The Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) sequence dominates whole-class talk and results in limited interactional opportunities for students. This article examines multiple-response sequences identified during a practitioner action research project when a teacher set out to change interactions between herself and her young students. Conversation…

This paper proposes a general principle of topic resources as a key principle of conversation. The first section of the paper offers a discussion of the notion of cohesion as a condition in which interactants perceive that their utterances are related to one another and presents the "given-new" strategy (in which the interactants…

The implications of a social movement theory advanced by Jean-Paul Sartre in his "Critique of Dialectical Reason" is examined in this paper. The paper notes that unlike sociologists and rhetoricians who have stressed the psychology of movement adherents, the reasons for movement formation, or the movement's interaction with power agents,…

A review of the research of E.G. Mishler, H. Mehan, and others suggests that a unified theory of the mechanics of how continuous discourse is accounted for in classroom behavior is necessary for further study. Discourse analysis meets the criteria for selection of a theoretical framework because it deals with all the language within the classroom…

Drawing upon the philosophical and technical frameworks of discourse analysis, this paper suggests the rules governing linguistic choices in constructing negotiation. First, it clarifies the philosophical assumptions underlying different approaches to analysis, specifying a conceptual focus, particularly with regard to the situation and the…

The process by which preschoolers generate cohesive oral text was investigated in two fields of discourse: social dramatic and constructive play. Four preschoolers, 2 boys and 2 girls, ranging in age from 51 to 60 months were observed and videotaped in their regular preschool classroom on 2 successive days during free play periods. Each child was…

Shows that among the qualities of interaction present in peer learning are the negotiation of teaching and collaborative roles, attention-focusing, showing and pointing, and informative messages. (FL)

Containing a methodological and conceptual critique of rules theory, this paper argues that rules theory cannot adequately explain enigmatic episodes because of its reliance on the practical syllogism and the concept of coordination. It proposes structural analysis as an alternative approach to analyzing and conceiving of enigmatic episodes. The…

Recently, communications scholars and theorists have begun formulating rules to describe the workings of language in various situations of everyday use. Theoretically, current rules approaches are in violation of the basic philosophy underlying communication theory--Whitehead's notion of process. The inconsistency is a function of the degree of…

The theory of the coordinated management of meaning (CMM) describes the structural relationship between a conversation as it appears in a verbatim transcript and as it appears in the meaning-system of the participants. The five essential features of CMM theory are: a set of four propositions about the nature of communication and human behavior, a…

A marital argument over the content of a previous conversation is analyzed using an interactive discourse analysis approach. The analysis focuses on the frequency and use of particular discourse strategies to show how marked use of these strategies may not only typify speakers who share similar "high involvement" conversational styles,…

To examine the effects of the contextual variables of relationship intimacy and time on communication satisfaction, a study was undertaken involving 252 college freshmen. The subjects participated in one of two treatments. In the first, they were randomly paired and participated in social conversation for 15 minutes. Following the conversation,…

Investigates the ways in which primary school-aged children engage a teacher's attention through active solicitation. Argues that examining these interactions reveals both what the children do and allows for a redefinition of a conceptualization of "talk engagement." (FL)

This paper studies meaning as a construct of human interaction. Basic to this approach is the concept of the act of communication, which may be realized verbally or non-verbally. In order to integrate non-verbal behaviors into descriptions of discourse and interaction, a series of functional, not anatomic, categories is needed. For the kinesic…

This is an examination of beginning teachers' acquisition of the structures of classroom discourse. Teachers were compared at the beginning and at the end of their first teaching year using a discourse analysis system. Thirty-three hours of audiotapes from 11 teachers were transcribed an coded. Teacher initiations during informing, eliciting, and…