Belliveau, G. (2026)

Gaze as a Resource in Multilingual Interaction

Presenter: Dr. Maryanne Theobald, Associate Professor in the School of Education at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia
Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Multipurpose Room, Ponderosa Commons North (PCN 2012)

All are welcome. In-person only (no hybrid option).
Light refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP before Friday, June 5th.

Participation in peer groups is central to early childhood socialisation, and educators are encouraged to support children’s communicative repertoires to foster inclusion in their everyday interactions. In these interactions, children with differing displays of competence in English and other home languages draw on multimodal resources to participate in peer activities and manage intersubjectivity. While verbal communication is often prioritised, this paper highlights gaze as a key multimodal resource in children’s multilingual interactions, drawing on a video-ethnographic study that explored how children engage and form friendships in a culturally and linguistically diverse preschool setting in Australia. Using Conversation Analysis, 20 hours of video-recorded everyday interactions were examined to identify how children mobilise gaze to perform social actions and navigate peer relationships. Analyses reveal that gaze is not merely an ancillary behaviour but a central communicative modality through which children initiate or resist play, mirror peers’ actions, direct attention, seek adult support, and monitor the actions and reactions of others.  As Goodwin and Goodwin (2004) note, participation is a dynamic, moment-to-moment achievement, negotiated through embodied conduct such as gaze (see Goodwin, 1981).

By focusing on gaze as a communicative practice, this study demonstrates how children’s interactional and multilingual competence is emergent and dynamic, shaped by moment-to-moment coordination of non-verbal resources. The findings highlight the importance of recognising gaze as a communicative resource that supports participation, inclusion, and the development of peer cultures in settings characterised by cultural and linguistic diversity.

Dr. Maryanne Theobald is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and an Associate Investigator with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.

Maryanne’s research has strong practical relevance to early childhood educational and social issues, with a focus on children’s rights, disputes, friendships, and experiences of belonging across home, school, playground, multilingual, and digital contexts.  She is recognised for pioneering video‑stimulated participatory approaches that amplify children’s perspectives and elevate their contributions to research and teacher professional learning. Drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, her work highlights the importance of peer relationships and the educator’s role in fostering inclusive and culturally responsive environments, and has led to the development of evidence‑based e‑Learning modules on digital play, practitioner research, global citizenship education, and reimagining celebrations.

With a strong record of collaboration and international engagement, Maryanne has secured $1.7 million in internal and external research funding and produced over 100 scholarly outputs, including four books. She has editorial experience with Research on Children’s Social Interaction (RCSI) Journal and the International Journal of Early Childhood (IJEC). Her current projects include What Matters to Indigenous Kids (National Health and Medical Research Council) and A Children’s Parliament on AI (ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child).