A study analyzed four major classes of discourse marker in Brazilian Portuguese: "ne" and other requests for feedback; "ai," a sequential connector; "ah, bom," and other turn initiators; and "assim," a marker of explanation. Distribution in various discourse functions and sociodemographic conditioning, and…

Describes a year-long study in a whole-language classroom of second-grade students' use of gendered language during informal interactions in writers' workshop. Points out the importance of intent in the process of communication. (SR)

Reports on a study exploring patterns of discourse organization in seminar-type discussions. Analysis was made of patterns of sequential organization in discussions between English for academic purposes students in university seminars in the United Kingdom. Analysis revealed two patterns of organization: simple exchanges of pre-formed ideas and…

This paper examines two studies on language development and narrative discourse structure by looking at how language shapes and is shaped by culture-specific experiences. Conversations between 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, aged 4-5 years old, and their mothers were analyzed to study differences in narrative elicitation by mothers towards…

A study analyzed patterns of usage of political vocabulary in Hong Kong English as found in newspaper reports of a leading Hong Kong English-medium newspaper and two other English-medium newspapers. Data were drawn from a computerized corpus and a clippings file. The report begins with an overview of the theoretical basis of the study of ideology…

A study investigates the roles and frames of reference of a family planning counselor as she offers information and counsel to her client and examines the implications for the training of counselors. First, the ideology of family planning counseling is discussed, focusing on the counselor's need to find an appropriate place on the counseling…

A study examined student mastery of meaning and use in reading and composing of five formal logical connectors (moreover, accordingly, hence, even so, and still) across school level and class type. Subjects were 100 remedial and nonremedial students from a high school, vocational college, and university who were asked to give a synonym for each…

To assist language researchers in their analysis of interlanguage, some values for the linguistic variables of Source Language (SL), Interlanguage (IL), and Target Language (TL) are set forth. Although the fundamental assumption underlying interlanguage research is that interlanguages are linguistic systems, it is difficult to describe the…

The Spanish tense system was chosen as a starting point to establish the systematic character of the Spanish used in situations of intense code switching between Spanish and English. The tense system was chosen for two reasons: (1) the distinction among past tenses (in particular, the imperfect indicative vs. the preterite and the past continuous)…

This book discusses some of the functions, ends, or goals that language serves in religion; the various kinds of linguistic resources that are exploited; and some of the social processes that characterize the use of language. In section one, "Performance," three approaches to the description of verbal behavior are contrasted. This…

Up to the present, no studies have been done in the area of child language in Mexico. The Center of Linguistic and Literary Studies of the Colegio de Mexico carried out an empirical investigation of the language of six- to seven-year-old Mexican children. This paper presents, in preliminary form, some partial results of the investigation,…

The purpose of this study was to determine statistically significant linguistic features of oral and written discourse rated quite high or low by teachers, and to make recommendations based on these findings to supplement existing guidelines for teaching composition. Fifty-five paired oral (tape-recorded) and written compositions were elicited…

In one essay of this collection of four, Kenneth L. Pike explores the value of exercises which are based on axioms about language structure and which are designed specifically to develop writing competence; he lists eight tagmemic principles accompanied by suggested exercises. In another essay, Pike differentiates the roles of linguist and…

This volume presents five languages of India-Nepal from four different language families: Halbi and Kupia (India) of the Indo-Aryan family, Parengi-Gorum (India) of the Munda family, Dhangar-Kudux (Nepal) of the Dravidian family, and Tamang (Nepal) of the Tibeto-Burman family. Papers are entitled "Semanitc Relations between Whole Propositions…

Considers the culturally patterned set of analogic renamings found in Huli baby talk, nursery rhymes, and children's verbal games. An analysis of socialization activities shows a marked concern with body motifs and appellations and inter-adult behavior involving talk about the body, and showing that such language sensitizes children to cultural…