This article combines research results centred on theory of mind (ToM) from cognitive and developmental psychology (Goldman 2006; Apperly 2010; Wilkinson and Ball 2012) with the notion of intersubjectivity in usage-based linguistics (i.a. Verhagen 2005; Nuyts 2012; Traugott 2012). It identifies some of the controversies in the literature from both…

Or is commonly understood to be a conjunction linking two or more constituents. Ending a sentence with "or" is considered non-canonical in written interaction, but ending a turn with "or" occurs regularly in spoken interaction. This dissertation investigates the interactional work of turn-final or as in "Did his oxygen get…

Multiplayer online games form complex semiotic ecologies that include game-generated texts, player-to-player communication and collaboration, and associated websites that support in-game play. This article describes an exploratory study of the massively multiplayer online game (MMO) "World of Warcraft" ("WoW"), with specific…

Design and technology education provides children with opportunities to create solutions to specific needs in innovative ways. This paper reports on research that focused on the language that the children used when they were involved in a design and technology activity. In accessing the results of the language study, the findings suggest that the…

The general aim of this article is to discuss the application of Usage-Based Linguistics (UBL) to an investigation of developmental issues in second language acquisition (SLA). Particularly, the aim is to discuss the relevance for SLA of the UBL suggestion that language learning is item-based, going from formulas via low-scope patterns to fully…

In this article, we begin by delineating the background to and motivations behind Firth and Wagner (1997), wherein we called for a reconceptualization of second language acquisition (SLA) research. We then outline and comment upon some of our critics' reactions to the article. Next we review and discuss the conceptual, theoretical, and…

This article argues for a reconceptualization of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research that would enlarge the ontological and empirical parameters of the field. We claim that methodologies, theories, and foci within SLA reflect an imbalance between cognitive and mentalistic orientations, and social and contextual orientations to language, the…

Teams of two college freshmen and two college seniors, or one freshman and one senior, solved factually oriented problems cooperatively. Subjects on a team worked in adjoining rooms and exchanged information by means of handwritten notes. Performance was assessed on the time required to solve problems and on behavioral measures of activity.…

Explores the relational aspects of speech and markers which point up relational aspects according to the pupil's adjustment to his peer group and its activities and to institutional aspects of school life. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/CLK)

Videotape recordings of interaction of 42 preschool children in same-sex dyads were coded and analyzed to see how these children used the word "no" in their interactions. Results showed that, although boys and girls used the word equally frequently, they were found to use it in different ways. (Author/JL)

Presents a variety of social contexts for verbal interaction between adult and child and between children. Discusses the variations in interaction caused by different contexts, as well as features that are consistent across contexts. (HTH)

Uses techniques of the study of conversational analysis in oral language in the study of American Sign Language conversations, and concludes that such conversations are structured in ways that parallel those of spoken language. (FL)

Reports the findings of a study that was designed to explore children's use of language in the adversative episode. (FL)

The concept of "communicative competence" is one of the most influential theoretical developments in language education as it helped redefine the objectives of L2 instruction and the target language proficiency. While acknowledging these contributions, this paper asks if the conceptual formulation of "communicative competence" has other…