Questioning patterns in dialogue journal interactions of two groups of sixth graders are analyzed. One of the two groups was made up of native English speakers, while the other consisted of beginning learners of English as a second language. The analysis finds a pattern of shared interaction very different from that found in numerous studies of classroom discourse. In it, both participants, student and teacher, introduce topics and ask questions. Analysis of the form and type of teacher questions to individual students reveals considerable variation in both, related to the student's English proficiency level. This variation is similar to patterns found in native speaker-nonnative speaker interactions. Analysis of student questions and responses to teacher questions reveals increased student participation in the interaction over time. These findings suggest that dialogue journals offer a useful supplement to traditional classroom discourse, and perhaps a model that can be transferred to other interactions in the classroom context. A reference list, 2 figures, and 12 tables are appended. (Author/MSE)