The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are differences in the verbal interactions of earth science gifted depending on their communications structures and group status in small group activities. To this end, a small group activity was conducted to measure the density of the earth, and 8 small groups were selected, including 4 coownership type and 4 monopolistics type groups with different communication structures. And then, the framework was developed for analyzing verbal interactions to compare the differences in characteristics between small groups. The results are as follows. First, regardless of the communication structures, there were showing a simple pingpong-type communication structures for all small groups. Second, negative interactions such as ‘restraint’, ‘command’, ‘complaint’, and ‘lack of confidence’ predominantly appeared in all small groups. Third, the students in the status of out-lookers in small groups were mainly verbal interactions, such as instructing the other person, acting against the other person’s actions, and expressing dissatisfaction with the attitudes and abilities of members. Therefore, teachers should guide students to use higher-level verbal interactions in their group activities in small group activities, and engage in students communication to prevent negative interactions from occurring. The teachers also need to check the level of achievement for students in the status of out-lookers in advance and guide them to participate more actively in small group activities. This study is meaningful in that it can be sued to design teaching and learning to improve students’ problem solving and communication skills.

본 연구의 목적은 과학영재들의 소집단 활동에서 집단 내 의사소통 지위와 언어네트워크와의 관계를 알아보기 위한 것이다. 이를 위하여 과학영재들을 대상으로 5명을 한 단위로 하는 7개 소집단을 구성하고, 이들에게 지구의 밀도 구하기라는 주제로 토론활동을 하였다. KrKwic과 UCINET 6.0 for Windows를 활용하여 집단 내 의사소통 지위와 언어네트워크를 분석하였다. 그 결과 집단 내 선도자의 언어네트워크는 방관자들에 비해 높은 단어 사용 빈도, 낮은 컴포넌트 비율, 높은 밀도를 나타내었다. 이는 선도자들이 방관자들에 비해 응집된 지식을 소유하고 있으며, 문제해결을 위해 방관자들보다 많은 양의 지식을 인출하고 있음을 의미한다. 이런 결과는 과학영재들의 인지수준의 평가와 소집단 활동에서의 집단 구성에 활용할 수 있을 것이다.