This paper examines the relationship between micro and macro perspectives on the organization of participation structure, and considers how both perspectives can be useful to the ethnographer of interaction. It suggests that understandings of the organization of participation may be considered forms of tacit knowledge, or cultural schemas, which may differ cross-culturally. Examples are drawn from a study of Navajo preschool, and supported by a substantial body of classroom ethnography in other Native American communities. I argue that participation structure at the macro level of speech event is largely negotiated through and dependent upon cultural schemas for participation structure at the micro level of interaction.

Spartocytisus supranubius shrubs covered in ice after an ice storm at the summit of La Palma, Canary Islands. This species is endemic to the high‐altitude parts of La Palma and Tenerife. Photograph taken by Richard Field on 19 February 2013. From Steinbauer et al. article in this issue.

This paper addresses some of the challenges which bilingual children transitioning to literacy in English may face when asked to answer reading comprehension questions which involve the interpretation and synthesis ofinformation about story characters' thoughts or feelings. Understanding of a character's perspective may depend on inference, rather than lexical content presented in a text Alternatively, prompt-questions may be framed such that lexical story content is required in the answer Such questions involve cognitive/ metapragmatic tasks related to linguistic competence in written English, as well as an understanding of the different types of knowledge associated with academic writing.