Giving Girls a Chance: patterns of talk in co‐operative group work

Whilst there has been much research into differences between boys’ and girls’ involvement in talk in whole class situations, there have been fewer studies analysing the nature of this talk in group work. This study uses episodes of mathematics/technology and language group work to investigate the differences between boys’ and girls’ involvement in talk and the nature of that talk. Findings show that boys and girls contribute differently depending on the curriculum area engaged in, and a clear pattern emerges of how talk is affected by the particular gender balance of the group. Furthermore, the quality of the talk is influenced by the gender balance. In particular the abstract level of talk achieved by girls is depressed when the group composition has more boys than girls.