Abstracts - Earli

imagens and logogens can interact they remain separated systems. In this contribution, we willargue that there is less of a one-to-one-correspondence than it is often assumed and, above all, thatthe subjective learning goals determine which effects result from the provision of externalrepresentations. Therefore, the instructionally intended functions of external representations oftendo not come into play and do not lead to the intended type of internal representations. Weformulate five theses on the influence of interindividual difference and instructional factors thatmoderate the effects that multiple external representations have on internal representations andlearning. These theses will be backed-up by findings from studies on learning probability fromworked-out examples containing solutions in multiple representations. Evidence provided bydifferent data collection methods such as eye-tracking, stimulated recall, written self-explanationdata, and learning outcome(s) tests "triangulate" our assumptions.E 1729 August 2007 14:30 - 16:30Room: 0.99SymposiumPeer talk and peer learning in first and second languageChair: Ageliki Nicolopoulou, Llehigh University, USAOrganiser: Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Hebrew University, IsraelDiscussant: Ageliki Nicolopoulou, Llehigh University, USAThe question of how social interaction affects the process of discourse development has attractedresearchers’ attention from various disciplines for over thirty years. It has yielded a wealth ofinformation on how adult-child talk in two-party or multi-party structures enhances languagelearning, as well as on how children’s engagement in interactional practices involving children andadults together, helps them become members of their culture. Nevertheless until recently it no dueattention has been paid to children’s natural peer talk. The goal of the symposium is to restore thebalance by exploring the value of naturally occurring peer interaction to the development ofdiscourse skills in first and second language. The symposium convenes scholars from differentcountries (USA, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Israel), engaged in theoretical and empirical study ofchildren’s peer interaction to explore how children are socialized into appropriate language useand cultural membership in first and second language through peer interactions. The symposiumwill focus on questions related both to second and first language learners, such as the types ofopportunity spaces for language learning provided by native-nonnative interactions in thepreschool, the contribution of second language learners out-of-frame talk to their languagedevelopment, and the "teaching" role of spontaneous language drills; peer talk and pragmaticdevelopment in fist language, exploring questions such as the unique nature of socio-culturallearning provided by peer interactions in different cultures, the role of small group classdiscussions in enhancing explanatory thinking and the specific contributions of pretend play tolanguage learning. Discussion will center on the overall social and discursive gains of peerinteraction and the educational implications thereof for the organization and practices of earlyeducation for both native and immigrant children.– 294 –