Table 2.

Total number of occurrences of key words related to exploratory talk.

Reasoning words	Definition	Introduce/provide a link to reasoning	Prompt reasoning	Total
would	Speculating/proposing	5 times	3 times	8 times
		e.g. No, it would be better if you acted the part of Cinderella’s father because both of you are from a poor family, while her father has passed away.	e.g. Oh, I have an idea. Would it be good if the name of Cinderella were Sun Yat-sen?
should		48 times	10 times	58 times
		e.g. He acts the part of Cinderella’s dad, and you should act as Cinderella.	e.g. What should Cinderella’s name be?
could		0 times	1 time	1 time
			i.e. Could you please stop talking nonsense?
maybe		0 times	1 time	1 time
			i.e. Then maybe we can set the background.
might		1 time	0 times	1 time
		i.e. It might be better if our Kung Fu competition were at the Great Wall.
may be		0 times	0 times	0 times
think	Positioning/claiming	15 times	20 times	35 times
		e.g. Hong Kong culture. I think culture is like history, which is limited by many things.	e.g. What do you think about adding some more characters?
Agree		0 times	4 times	4 times
			e.g. Why don’t you agree with that? The teacher said a reason must be provided.
disagree		1 time	0 times	1 time
		i.e. I disagree, I disagree; well you provide the aside, you act the part of mother, I act the part of fairy, you act the part of princess, and you act the part of prince.
Because	Linking a reason to a claim; Analysing/generalising	54 times	0 times	54 times
		e.g. No, it would be better if you acted the part of Cinderella’s father because both of you are from a poor family, while her father has passed away.
so		6 times	0 times	6 times
		e.g. We can say that both of your fathers died, and later, you, the father, wanted money, so you forced your daughter to work.
but		12 times	0 times	12 times
		e.g. Why don’t we make a story like this: Cinderella was very rich before, but after her father died, she became very poor.
if		12 times	5 times	17 times
		e.g. It might be better if our Kung Fu competition were at the Great Wall.	e.g. Would it be okay if Cinderella acts the part of prince and soldier?
how		0 times	3 times	3 times
			e.g. Let’s talk about the plot first. How should the story begin?
why		0 times	43 times	43 times
			e.g. Who will act the part of the mother, and why?
Total		154 times	90 times	244 times