This study compared high functioning adolescents and young adults with autism (n=8) or schizotypal personality disorder (n=9) in use of social language referencing. Both groups had similar rates, types, and patterns of cohesive reference errors, though subjects with schizotypal disorder used cohesive ties of reference more often and more correctly…

Describes the grammaticalization of the Swedish word "bara" (English "just") in present-day adolescent speech. "Bara" has in the last 15 years been used with 2 new functions in spoken, narrative discourse: to foreground central events and to introduce quotations. (40 references) (Author/CK)

Explores how agoraphobia is realized through the activity of storytelling. Analyzes one agoraphobic woman's narrative to articulate the narrative structuring of a panic episode, the grammatical resources systematically recruited to portray panic as unaccountable and the protagonist as irrational and helpless, and a recurrent communicative dilemma…

A qualitative study of teacher educators investigated their ideological discourses. A number of ideologies were found to inform their work, though the social orientation tended toward conservatism rather than transformation. The paper claims that the recognition of multiple conservative discourses allows for possibilities for change in teacher…

Investigated the occurrence of null objects in a stable nonnative variety of English spoken in Nepal, finding that Nepali speakers of English may omit both direct and indirect objects in contexts where native speakers may not. The resultant discourse organization for Nepali English requires greater addressee participation than native English…

Analyzed narrative accounts of incest perpetrators (10 men, 1 woman) using the concepts of justice and care. Almost all perpetrators defined incest as love and care and viewed their behavior as considerate and fair, although this care and love were contradicted by adults' refusal to stop when children wanted them to stop. (RJM)

Examines the pragmatic uses of narrative structures in the written stories of native-English speaking and native-Spanish speaking college students. It is shown that there are subtle differences in the way that the two groups use structures, suggesting that native-English and native-Spanish narrators have differing perceptions of themselves and…

Examines the role of pronouns in the discursive display of identity. Through comparison of actual uses of the pronoun "I" in Javanese conversations with current views of pronouns in identity presentation, an attempt is made to show a vast cultural difference in how identity can be indexed and what variables may constitute identity in…

A longitudinal study (with data collected at 54 and 83 months of age) was conducted of conversational control in 34 dyads of mothers and their children with severe and profound hearing losses. Results indicated that maternal control was negatively related to the children's developmental levels, and declines in control were not commensurate with…

Evaluation of the conversational behavior of 36 children (ages 48-59 months) playing in dyads with 3 different materials (modeling dough, a farm set, and animal puppets) found that each toy elicited the same amount of talking, though there were differences in discourse structure attributable to play materials. (DB)

Analysis of transcripts of nine undergraduate lectures in the humanities and social sciences found that professors used asides and local breaks in topicality to increase global semantic and pragmatic unity, introduce various mutually reinforcing interpretive frames, resolve apparent contradictions, highlight contrast, and establish relevance and…

Reports on four school-age boys' use of the specialized register of sportscasting as performed both spontaneously and when elicited by the researcher, and compares the boys' production of formal register-marking features to adult usage. (27 references) (GLR)

The immediate recall is compared of 15 speech concepts presented in mixed order in 3 modalities: auditory, symbolically visual (written), and iconic. Results of experiments with 121 subjects suggest that the first step of information processing is a differentiation of sensory stimuli. (10 references) (LB)

Describes discourse analysis as practiced by Michel Foucault and his followers as a research method in library and information science. The method is introduced, some examples of its use are suggested, and several research questions are posed. The method permits analysis of the ways information, its uses, and its users are discursively…

This paper reviews literature on peer relationships of children with specific language impairment and provides a clinical case to illustrate the social-interactional difficulties encountered. The paper analyzes the quantity and quality of peer interactions, child's knowledge of interactive access behaviors, disputes, responsiveness, assertiveness,…