‘Yes, we’re done’ – ‘except Ricardo’

Abstract

Oral argumentations among peers always involve negotiation of group identity. By means of multimodal analysis, this case study shows how children mobilize interactional space, physical surroundings, as well as verbal and paraverbal resources for the embodied enactment of in- and exclusion, of affiliation and disaffiliation, and the negotiation of group identity. We argue that the processing of interpersonal relationships constitutes a crucial aspect of oral argumentation skills and that in particular multiparty interaction provides an indispensable source for the study of oral argumentation and its acquisition. The example analysed is a conversation among four elementary schoolchildren (8 years) working on a cooperative decision task. The conversation is characterized by the consolidation of a 3 versus 1 constellation, ultimately preventing the group from reaching a consensual decision.