The construction of multi-link causal reasoning chains was investigated in 24 collaborative discussions involving 160 underserved fifth-grade children. The effects of group features and individual characteristics on seven causal chain models were tracked in the discussions. Children's basic English proficiency, talkativeness, and perceived…

This study investigates how previous exposure to a foreign language and culture influences student performance in online knowledge-building tasks. As knowledge-building tasks allow students to share and distribute their knowledge; this study examines whether foreign language and culture knowledge is also distributed amongst the group. The study…

This article reports on a small-scale study involving adult L1 Swedish learners of L3 German. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of group interaction on written German output employing the dictogloss technique. Three short texts were selected for reconstruction, the first and third ones individually, and the second one…

Based on the assumption that the acquisition of language habits is in itself insufficient for the true mastery of language, small group discussion techniques have been used in conversation workshops for students in English as a second language (ESL) courses at New York's Bronx Community College. In the groups, students are induced to communicate…