Children working it out together: A comparison of younger and older learners collaborating in task based interaction

An analysis of the language used demonstrated variation in: (a) the way the children worked socially, enjoyment during task work, cooperating and achieving reciprocity, and how they resolved conflict when it occurred; (b) their task management and on- and off-task talk; (c) the language they used for learning, demonstrating their cognitive involvement, and; (d) their attention to content and linguistic aspects of the task. Differences were also observed to occur according to the age of the learners. Together the results from this study suggest the need to consider task based interaction beyond simply the linguistic and operational levels alone.