The speech of elementary school teachers in two contexts (adult-adult conversation and the classroom) was examined for the use of stance-indicating devices, i.e. ways of conveying one's attitudes towards a proposition; independent evidence supports the notion that teachers' perception of social distance between themselves and their listeners…

Reports on data concerning language environments in classes with children who had been in the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development project when they were three and four years old. Activities and types of talk used in preschool classrooms changed as children grew older. (BB)

A study investigating difficulties encountered by Chinese graduate students in asking questions in the American classroom, and suggested solutions, are presented. An introductory section describes features of the Chinese educational system, focusing on attitudes toward questioning. The first chapter offers sociolinguistic and pragmatic…