Strategy in Counting-Out: Evidence from Saint-Nazaire, France

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Andy Arleo

Abstract

In a study based on the ethnography of speaking approach, Goldstein described and analyzed various strategies used in counting-out by four- to fourteen- year old children in the East Mount Airy section of northwest Philadelphia in 1966-67. Goldstein observed that, although he had been informed orally of similar or other counting-out strategies employed in other parts of the United States, Canada, Europe, and Africa, there were to his knowledge no published accounts of these (178, n. 15). The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the cross-cultural investigation of children's folklore by providing data on counting-out strategies used in Saint-Nazaire, France. My field work was initially undertaken for a doctoral dissertation (Arleo 1982) involving the comparative study of counting-out rhymes in French and English. Research methods included observation, interviews and recording in play areas and in the classrooms of several elementary schools, as well as the collection of written documents (texts, drawings, descriptions, questionnaires) from children and adults. Additional collecting of counting-out and other children's rhymes has been carried out since 1982 to the present time in Saint-Nazaire and the surrounding areas.

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