Appropriate Appropriation: Functionality of Student Arguments and Support Requests during Small-Group Classroom Discussions

Abstract

The article examines the claim of Anderson et al. (2001) that students engaged in small-group discussions will tend to imitate and appropriate argument stratagems and other discourse behaviors from one another when it is appropriate to do so. In a study involving 67 5th- and 6th-grade students engaged in numerous small-group discussions, some evidence of appropriation was obtained, especially in regards to asking other students for reasons (“support requests”). There were several cases, however, in which students did not appear to use these requests appropriately. These cases are analyzed from the standpoint of both speech act theory and argumentation frames. The analyses indicate that students experienced a conflict between frames associated with traditional, ritualized participant structures and open, collaborative discussions. The danger of teachers and students mixing discourse frames in alternative learning environments is discussed.