Learning Gender Subjectivities through Peer Language Socialization Practices in Pretend Play: The case study of a trilingual child in a Turkish preschool

Second language learning includes not only acquiring grammar rules and new vocabulary but also
learning the social routines of the culture to specifically project subjectivities in the way that is valued
by the culture. This paper is part of a larger ethnographic fieldwork on naturally occurring peer
group interactions of Turkish preschool children. The focused participant of the study is a 4 years
old boy, Mete, who is trilingual and can speak English, Spanish and learn Turkish in the preschool.
The excerpts in the study came from different play activities of children including family play and
block play and were analyzed using techniques of talk-in-interaction with ethnography. The results
suggest children pay attention to ideologies of gender from their culture, and socialize group
members to project valued stances and subjectivities through utilizing a variety of linguistic
resources strategically.