993) advocates for reconsidering individual differences in children's cognitive and metacognitive functioning within a sociocultural theoretical framework that emphasizes the role of cultural-familial factors.

In light of the various theoretical constructs of Cole (1985), Vygotsky (1978), Rogoff (1990), and Wertsch (1985), which situate adult guidance in cultural contexts, this study aimed to explore variations in cultural patterns of metacognitive guidance in Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) homes in Sydney, Australia. This article presents results from a study on metacognitive guidance afforded by Australian and Indian immigrant (Telugu) mothers to preschoolers in their home contexts.

Method

Details on the Sample and Recruitment of Sample

Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers and their 4-year-old children (both male and female) were participants in the current study. These groups were chosen because of the increased immigration of Indian families to Australia and because of the researcher's familiarity with the chosen cultural groups. The subjects were 14 Anglo Australian, eight immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers, and their 4-year-old children (all from two-parent families). The mothers and children were selected from the suburbs of Western and South-Western Sydney, Australia. Children of preschool age were selected because of the importance of promoting metacognitive development for this age group (Sperling, Walls, & Hill, 2000; Weinberger & Bushnell, 1994).

In each cultural community, mothers and their children were selected through preschool/long day care centers attended by children. Letters were sent to mothers through early childhood centers, soliciting their voluntary participation with their children. The letter clearly explained the purposes of this study and requirements for mother-child dyads' participation, and also provided details on how their confidentiality would be guaranteed. Mother-child dyads were recruited in this study after obtaining their written consent for participation. Individual appointments were made over the telephone to meet mother-child dyads at their homes and at times convenient for them. Only eight immigrant Indian (Telugu) and 14 Anglo Australian mother-child dyads participated in this study, perhaps due to the non-availability of many immigrant Indian (Telugu) participants, or hesitation to participate in observational studies, or lack of time. Before collecting data, rapport was established with mother-child dyads and data were collected in a relaxed manner. Both mothers and children were assured that they can withdraw from, or refuse to participate in, this study at any time prior to data collection. Confidentiality in data collection, analysis, and reporting of results was ensured by assigning a code number to each mother-child dyad. No personal or identifiable information was used in the reporting of results.

An equal number of boys and girls from each cultural group participated in this study. The selected group of children was comparable with respect to their age. The ages of the Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) children ranged from 4.5 to 4.7 and 4.6 to 4.8 years, respectively. The sample of mothers was also fairly comparable with respect to age (30-45) and occupations, with 60 percent of mothers employed outside the home.

The study was conducted in the homes of Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) families, as home contexts may facilitate more cooperation from children in collaborative studies (Xu, 1994). The mother-child dyad's interaction was selected to represent the daily patterns of social interactions (Hossain, Field, Pickens, Malphurus, & Valle, 1997). The chosen task for the current study was puzzle completion. The chosen puzzle was difficult for 4-yearolds to do alone, and thus was considered suitable to elicit metacognitive guidance. In order to avoid the difficulties associated with comparability and cultural appropriateness in the chosen task, an animal jigsaw puzzle that was familiar to both cultural groups was selected through piloting.

Data Collection Procedures

Data were collected from observations of mother-child dyads' interaction on puzzle completion. Each mother-child dyad was observed individually at home, using a video camera that was visible to the participants. Before solving the puzzle, the researcher explained the purposes of the study and showed the mothers the completed version of the puzzle. No limit was placed on the time for completing the task. The videotaping began with the interactions of participants on the puzzle, and ended with their voluntary withdrawal from puzzle-solving.

Analysis

Data Processing. The first 10 minutes of interaction among the mother-child dyads on the chosen puzzle was considered for analysis to capture the many instances of metacognitive thinking and regulation before the puzzle was solved. The verbal dialogues of the mother-child dyads' interactions from the videotapes were later transcribed. Nonverbal behaviors also were coded for the 22 transcripts obtained from the videotapes. Finally, data were prepared by translating immigrant Indian (Telugu) mother-child interaction into English. A decentering technique (Werner & Campbell, 1970) was applied on 15 percent of the sample, in which the contents of interaction were first translated from Telugu to English, and later from English to the Telugu language. This process allowed the researcher to check on discrepancies and difficulties in translation and to ensure quality in translation.

Unit of Coding. The unit of analysis was episode (Freund, 1990; Wertsch, 1979; Wertsch, McNamee, McLane, & Budwig, 1980). An "episode" was defined as the segment of interaction relating to the three major steps of identification of a piece, location, and its placement. The speech of the mother and child and actions along these three components of episode were also included (Wertsch et al., 1980).

Coding of Observational Data. In the first instance, the transcribed interactions of mother-child dyads were divided into episodes using videotapes. An observational checklist was prepared with a list of pre-defined adult and child categories for coding purposes. Only the dominant or frequently occurring adult or child behaviors were tallied for each episode, and for each dyad, with the help of the checklist. As most of the children's utterances were either responses to adult instructions, or broken utterances, their speech was not considered for further analysis. This did not mean, however, that children lacked metacognitive strategies, or awareness.

Coding Categories. As Wertsch (1978) stated, metacognitive guidance includes planning, monitoring the task processes towards a goal, predicting the actions, and evaluating the outcomes. Its other related components are sustaining the mindfulness of children through attention regulation and praise (Salmon & Globerson, 1987), adult guidance and delegation of task responsibilities for successful problem solving, and use of communication or speech for guidance (Elliott, 1991; Freund, 1990; Moss, 1990; Rogoff, Mistry, Goncu, & Mosier, 1993; Wertsch, 1979). All these components were selected for coding of adult guidance in the study. These categories were also operationally defined to ensure that they are mutually exclusive. Results discussed relate to metacognitive guidance (planning, monitoring, prediction, and evaluation), adult regulation (mother responsible--MR; mother regulation of the child--MRC; & mother responsible and regulated--MRR), and speech styles.

Data Analysis. The data from transcripts/ videotapes were analyzed quantitatively for each of the selected categories. After the initial coding, a random sample of episodes (15 percent) also was coded by another researcher from the University of Western Sydney (UWS) to establish reliability in coding. Inter-observer reliability ranged from 87 percent to 100 percent for the various selected categories. Statistical analyses were conducted on the observational data, and the statistical significance of the differences in mothers' metacognitive guidance were established using chi-square analyses, which were computed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program (SPSS-X).

The observational data also was analyzed qualitatively to capture the essence of interaction, themes, and patterns that emerged frequently in interactions among mother-child dyads, and to supplement and confirm the quantitative results obtained from chi-square tests (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2000). The coding categories utilized in qualitative analysis were drawn from the published literature on adult guidance (Rogoff, 1990; Wertsch, 1979; Wertsch & Stone, 1979). The selection of predetermined coding categories, or in other words, prior-instrumentation, is justified in this study, as it is a common practice in some qualitative studies (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

Results and Discussion

The overall goal for both Australian and Indian mothers was to construct a puzzle in accordance with the model. Interestingly, there were wide differences in their goal accomplishment. In total, there were 201 episodes completed by mother-child dyads. Anglo Australian mother-child dyads succeeded in joining puzzle pieces in a higher frequency of episodes (158), compared with immigrant Indian (Telugu) mother-child dyads (43). The variations in goal accomplishment were statistically significant [(1, n = 201) = 65.79, p < 0.001]. According to activity theory (Leont'ev, 1979), differences in goal accomplishment might result from the variations in the processes and approaches of metacognitive guidance adopted by mothers in each cultural group. The analysis relating to cultural variations in metacognitive guidance afforded to children in puzzle-solving is presented below.

Metacognitive Guidance. On the whole, immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers provided more metacognitive support to their children, compared with Anglo-Australian mothers. These data are displayed in Table 1.

The variations in maternal metacognitive guidance as a function of cultural background of mothers were statistically significant with respect to planning [(1, n = 122) = 31.35, p < 0.001], monitoring [(1, n = 132) = 12.50, p < 0.001], prediction [(1, n = 76) = 9.67, p < 0.01], and evaluation components [(1, n = 24) = 27.01, p < 0.001]. These results suggest frequent metacognitive support and modeling in immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' guidance.

There were also qualitative differences in the nature of metacognitive guidance in the two cultural groups. For example, with respect to planning, most of the immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers modeled planning strategies in the form of clarification of task demands and rule statements (e.g., "We have to fix corners first and later in the middle") or goal identification (e.g., "Find some flower pieces") and used verbal cuing or labeling techniques (e.g., "Find some shed. It has to be in grey color"). By contrast, a majority of Anglo Australian mothers modeled planning strategies, using intended effect acts (Wertsch, 1979). For example, mothers pushed pieces toward children, or singled out the correct pieces from the pile of puzzle pieces, or kept the pieces required in children's vicinity in given contexts. Anglo Australian mothers relied on the rearrangement of the physical environment to automatically lead children to goal setting, and to the sub-goals of finding the locations and joining the pieces. Overall, the use of nonverbal and implicit means for regulating children's metacognitive learning was found to be dominant in Anglo Australian mothers' metacognitive guidance. Anglo Australian mothers also used goal statements to model planning strategies to their children in a few instances, and to encourage independent thinking or behavior (e.g., "Do you want to start with corners or rooster?" or "How do we start the puzzle?").

Similarly, differences existed with regard to qualitative forms of monitoring guidance in the two cultural groups. Demonstrations of correct steps and physical intervention strategies were obvious in Indian mothers' guidance. Examples of the strategies used in immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' monitoring guidance are illustrated below:

M: Says to child, "I think this is wrong," and takes out the piece and matches it with the shape on the model. Then hands over the same piece to the child and encourages the child to repeat the same process, by holding his hand and placing his hand on the model for crosschecking the suitability of that piece for that location.

(Immigrant Indian (Telugu) mother-child dyads" interactions: Transcript No. 6)

In Anglo Australian mothers' guidance, on the other hand, simple negations were the most frequently used strategies for metacognitive monitoring. Nonverbal strategies (e.g., head nods--either for approval or disapproval of task moves) were the other strategies Australian mothers utilized for monitoring their children's task processes towards solutions. The observations on metacognitive guidance depicted significant differences in maternal modeling of metacognitive guidance across cultural groups.

The cultural variations in mothers' metacognitive guidance observed in this study are in agreement with the studies on adult-child interactions that reported cultural variations in the forms of maternal guidance, interventions, and interactions (Junefelt & Tulviste, 1993; Martini, 1996; Rogoffet al., 1993).

Adult Regulation/Division of Task Responsibilities. The categorization of interaction into different forms of regulation in the total sample demonstrated higher percentages of adult-regulated episodes (95 percent) than self-regulated episodes (5 percent). Sharing of task responsibilities (MRR) emerged as the dominant form of adult regulation in collaborative puzzle-solving in the total sample. The cultural comparison of task regulation revealed significant differences in the nature of adult regulation (see Table 2).

Immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers shared their children's task responsibilities in a higher percentage of episodes (74 percent). The regulation of children's task actions towards independent puzzle solving was less frequent in immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' guidance (5 percent). Even in Anglo Australian mothers' guidance, sharing of task responsibilities was the most frequently occurring form of adult regulation (50 percent). However, along with sharing the responsibilities with their children, Anglo Australian mothers also delegated responsibility to children in more than a quarter of the episodes. The cultural differences in adult regulation were statistically significant [(2, n = 191) = 13.63, p < 0.001].

The qualitative analysis of transcripts for maternal regulation provided interesting insights into the cultural approaches and means of metacognitive regulation. Anglo Australian mother-child dyads determined their task responsibilities in the first episode itself, through explicitly stated rules and conventions (e.g., "Mummy will find the pieces for you and you try to put them together, yeah? All right!": AM code No. 4). In this process of collaboration, mothers assumed greater share of metacognitive responsibilities in finding pieces and in related sub-tasks of planning or strategic moves. Children were delegated the tasks of finding suitable locations for pieces or fixing the pieces in cognitively comfortable levels. Anglo Australian mothers' guidance was predominated by use of intended effect acts (Wertsch, 1979). In nearly 80 out of 158 episodes, mothers guided their children's task processes using intended effect, such as dropping the right piece near children or singling out a piece from the pile of pieces. Sometimes, mothers kept correct pieces in their hands, and children would automatically pick those pieces from the mothers' hands. The following interaction represents the nature of division of task responsibilities in Anglo Australian mother-child dyads as well as their implicit or indirect nature of guidance. In the following example, a mother assumed a major share of metacognitive responsibilities for planning and monitoring. The mother also encouraged her child's metacognitive learning by asking him to locate the piece and telling the child about the importance of consulting the model.

M: "Still we go to do the bottom." (M picks few bottom pieces and keeps them near the child)

C: (child looks at those pieces and picks one and asks) "Where does this go?"

M: "That's part of the other house." (Keeps the correct piece near the child)

C: "I don't know where the other house is." (Looks at M)

M: "Where do you think the other house is? Over here" (taps on location) and says to the child, "You have a look over here" (gazes at the model).

C: Looks at the model, picks the piece near him and, with nonverbal cues from mother, fixes the piece in its location.

(Anglo Australian mother-child dyad's interaction: Transcript No. 4)

In immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' guidance, on the contrary, there was no explicit agreement between mothers and children over the division of task responsibilities. Immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' guidance reflected modeling, or a directive approach to metacognitive guidance, in which physical demonstration or modeling of puzzle-solving steps was obvious. In a majority of first episodes (63 percent) in interaction, mothers took total responsibility (MR) in task processes (e.g., finding the right piece and joining with other pieces), and facilitated their children's metacognitive learning through modeling. The following example illustrates the nature of division of task responsibilities as well as the use of directive guidance and physical help in immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' interaction.

M: "You come over here ... (looks at child) look for this corner." (points to location in the model)

M picks one and says, "Look, this piece here (shows the piece to child), see whether this is the right one." (Matches with the model, checks on the location on the model and later gives it to child and says, "Come here, Nanna" [endearment].) This time, the mother holds the child's hand, moves it to the model, and matches the piece with the model once again by holding the child's hand and says, "Yes."

C: looking at the model

M: "You have to keep it in this corner." (M fixes in the correct location)

(Immigrant Indian (Telugu) mother-child dyads' interactions: Transcript No. 6)

Speech and Communication in Maternal Guidance. The differential use of speech is assumed to reflect cultural patterns of maternal guidance, as well as division of metacognitive responsibilities in collaborative puzzle-solving interactions (Wertsch, 1979). The results indicated that explanations (33 percent) and questions (28 percent) were the commonly used means of linguistic regulation in interactions among mother-child dyads in the overall sample. However, there were cultural differences in mothers' speech styles. Anglo Australian mothers used explanations for the purposes of metacognitive guidance in 43 percent of episodes. Further, there was encouragement of individual opinions and choices in Anglo Australian mothers' guidance, and it necessitated negotiations between them and their children over task actions. They used various negotiation strategies, such as postponement of child's proposal, provision of feedback on appropriateness of a goal, and proposal of an alternate plan to achieve a common definition/goal for puzzle solving. The importance of explanations for metacognitive guidance is depicted in the following interaction:

M: "Have a guess! (shows the piece to child). Do you think it is a straight edge piece? Do you? (looks at child). See, it has got a hole on it at the side. It's not really a straight line across. So it has got a bump there. Look! Look! (pointing). Bump there in the middle and a bump in the middle where ... Look! Look! (pointing). When you have got a straight edge piece here (points to location), see this piece. See how the whole bit is straight. No bumps or holes in the middle. Then the whole bit is straight. See that. So that is straight. The other bit is not a straight edge. Isn't it? All the straight bits go to corners. See!" (shows the model)

(Anglo Australian mother-child dyads" interactions: Transcript No. 7)

Immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers, in contrast, used directives in 54 percent of episodes for achieving the goals of guidance (e.g., imparting metacognitive knowledge, demonstrating metacognitive modes of thinking or physical steps of puzzle solving). The Indian children participated in puzzle solving with compliant responses. The use of language for enhancing the child's metacognitive knowledge and understanding of the strategic steps in puzzle solving (e.g., cross-checking with model) was obvious in their interactions. The use of directives by immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers appeared to have limited the need for negotiations between them and their children. Out of 43 episodes in immigrant Indian (Telugu) interactions, there were only two episodes with instances of negotiations over the puzzle-solving steps, or actions. The following example illustrates the use of directives in immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' metacognitive guidance:

M: "See here! (points to location). We will start from here. Okay! (repeats pointing). We have to find corners (gazes at pieces and model). Pick a corner piece."

C: Picks one and says, "Here it is!"

M: Looks at the piece, picks it from the child's hand, matches it with the shape on the model, and says, "This is a corner," and repeats, "this is same as this." Gives the piece back to child and says, "We have to match it!" Gives the piece back to child and says, "Keep it here, okay!" (points to location)

(Indian mother-child dyads' interactions: Transcript No. 5)

In the above example, an immigrant Indian (Telugu) mother approached puzzle-solving with her proposal, and provided clear directions to the child on the task processes. The child participated in puzzle solving with compliant responses. The cultural differences in the forms of linguistic mediation were highly significant, with Anglo Australian mothers relying on explanations for mediating their children's puzzle solving and immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers utilizing directives for the same objective [(5, n = 189) = 40.84, p < 0.001].

Mothers' speech in both the cultural groups reflected their cultural practices and values. The culture-specific practices of turn-taking and offering choices were very much evident in the speech of Anglo Australian mothers (e.g., "I finished this. Would you like to have a turn?" or "Where do you want to start first?" or "Do you want to look for some more pieces with straight edges?" AM code No. 6F). The variations in the nature of the division of strategic functions in interactions of mother-child dyads were mainly reflective of variations in maternal communicative moves employed for metacognitive regulation. Similar findings were reported in the literature on the differential use of maternal linguistic acts across Asian and non-Asian cultural groups, as well as in their functional values in adult-child interactions (Camaioni, Longobardi, Venuti, & Bornstein, 1998; Fernald & Morikawa, 1993; Martini, 1996).

According to Wertsch (1978), differential use of speech indicates distinctions in the nature of metacognitive regulation and division of task responsibilities. Applying the notions of Wertsch (1978) to the present study, it can be implied that the greater use of directives in immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers' guidance related directly to the greater amounts of metacognitive responsibility assumed by them in their children's puzzle solving. Immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers used directives to provide knowledge about the procedures of puzzle solving, physical guidance, and explicit strategic knowledge. The frequent use of directives in their guidance implied a directive nature of instruction in which mothers provided directive assistance as part of their "cultural apprenticeship" (Rogoff, 1990; Wertsch & Stone, 1979). This form of linguistic guidance in instructions, according to Rogoff and Gardner (1984), leads children into the expert level of functioning through a cognitively comfortable route.

Anglo Australian mothers, by contrast, employed an explanatory approach to scaffolding that encouraged, challenged, and initiated children's metacognitive and physical responsibilities. The frequent use of explanations in Anglo Australian mothers' guidance suggested intent of cognitive sharing and imparting of information to facilitate children's cognitive constructions about puzzle solving. Variations in discourse styles of Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers in a puzzle-solving context appear to be similar to the differences in the mealtime discourses of Japanese American and white American families, which reflected their respective cultural traditions of dependence/interdependence and independence (Martini, 1996).

The use of questions was noted to be predominant in previous studies of adult or metacognitive guidance that involved white and middle class groups (e.g., Wertsch, 1979). But the significance of directives and explanations in metacognitive guidance is suggested by the present cross-cultural findings. On the whole, the current findings identified two distinct forms of metacognitive guidance offered by Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) mothers. The cultural variations in metacognitive guidance imply two distinctive models of metacognitive guidance; they appear to be rooted in mothers' respective cultural goals of individualism and dependency/interdependency. The present results on cultural patterns of guidance support the notions that dependency and interdependency are central to Asian cultures (Niles, 1998; Okagaki & Sternberg, 1993) and that individuality and individual accomplishments are central to Western cultures (McDonald, 1995; Niles, 1998).

Conclusions

This study showed the presence of cultural specificity in maternal metacognitive guidance. These cultural differences in guidance suggest considerable diversity in the processes of metacognitive development for Anglo Australian and immigrant Indian (Telugu) children. While Anglo Australian mothers' guidance seems to be congruent with the mainstream educational processes, as well as approaches that emphasize individuality, educators need to be aware, and accommodate the practices, of Teluguspeaking immigrant Indian families that emphasize dependency/interdependency. With respect to accommodating the needs of Telugu-speaking Indian children in early childhood learning contexts, it is imperative that educators provide culturally appropriate guidance to children that offers models, directive guidance for thinking, physical support and interventions for constructing knowledge, and learning experiences that are similar to those from family learning environments.

The limitations of this study are its sample size. Results cannot be generalized to all situations other than puzzle-solving contexts, or to all Indian groups. Despite the limitations, this study has helped to provide an insight into the diversity in metacognitive contexts and guidance patterns in selected Australian homes. Finally, the emphasis placed on diversity in this study is not intended to stereotype cultural patterns or emphasize variations alone. Rather, the study was intended to explore heterogeneity in metacognitive guidance in Australian homes.

References

Baker, L., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Cognitive monitoring in reading. In J. Flood (Ed.), Handbook of research in reading (pp. 353-395). New York: Longman.

Brown, A. L. (1978). Knowing when, where, and how to remember: A problem of metacognition. In Resources in Education. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.

Brown, A. L., & Barclay, C. R. (1976). The effects of training specific mnemonics on the metamnemonic efficiency of retarded children. Child Development, 47, 71-80.

Camaioni, L., Longobardi, E., Venuti, P., & Bornstein, M. H. (1998). Maternal speech to l-year-old children in two Italian cultural contexts. Early Development and Parenting, 7, 9-17.

Carr, M., & Jessup, D. L. (1997). Gender differences in first grade mathematics strategy use: Social and metacognitive influences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(2), 318-328.

Carr, M., Jessup, D., & Fuller, D. (1995, April). Parent and teacher influences on gender differences in first grade mathematics strategy use. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

Carr, M., Kurtz, B. E., Schneider, W., Turner, L. A., & Borkowski, J. G. (1989). Strategy acquisition and transfer among American and German children: Environmental influences on metacognitive development. Developmental Psychology, 25(5), 765-771.

Clarke-Stewart, K. A., & Beck, R. J. (1999). Maternal scaffolding and children's narrative retelling of a movie story. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 14(3), 409-434.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education (5th ed.). London: Routledge Falmer.

Cole, M. (1985). The zone of proximal development: Where culture and cognition create each other. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), Culture, communication, and cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ellis, S. (1997). Strategy choice in socio-cultural context. Developmental Review, 17(4), 490-524.

Elliott, A. (1991, September). The role of contextual supports in computer-based mathematical learning experiences. In Crossing boundaries: Present realities and future possibilities (pp. 107-112). Proceedings of the 15th National Australian Association for Special Education Conference, University of Queensland.

Fairchild, C. (1996). Comprehension strategies for learning disabled students. Reading Instruction Journal, 39(2), 10-14.

Fernald, A., & Morikawa, H. (1993). Common themes and cultural variations in Japanese and American mothers' speech to infants. Child Development, 64, 637-656.

Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem-solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231-235). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Freund, L. S. (1990). Maternal regulation of children's problem-solving behaviour and its impact on children's performance. Child Development, 61, 113-126.

Goos, M., Galbraith, P., & Renshaw, P. (2002). Socially mediated metacognition: Creating collaborative zones of proximal development in small group problem solving. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 49(2), 193-223.

Gray, S. S. (1991). Ideas in practice: Metacognition and mathematical problem solving. Journal of Developmental Education, 14(3), 24-28.

Hossain, Z., Field, T., Pickens, J., Malphurs, J., & Valle, C. D. (1997). Fathers' caregiving in low-income African-American and Hispanic American families. Early Development and Parenting, 6(2), 73-82.

Junefelt, K., & Tulviste, T. (1993, September). Mothers' regulation of their 2-year-olds' activities and children's development: Intercultural comparisons between Estonia, the USA and Sweden. Paper presented at the 5th European conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, France.

Kraayenoord, C. E. V., & Schneider, W. E. (1999). Reading achievement, metacognition, reading self-concept and interest: A study of German students in grades 3 and 4. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 14(3), 305-324.

Kramarski, B., Mevarech, Z., & Arami, M. (2002). The effects of metacognitive instruction on solving mathematical authentic tasks. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 49(2), 225-250.

Kermani, H., & James, H. A. (1999). Adjustment across task in maternal scaffolding in low-income Latino immigrant families. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 21(2), 134-153.

King, A. (2002). Structuring peer interaction to promote high-level cognitive processing. Theory Into Practice, 41(1), 33-39.

Laing, S., & Kamhi, A. G. (2002). The use of think aloud protocols to compare inferencing abilities in average and below-average readers. Journal of Learning Disabilies, 35(5), 36-47.

Leont'ev, A. N. (1979). The problem of activity in psychology: An introduction. In J. Wertsch (Ed.), The concept of activity in Soviet psychology (pp. 37-71). New York: Sharpe.

Maimon, L. (2001). Improving cross-cultural text revision. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 32(1), 41-57.

Martini, M. (1996). What's new? At the dinner table: Family dynamics during meal times in two cultural groups in Hawaii. Early Development and Parenting, 5(1), 23-34.

McDonald, P. (1995). Australian families: Values and behaviour. In R. Hartley (Ed.), Families and cultural diversities in Australia. New South Wales, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. London: Sage Publications.

Montague, M. (1997). Cognitive strategic instruction in mathematics for students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(2), 164-177.

Moss, E. (1990). Social interaction and metacognitive development in gifted preschoolers. Gifted Child Quarterly, 34, 16-20.

Niles, S. (1998). Achievement goals and means. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29(5), 656-667.

Okagaki, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (1993). Parental beliefs and children's school performance. Child Development, 64, 36-56.

Plumert, J. M., & Nichols-Whitehead, P. (1996). Parental scaffolding of young children's spatial communication. Developmental Psychology, 32(3), 523-532.

Purdie, N. (1995, April). Strategies for self-regulated leaning: A cross-cultural comparison. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press.

Rogoff, B., & Gardner, W. (1984). Adult guidance of cognitive development. In B. Rogoff & J. Lave (Eds.), Everyday cognition: Its development in social context. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Rogoff, B., Mistry, J., Goncu, A., & Mosier, C. (1993). Guided participation in cultural activity by toddlers and care givers. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 58 (8, Serial No. 236).

Salomon, G., & Globerson, T. (1987). Skills may not be enough: The role of mindfulness in learning and transfer. International Journal of Educational Research, 11(6), 623-637.

Sperling, R. A., Walls, R. T., & Hill, L.A. (2000). Early relationships among self-regulatory constructs: Theory of mind and preschool children's problem solving. Child Study Journal, 30(4), 233-252.

Tzuriel, D. (1996). Mediated learning experiences in free play versus structured situations among preschool children of low-, medium-, and high-SES. Early Child Development and Care, 126, 57-82.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wang, A. Y. (1993). Cultural-familial predictors of children's metacognitive and academic performance. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 7(2), 83-90.

Weinberger, N., & Bushnell, E. W. (1994). Young children's knowledge about their senses: Perceptions and misconceptions. Child Study Journal, 24(3), 209-235.

Werner, O., & Campbell, D. (1970). Translating, working through interpreters, and the problem of decentering. In R. Naroll & R. Cohen (Eds.), A handbook of method in cultural anthropology (pp. 398-420). NewYork: Natural History Press.

Wertsch, J. V. (1978). Adult-child interaction and the roots of metacognition. Quarterly Newsletter of the Institute for Comparative Human Development, 1, 15-18.

Wertsch, J. V. (1979). From social interaction to higher psychological processes. Human Development, 22, 1-22.

Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Adult child interaction as a source of self-regulation in children. In R. Yussen (Ed.), The growth of reflection in children (pp. 69-97). New York: Academic Press.

Wertsch, J. V., McNamee, G. D., McLane, J. B., & Budwig, N.A. (1980). The adult-child dyad as a problem-solving system. Child Development, 51, 1215-1221.

Wertsch, J. V., & Stone, C. A. (1979, February). A social interaction analysis of learning disabilities remediation. Paper presented at the international conference of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, San Francisco.

Xu, J. (1994). A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 329-339.

Zimmerman, B. J. (1994). Dimensions of academic self-regulated learning: A conceptual framework for education. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Self-regulation of learning and performance: Issues and educational applications (pp. 3-21). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Prathyusha Sanagavarapu

School of Education, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Table 1
Frequencies and Percentages of Components of Maternal Metacognitive
Guidance

               Planning        Monitoring

Australian   80 (95.9) 51%   94 (103.8) 60%
Indian       42 (26.1) 98%   38 (28.2) 88%

                Prediction     Evaluation

Australian   51 (59.7) 32%    8 (18.9) 5%
Indian       25 (16.3) 58%   16 (5.1) 37%

Note: Expected frequencies are in parentheses.

Table 2

             MR              MRR             MRC             Total

Australian   41 (38.7) 28%   67 (76.7) 45%   40 (32.5) 27%   148
Indian       9 (11.3) 21%    32 (22.3) 74%   2 (9.6) 5%      43

Note: Expected frequencies are in parentheses.