Contends that simultaneous speech is not necessary for the recognition of "interruption" by interlocutors. A speaker's "completion right" is validated by how long s/he has been speaking, how often s/he has spoken, the number of "points" s/he has made, and the rights of some speakers to speak about some topics. (SED)

Presents a conceptual framework for analyzing and interpreting turn exchange and speaking turns from two perspectives: that of the surface forms of turn taking such as smooth and simultaneous exchanges and that of an empirical analysis of the formal or underlying structure of a turn-taking system. (SED)

Argues that R. A. Harris, in applying linguistic theory to technical writing, undermines his purpose by introducing irrelevant distinctions between competing syntactic theories and by failing to exploit the full potential of applications he mentions. Uses the passive construction to illustrate how linguistics can be used to advantage by technical…

Halliday's view of all learning as a form of language development is supported as a first step, but an argument is made for a view of learning as induction into discourses as ways of being, not just ways of using words. (Contains 19 references.) (LB)

An explanatory linguistic theory attempts to capture and explain the universal nature of human language, to choose among possible grammars of each human language, and to account for the linguistic constraints involved in language acquisition. Discourse theory, like linguistic theory, must be mentalistic in that it seeks to account for mental…

The work of two theorists are compared by focusing on a limited number of central issues for a language-based theory of learning (LTL), including long-term goals and a genetic approach; language and social activity; appropriating culture; thinking in school; sociosemantic variation; enculturation; and intellectual consequences. The combined…

Distinguishing between interpretive and formal models of discourse processing and between qualitative and quantitative research, this paper argues that formal models are the analogues of interpretive models, and that the two are complementary. It observes that interpretive models of reading are being increasingly derived from qualitative research…

Milton's style of pronominal reference in his essay, "Areopagitica," leads to a lack of comprehension at times and to slow processing. His use of demonstrative pronouns makes it difficult to identify antecedents precisely and quickly. For example, in one case a reader must go back over 400 words to find an antecedent. His use of relative…

Through corpus analysis and experimentation, this article demonstrates that both grammatical complexity (heaviness) and discourse status (newness) simultaneously and independently influence word order in two English constructions. Argues that heavy and new constituents facilitate the processes of planning and production. (Author/VWL)

Critical linguistics, an area of study within linguistics that has developed since the 1970s, is discussed. Critical linguistics argues that different groups, societies, and ideologies have different understandings of reality because they classify and categorize with and through language in different ways. Therefore, meaning is not something…

A complete analysis of a story's structure must rely on more than a simple grammar of story components; it requires a consideration of the characters' plans as they are stated or implied in the story. Furthermore, these plans are recognized as the characters' beliefs, and beliefs about interactions among plans are crucial determinants of a story's…

Examines recent trends in research in natural language processing and discusses some applications of this research to the solution of information management problems. The article emphasizes that the importance of natural language processing systems is reflected in their frequent use in support of other computer programs. (71 references) (CK)

Based on a prior model on modularity of the brain, a new modular model of intrapersonal communication was developed which focuses on brain processing, encompassing both the structures and the functions of those structures in the creation of messages. The modular mind is a bio-social model of communication which presupposes a relationship between…

Discusses the sources of information in oral language. Uses converging evidence from prosody, pausing, structural and semantic parallelism, and stylistic analysis to argue for a series of hypotheses about the units that organize the construction of narrative discourse. Provides examples and appendixes. (JD)

Reviews the present status of the categories developed by the Writing Research Unit at the University of London for classifying discourse function. (HOD)