Attività riflessive nella classe plurilingue: il discorso metalinguistico e la gestione della conoscenza in interazioni tra pari

The article investigates the emergence of metalinguistic discourse in multilingual school contexts, focusing on spontaneous reflective practices in peer interactions, those occurring without direct guidance by the teacher. Through the analysis of two interactional excerpts, the article shows how pupils in a middle school class comment on and negotiate lexical and sociolinguistic aspects of the languages and dialects involved in the ongoing learning activity. The data, collected as part of the Horizon 2020 NEW ABC project, are examined from a microanalytical perspective inspired by Conversation Analysis. Attention is focused on the epistemic dynamics that characterize these interactions, in particular the management of different knowledge statuses among participants. The results highlight how metalinguistic discourse constitutes a space for the co-construction of linguistic knowledge, deeply anchored in the social and interactional context of the classroom. Keywords: Metalinguistic Discourse, Peer Interaction, Conversation Analysis, Epistemic Status, Plurilingual Language Education