How Task-Directive Dialogue Changes with Mastery and Capacity.

This paper discusses how the role of instructors changes as young learners advance along a mastery continuum, or a process of transition from an initial novice to an eventual expert status in the learning of a skill. Four stages along this continuum are: (1) acquisition, in which the learner does not know the task; (2) early consolidation, in which the learner can perform part or all of the task, but cannot do so independently; (3) late consolidation, in which the learner can demonstrate some spontaneous mastery of the task; and (4) independent mastery, in which the learner can perform the task independently and without prompting. It is hypothesized that, when children learn a task, their level of cognitive ability interacts with task complexity to encourage or inhibit the children's development of self-regulatory learning behavior and expertise in learning the task. Learning opportunities and activities which correspond to a child's point along the mastery continuum are described. Suggestions for ways that teachers can create skill acquisition, consolidation, and mastery opportunities for less advanced children that are comparable to opportunities for more advanced children are offered. A list of 33 references is provided. (MDM)