Judging the quality of peer-led student dialogues

This research investigates the rational quality of students' discussion of literary texts. An ideal model of dialogue contexts is presented and compared with 12 fourth-grader peer discussions of literature at 2 different periods during the course of I academic year. Six groups consisting of 3 students each were videotaped while they discussed a novel previously read aloud and discussed with their teacher in class. The collaborative reasoning capabilities of these students were analyzed using a graphical coding system coupled with an analysis of the literary content of the students' argumentation. The 2 analyses were matched with the dialogue contexts and used to identify some important features that foster productive dialogue in children's discussions of literature.