Much of the literature on social class and language study in schools argues that for middle-class parents and their children, languages are chosen for their capacity to offer forms of distinction that provide an edge in the global labour market. In this paper, we draw on data collected from interviews with parents and children in middle-class…

This commentary reflects on the contributions to learning analytics and theory by a paper that describes how multiple theoretical frameworks were woven together to inform the creation of a new, automated discourse analysis tool. The commentary highlights the contributions of the original paper, provides some alternative approaches, and touches on…

Suggests that in applied linguistics there has been a collective ignorance of the social constraints operating on exchanges between research interviews and informant interviewees. The article discusses literature from sociology and social psychology that has dealt with this aspect of research interviews. (Author/CK)

The authors respond to comments on their article, "Back Channels Revisited." The current state of the art in acknowledgement token research is outlined with particular reference to the turn-initial token "yeah." Contrastive uses of acknowledgement tokens are described. (20 references) (LB)

Drummond and Hopper's article in this issue, "Back Channels Revisited," is argued to have decontextualized Jefferson's acknowledgement token phenomenon. The need for careful coding protocols for research on conversational practices is discussed. (eight references) (LB)

Analyzes video recordings of postgraduate seminars in the Arts Faculty at a South African university in order to define the nature of this practice in South African tertiary institutions. This article exposes these seminars as sites of competition for the floor with significant imbalances in participation by different groups, reflecting different…

Argues that acquisition of English-as-a-Second-Language research must take into account social context and power relations in order to explain language learning processes. Uses interview data and writing samples to demonstrate how a student in South Africa is influenced in his written discourse in English by his power relations and experience as a…