| A qualitative instrumental case study was conducted to explore the nature of science talk in a high school chemistry classroom. Students' verbal discourse was analyzed for patterns of interaction and for similarities and differences between a pair of Redesignated Fluent-English-Proficient students and a pair of native English-speaking students. Patterns of interaction were determined by analyzing the sequence of individual utterances.;Results showed that the dominant pattern of interaction was an open chain pattern, which lacked a final evaluating utterance. Secondary patterns were closed chains, which were indicated by the presence of an evaluation, and triadic dialogue. A comparison between the verbal interactions of the two pairs of students indicated similarities in type and frequency of pattern but differences in the amount of time spent in the interactions. Emergent issues of authority and identity helped to explain the complexity of the discourse. |
