This full paper considers how collaborative discourse can reveal ways upper-class engineering students mechanically reason about engineering concepts. Argumentation and negotiation during collaborative, multimodal discourse using speech and gestures helps establish common ground between learners and fosters reflection on their conceptual…

This paper displays a Systemic Functional Linguistic and Critical Discourse Analysis of Boris Johnson's first public speech on COVID-19. COVID-19 is a very dangerous infectious disease caused by the last discovered virus of the Coronavirus strain. This virus began in Wuhan's Chinese city in December 2019. COVID-19 has spread from Wuhan to the rest…

Drawn from a larger project on reported speech in parliamentary interaction (Reber, forthcoming), this paper studies visuo-material performances of so-called "literalized" (Rumsey, 1992) quoting, i.e., verbatim reproductions of original utterances. Taking an interactional-linguistic perspective, I analyze how participants accomplish…

In this paper, I create philosophical space for the importance of how we say things as an adjunct to attending to what is said, drawing on Stanley Cavell's discussions of moral perfectionism and passionate utterance. In the light of this, I assess claims made for the contribution drama makes to moral education. In "Cities of Words,"…

Purpose: Individuals with mild aphasia often report significant disruption to their communication despite seemingly minor impairment. This study explored this phenomenon through examining conversations of a person with mild aphasia engaging in argumentation--a skill she felt had significantly deteriorated after her stroke. Method: A person with…

The paper proposes a theoretical and methodological framework based on a pluralistic, concerted approach to the study of activities that take place in and through speech interactions. The framework has a general scope, applying to any collective activity taking form through language interactions. It contributes to a fuller understanding of the…

An important part of "doing" science is engaging in collaborative science practices. To better understand how to support these practices, we need to consider how students collaboratively construct and represent shared understanding in complex, problem-oriented, and authentic learning environments. This research presents a case study…

Studies have shown an association between argumentative discourse in science class, better understanding of science concepts, and improved academic performance. However, there is lack of research on how argumentation can increase student motivation. This mixed methods concurrent nested study uses Bandura's construct of motivation and concepts of…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the performance of adolescents with acquired brain injury (ABI) during a spoken persuasive discourse task. Persuasive discourse is frequently used in social and academic settings and is of importance in the study of adolescent language. Method: Participants included 8 adolescents with ABI and 8 peers…

We live in a climate ripe for noise: Media outlets and 24-hour news cycles mean that everyone with access to a computer has access to a megaphone to broadcast their views. Never before in human history has an opinion had the opportunity to reach so many so quickly regardless of its accuracy or appropriateness. Of course, it's difficult to hear…

This paper examines United States Representative Hale Boggs's 1971 speech on the House floor, in which he denounced J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for wiretapping members of Congress and infiltrating campus student groups. Following an introduction to the objectives of the paper, the first section reviews Boggs's…

Deals with the effects of aesthetic quality and argumentational integrity or fairness on the persuasiveness of contributions to argumentation. Basic argumentative dialogs were varied in aesthetic quality via the use of figurative language and in fairness via the addition of faulty, insincere, or unjust arguments.(Author/VWL)

The argument of this paper is that psychotherapy is essentially a rhetorical process that, as an alternative to or substitute for religious rhetoric, seeks to lead people to a secular state of grace. The paper first acknowledges the work of four scholars who have written about the rhetoric of psychotherapy: Erling Eng, Pedro Lain Entralgo, Lloyd…

Arguing that systematic analysis of message strategies ought to become a major focus of study within the field of speech communication, this paper offers a limited case study to illustrate the kinds of strategies that might be uncovered. The paper places the illustration within a persuasive context and indicates the kinds of approaches a speaker…

Presents the views of a scholar in speech communication on Henry Johnstone's ideas about rhetoric. Concludes that rhetoric that "appeals" wedges apart percipient and objects of perception, or that it forces a person to examine what he or she knows or is, as well as examining the proffered rhetoric. (NKA)