Focuses on the role of overhearer participation in kindergarten students' learning to write. Uses E. Goffman's notion of the participation framework as a linguistic structure that organizes, and is organized by, talk and interaction in activity. Discusses how shifts in participation roles contribute to text construction using data drawn from an…

Classroom language and literacy practices need to be reconceptualized to account for the valuable role talk and interaction play in the process of learning to write. Teachers should construct learning environments within which interaction between students and teachers is the primary focus. The participation framework of kindergarten journal…

Demonstrates how students who are not directly participating in instruction are key contributors to the social construction of literacy knowledge. Argues for a reconceptualization of classroom language and literacy practices from current dyadic-based frameworks to more expanded multi-party participation frameworks allowing for flexible access to…

Presents data drawn from an ethnographic study of a kindergarten journal-writing activity. Discourse analysis of moment-to-moment talk and interaction reveals that activity participants assume a variety of roles available in the participation framework. The role of the participation framework is emphasized as a key factor in the distribution of…