Data on one aspect of a year-long sociolinguistic study of participant perspectives of classroom discourse are presented in this final report. Second-, third-, and fourth-grade pupils in a lower socioeconomic, mutiethnic elementary school viewed videotapes of language arts lessons given earlier in the day. Each videotape was presented in three 4-minute segments. Responses were compared to actual transcripts of the videotapes in order to identify the types of utterances that stood out for participants. Additionally, each pupil was presented with three sets of comments uttered in the lesson; these comments included teacher questions, pupil responses, and teacher praise. Subjects were asked why they thought these comments had been made. Responses to this task provided data on pupil perceptions of the functions of questions, responses, and praise. Pupils' perceptions of the functions of the three elements in the school setting were compared to their perceptions of videotaped family conversations. Among the results was the finding that few significant relationships existed between perspectives of classroom discourse and ethnicity or other variables. Strong relationships existed among pupil perceptions of classroom discourse, participation in class discussions, and academic success. Pupils were alert to the incongruent functions of questions at home and at school. (Author/DB)