In focus for this study are epistemic displays in peer talk, throughout collaborative writing events in the context of inquiry learning. Conversational data was obtained from small groups of primary school students (aged 8-12 years). By means of Conversation Analysis, we found that epistemic displays are produced as (i) accounts, (ii) responses to a request for information, (iii) other-corrections, and with reference to the propositional content of a previous epistemic display, as (iv) disagreements, and (v) expansions. The occurrence of epistemic displays is related to specific aspects of the writing activity, concerning contexts that require accounting or evoke expansions, and features of the participation framework. Our research contributes to the understanding of how collaborative writing activities establish contexts for sharing and discussing knowledge in peer talk, and are worth taking into account for educational professionals, when designing collaborative writing activities for that purpose.

This paper discusses how primary school students, who are writing together in the context of inquiry learning, explicitly orient to knowing of oneself and others within the peer group. Using Conversation Analysis, we disclose the conversational functions of assertions holding 'I know', 'you know' and 'we know'. First, students position themselves as knowledgeable, to (i) express a preannouncement of a proposal, (ii) respond to a request for information and (iii) reinforce an assertion with use of an evidential. Second, students claim equal epistemic access, as a response to an action that conveys epistemic authority of a peer. Third, students indicate shared knowledge with other participants, to (i) pursue agreement, (ii) check the epistemic status of a co-participant, (iii) reject a proposal for grounds of relevance and (iv) mark shared, newfound knowledge. The different practices are discussed in terms of epistemics in conversation and dialogic writing.

In this study we explore how reflective practices function in the process of collaborative writing of primary school students, performing writing tasks in the context of inquiry learning. Previous research has established that reflecting on the writing process and use of metalanguage are significant for developing writing proficiency. The Conversation Analysis-informed exploration displayed different practices. First, students reflect on appropriateness, in terms of redundancy, relevance and style, when accounting for the rejection of a proposal. Second, students reflect on correctness of spelling, punctuation and grammar, which becomes observable in recruitments, instructions and corrections. The findings suggest that students share a strong orientation to certain writing norms that are merely made relevant in a responsive manner.

The nature and function of proposals in collaborative writing of primary school students was studied from a sociocultural, interactional perspective, using data from 33 writing events in the context of inquiry learning. Five main targets of proposals were identified: content, procedure, translation, text structure and layout. We demonstrate how proposals are designed in different declarative and interrogative constructions. The objective of a proposal appears to be related to both the syntactical design, and the ways in which participants respond to proposals. Proposals for content and translation generate extensive discourse, in contrast to procedural proposals. Writing down the agreed words or sentences occurs in various sequential positions and consequently performs a different function in the joint construction of text. The results enhance our understanding of how primary school students collaboratively write texts.