Abstracts - Earli

and direction of this shift? The sample in this study consisted of 42 second year bachelor studentsenrolled in a gross veterinary anatomy course. Data were obtained from two sources: theAssessment Preferences Inventory (API) and the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS). The studyshowed some evidence for the statement that appropriate feedback and workload influence theevolution of assessment preferences in a desired direction. Students prefer assessment methodswith higher order thinking tasks more after being enrolled in a learning and assessmentenvironment with a minimal workload and multiple feedback possibilities. This finding confirmsassumptions made in other recent research. Moreover this study found some indications thatdimensions in students’ learning styles also influences assessment preferences. The impact ofhands-on experience with a learning and assessment environment on assessment preferences isdifferentiated by students’ approaches to learning, their regulation strategies and the way theyperceive learning.N 531 August 2007 16:00 - 17:20Room: 7.14Paper SessionCultural diversity in schoolsChair:Jesus Alonso-Tapia, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain"It’s not funny": Young L2 novices’ interactions with their Israeli native a nonnative peersShoshana Blum-Kulka, Hebrew University, IsraelNaomi Gorbat, Hebrew University, IsraelCan children help other children in learning a new language? How do L2 novices with limitedlinguistic resources interact with their native peers? We address these questions in the frameworkof a longitudinal ethnographic study of young immigrant children in Israel, exploring the ways inwhich communicative events are attempted or unfold through verbal and non-verbal meansbetween Hebrew as L2 novices and their Hebrew speaking peers. Audio and videotapedinteractions collected during the immigrant children’s first few months in a Hebrew speakingenvironment were coded for identity of initiator, main modes of communication and outcome andthen analyzed sequentially. Modes of initiation by all were found to vary individually and includegaze and smile, joking repetitions and touch and talk. Communicative events vary in ways inwhich different communicative goals (e.g., making friendly contact, requesting an object, playentry) are achieved (or not), how key (e.g., playful or serious) is being signaled and sustained, andhow situational resources are being used intricately to compensate for limited linguistic resources.Both native and non-native children attempt interactions, yet such attempts do not necessarily leadto sustained mutual engagement; the social dynamics of the preschool are not conducive to suchinteractions as long as the novice L2 does not master the basics of the new language, but becomepeer talk is a powerful and varied resource once some mastery is gained. From an educationalperspective, the important point about peer mediation for second language learning shown herethat it’s almost non existent for the L2 novice at the onset of learning but is provided in rich andvaried ways later on. This timing raises the question whether the affordances of peer mediationprovided to L2 novices through immersion practices should not be complemented by plannedintervention to help shorten the ‘silent’ period.– 732 –