From pre-ritual to exploration: young learner’s gestural routine development in manipulative-based number discourse

Abstract This study characterises a number discourse developed between a 6-year-old child and an expert interlocutor (the researcher) in manipulative-based contexts from a commognitive perspective. Specifically, we focus on the child’s development of counting and addition discourses as she engaged in a series of task situations that used the manipulatives of M&M candies and play coins. Adopting a multimodal perspective of discourse, we demonstrate the routine development of the child that changed from ritualistic to explorative routines. Furthermore, this study extends current research on routine development by proposing a pre-ritual phase, which is characterised by commognitive conflicts the learner encountered before the emergence of a ritualistic routine. Although the pre-ritual phase brings about challenges in communication, their resolution plays an essential role in engendering the child’s learning. Implications for cultivating explorative participation in early arithmetic teaching and learning with manipulatives are also discussed.