This study examined the spontaneous utterances of first-grade inner-city children in whole-language classrooms in two urban sites. Data were gathered across the first-grade year for 12 learners who were observed twice-weekly across the school year. The context for each utterance was documented in field notes recording instructional context, learner behavior, and social interactions. Three selection criteria were used for utterances; spontaneity, being embedded in acts of reading and writing, and explanatory value. The 87 categorized utterances revealed five trends in terms of learner perceptions of beginning reading and writing: (a) nearly half of the utterances were metacognitive statements reporting learner self-appraisal and self-management; (b) learners were concerned with sound/symbol relations and argued with peers about them; (c) hypotheses about reading reflected learner patterns of development, teacher demonstrations, and classroom experiences; (d) learners paid close attention to patterns in letters and words, and (e) learners' interpretations of their whole-language classrooms included notions about the interrelatedness of reading and writing.
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