In the research literature on interactional competence in talk among second language speakers and their coparticipants, this volume of "Pragmatics & Interaction" is the first to focus on interaction in Japanese. The chapters examine the use and development of interactional practices in a wide range of social settings, from everyday…

This article describes a study that explores efforts to promote democratic practice in a diverse school context. More specifically, it documents administrative endeavors to include members of the school community--teachers, parents and students--in the various school processes by encouraging inclusive communicative practices. The findings of the…

The promotion of language and social skill development for young children occurs in multiple contexts with a range of empirically validated methods. One specific intervention strategy used to promote language and communication would be to arrange the environment so that it is structured to elicit a range of communicative functions, such as…

Explores humor from a functional perspective. Finds three primary functions: positive affect, expressiveness, and negative affect. Finds positive relationships between positive affect humor and interpersonal competence. Supports the validity of the Uses of Humor Index. (SR)

Discusses the role of humor in children's social development in the following areas: (1) social interaction; (2) friendship development and popularity; (3) hostility expression; and (4) interpersonal relationships. Argues that early humor development helps to optimize social development. (FMW)

Freshmen in an orientation course at a state university answered questionnaires about their peer mentors' playful communication and about how well their peer mentors help them ease tensions of socialization. Results showed that a mentor's perceived playful communication helped the protege ease tensions of socialization. Proteges liked mentors who…