Abstract
The present study explored differences between two children in communication styles, based on a content analysis and the target recipient of their speech. Observed in a 5th grade social studies class, their speech contents were investigated using an interpretive analysis. The results showed that one child's intent was to speak to the general classroom as a whole. This communication style was consistent with the child's own learning processes in that his speech contents referenced both academic information and daily life activities. In contrast, the second child spoke only to the teacher directly, responding only in reference to the academic subject matter. It was also observed that the first child's communication style was more flexible and included interactions with both the teacher and peers during classroom discourse. The second child was at ease only with the teacher and did not talk to his peers, virtually ignoring them in the classroom.
