TASK, TALK, AND TEXT - THE INFLUENCE OF INSTRUCTIONAL CONVERSATION ONTRANSITIONAL BILINGUAL WRITERS

In this study, we trace the development of ideas explored during readi ng lessons in children's writings from one transitional bilingual four th-grade classroom. Using transcripts from audio- and videotaped lesso ns, we describe the ways in which the reading lessons, designed to fac ilitate discussions to enhance student reading comprehension, turned i nto an anchoring activity for the negotiation of joint meaning. They s erved as a springboard for joint exploration and the generation of int ersubjective and co-constructued ideas that bridged the worlds of home and school. We trace the development of these ideas in representative pieces from five student portfolios. Discussions served to display a number of important literacy processes, and ideas and interpretations from these discussions reappeared in the students' writings. This stud y is of particular interest to educators concerned both with understan ding better the influence of classroom discourse on student writing an d with finding ways to incorporate students' cultural backgrounds info classroom practices.