Standardized interviewing (SI) and conversational interviewing are two approaches to collect survey data that differ in how interviewers address respondent confusion. This article examines interviewer-respondent interactions that occur during these two techniques, focusing on requests for and provisions of clarification. The data derive from an…

One of the recent issues in English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) writing instruction has been the quest for a more effective way to give feedback to L2 learners' writing drafts. Although teacher-learner writing conferences have been increasingly used for providing ample opportunity for negotiating revisions, relatively little attention…

The dynamics of the student-student relationship within the asynchronous online classroom, as evidenced by conversations in an online discussion board, is a balancing act potentially more complex than those occurring in real-time. In order for learning to truly be considered effective, a collaborative, safe environment needs to exist among…

This paper describes how early childhood teachers' incorporation of pauses raises the quality of talk-in-interaction during play-based mathematics activities. Responses of both children and teachers are shown to be more contingent and expansive when conversations include protracted pauses than during interactions in which pauses are largely…

This study investigated success in responding to naturalistic conversational questions by six young adults with autism, using a quantitative discourse analytic method. Four types of questions were identified: more than seven words in length; multiclausal; requiring inference; and indirect requests for information. The prediction that…

In this study, 23 young children with developmental delays interacted with an adult, who conducted 2 play sessions using 2 interactive styles differing in the adult's use of topic-continuing wh-questions. Use of the questions supported child conversational continuations at all language levels. (DB)

This study used direct observation procedures to analyze communicative intent and subsequent frequency of turntaking between four adults with developmental disabilities and their residential staff. Results suggest that in group discourse, questioning-type speech may set the occasion for a greater number of subsequent conversational turns than does…

Former candidate for U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lani Guinier is attempting to make law school and the legal profession more welcoming to women, in part by rejecting use of the Socratic method in classroom discussion, which she feels is intimidating, combative, and discriminates against women. Others say the Socratic approach encourages men…

Sequential analyses of dyadic interactions examined effects of input by 32 normally developing adolescents on responses of 7 male subjects with moderate-to-severe mental retardation. Prompts in the form of questions and comments were more likely to produce responses than directive prompts, and subjects were more likely to respond to male peers…