Recent second language acquisition research has shown that language learners must interact with more competent speakers in order to learn to manage conversation. Such interaction is rare in second language classrooms, but dialogue journal writing, written interaction that shares some of the features of oral conversation, allows for conversational collaboration and encourages the learner to assume substantial responsibility for conversation management. A study analyzed the amount of responsibility students of English as a Second Language (ESL) assume for advancing and repairing the written conversation in dialogue journals. A procedure based on research in conversational analysis was developed to analyze the patterns of "giving" and "soliciting" in the journals of 12 adult ESL students and their native English speaking conversational partner. This quantitative analysis was supplemented by a qualitative interpretation of the journals of four students of similar linguistic proficiency. The quantitative results showed that the teacher's interaction with the students was consistent, whereas students' interactional patterns varied greatly. The findings suggest that the more active participants are those who make moderate use of each type of conversational "move." The qualitative analysis explains the great variation in level of conversational responsibility shown by four students of high linguistic proficiency. Sample dialogue journal excerpts are appended. (Author/MSE)