One of the problematic features of the "skills discourse" is the view that skills are decontextualized bits of knowledge and disposition. Instead, how skills such as communication are defined and used are shaped by cultural, political, and situational factors. In this article, we integrate theory from communication studies, critical…

Examines under what conditions undergraduate students perceive racist speech as harmful. Studies how attribution of harm was influenced by group membership, message severity and explicitness, and medium of presentation. Finds interaction between group membership and message explicitness. Reveals out-group evaluators attributed direct racist…

This paper presents the conclusions of a study of student perceptions of communication competence. Discourse analysis data was collected on students in university systems in six different American states in the East, Midwest, and South. Student discourse was analyzed for differences in the ways in which students described their perceptions of…

A study examined the opinions of a substantial segment of the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) community about gender exclusive language. Questionnaires were distributed at two large but diverse CEDA debate tournaments. A total of 180 usable surveys were returned to the 390 distributed. Survey respondents (112 men, 66 women) included…

Examines the language strategies used in everyday explanation by young heterosexual Australian college students to attribute blame for the transmission of HIV. Finds that speakers blamed outgroups more than ingroups; blamed outgroups at higher levels of responsibility than ingroups; but did not use more justifications for ingroups. Notes overt…

Part of a more extended study, a study used discourse analysis to examine how instructors and students talk about sexist language in an attempt to discover their implicit language theories. Subjects, six instructors and six undergraduate students chosen from a convenience sample at a large western university, were interviewed and asked to comment…

A study investigated why nonstandard "like" is used, how nonstandard "like" is used, and whether the users and hearers of nonstandard "like" view it as standard English. Subjects were 65 students taken from speech classes at Tulsa (Oklahoma) Junior College, Southeast Campus--53 of the students were users of…

Focuses on adolescents constructing discourse about a book amongst themselves without the help or intrusion of a teacher/adult. Seeks to understand where that discourse may originate within the greater institutional and societal framework of the participants. Explores the limits personal engagement places on conversation which involves race,…

Explores ethnic and gender differences in classroom conversational styles by comparing student involvement in face-to-face and computer-mediated discussions. Finds that white males participated more frequently than other groups in the face-to-face setting, and white women benefited more from computer-mediated communication. Notes Hispanic women…

Findings from 10 projects, sponsored by the National Institute of Education, which focused on teaching as a linguistic process, are examined in this paper, along with findings from related studies. The projects constitute first-generation indepth studies of selected classrooms and are discussed in relation to two aspects of the linguistics of…