This study examines the use of narrative and paradigmatic modes of explanation in large group discussions about science in preschool classrooms. Participants comprised students and teachers in 29 preschool classrooms, 19 of which used the ScienceStart! curriculum, a hands-on, inquiry approach to teaching science with young children. Analyses of…

This article investigates the effect of 2 language-in-use factors on the introduction and maintenance of referents in instructive discourse. These factors, implemented as conditions in an instructive production task, were the assumed visual identity for the reader of the objects or referents to be referred to in the instructions (visually same vs.…

This study investigates cultural and communication medium effects on conversational argumentation in a decision-making context. Chinese and U.S. participants worked in pairs on two decision-making tasks via face-to-face (FtF) and instant messaging (IM). The analyses showed that Chinese participants tended to engage in potentially more complex…