Talking to the turtle: A discourse analysis of logo instruction

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Abstract
The effect of Logo on children's cognitive development may depend upon the nature of the instructional process. From a Vygotskian perspective, the teacher's use of mediated strategies is conceptualized as the most critical component. The transition from other regulation to self‐regulation should be reflected in the discourse structure as children acquire greater competence in programming through adult scaffolding of commands. A discourse analysis of Logo lessons given to two pairs of 5‐year‐old children revealed that both teacher and child elicitations decreased over time as the children gained greater mastery of Logo commands, teacher directives decreased as peer collaboration increased, children's responses to metacognitive prompts remained stable, and children's talk became more task‐oriented. These findings suggest that successful learning of Logo concepts may involve a careful structuring of the teaching context.