Language use and social interactions of young children in the Logo classroom: A qualitative study of children with different computing abilities

This microethnographic study investigated first grade children's language use and social interactions when they interacted with Logo. Attention was focused on children of different computing abilities and their individual styles of language use in achieving informational and interpersonal goals in Logo contexts. Individual characteristics and social contexts influencing children's language use and social interaction were discussed; children's computing abilities were presented from three distinctive yet interrelated perspectives: intrapersonal, socio-interactional, and task difficulty perspective.;The analysis showed that regardless of the varying degrees of computing abilities, children's Logo experiences were on-task and social in nature. Certain aspects of children's language use reflected their computing abilities, but the variation did not affect their overall patterns of language use. Children manifested the cooperative nature of Logo computing in their display of helping behaviors, which did not result from the computing abilities alone but were reflections of the computing abilities, personal agendas, and the particular peer contexts that they were in.