In order to establish an initial data source for elementary level home-based intervention programs, 18 dyads of second-graders and their parents were divided into three mutually exclusive achievement groups and observed while completing an instructional tool introduced into the home by the childs' school. Parent/child interactions were stimulated by means of a figure identification task and recorded on cassette audio tape recorder. Verbalizations resulting from the task were coded into speech acts, defined as statements, requests, and responses. Reliability for the coding procedure was ninety five percent. Analysis indicated: differential use of speech acts by parents and children across achievement differential performance rates and task outcomes across achievement levels, a relationship between achievement and socioeconmic status and a relationship between language function and task performance. The data are illustrated in tables. Parents of high achievers appeared to use proportionatly more statements in their verbalizations with the children, while the parents of low achievers made proportionaltely more requests. Excerpts illustrate the different ways in which parents used language to help their children overcome a performance impasse. (Author/AEF)