A semiotic approach explains why native speakers use alternative ways to express the same linguistic or communicative function without being aware of why they choose one form over the other. The explanation uncovers an aspect of language awareness not previously explored in traditional word and sentence-oriented approaches. (19 references)…

A study investigated the use of three pragmatic expressions ("you know, you see, I mean") by female and male British English speakers to (1) establish actual differences in usage over a number of functions of the three expressions, and (2) discover any correlation of usage with same-sex vs. mixed-sex interaction. (Author/MSE)

Examines Plato's Dialogues by reading them through two cultural lenses: the role of eros in classical Greece and its analogous relationship to language and rhetoric; and the educational function of eros within the ancient institution of pederasty. Shows how the cultural values of ancient Greece manifested themselves in Plato's erotic educational…

Argues that the best approach for technical editors is to abandon the language cops' billy club, listen to what the authors want to say, and give those authors friendly expertise, without rigid prescription or blanket condemnation. (SR)

In an examination of pronominal disagreements, this study examined how speakers on certain television interview programs resolve problems of agreement with formally singular epicene antecedents. The form most frequently used is "they," and some forms found in written English hardly occur. (54 references) (Author/LB)

Relates a personal anecdote about trying to teach a child the difference between a "plane" and a "plain." Describes the difficulty of explaining the homonym to the child. Outlines the challenges of explaining such language nuances. (HB)

Maintains that the goal of editing technical writing is not to resist incursions against "correctness" but to facilitate communication. Argues for letting authors use the words native to their own technical idiom. (SR)

Offers a language-centered approach to the teaching of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" which can help students read the dialects in the novel and develop an appreciation for the varieties of language. (RS)

Advocates incorporating "people first" language (focusing on ability rather than disability and distinguishing the person from the condition) in business communication courses. Investigates whether the conventions of "people first" language affects the attitudes or perceptions of readers. Finds that language did not make a significant difference…

Seeks rhetoric(s) that enact corporeally in language suggestions of "queer," a "queer rhetoric," in which desire/bodies put into play a kind of linguistic music. Searches for "queer," particularly its sexual and gendering connotations. Connects that with postmodern, poststructuralist rhetoric(s) as self-referential.…

Suggests how Oscar Wilde uses "linguistic armory" to force the question of the apparent "normal relationships" between "signifieds" and "signifiers" that have led to the folly of belief in the absoluteness of such "normal relationships." (RS)

Operationalizes the concept of intertextuality by using it to analyze sample texts. Certain dimensions of intertextuality are described that have potential for building a framework for discourse analysis: interdiscursivity, textual transformations, and how texts constitute social identities. (Contains 35 references.) (JP)

Analogical leveling in progress of a potential suffix in Tokyo Japanese is analyzed within a quantitative model. The phenomenon is shown to be controlled by five factors: sociological variable complex, verb stem length, verb conjugation pattern, the following inflectional form, and embeddedness of the clause containing the suffix. (Contains 70…

Discusses the need to incorporate the use of language in language-related activities rather than just skills such as reading, writing, and the mechanics of language. An annotated bibliography of 12 titles that incorporate language play is included. (LRW)

Reviews and compares views of grammarians, usage experts, and authors of technical writing books concerning "dangling participles." Finds many unattached clauses are unacceptable, some are less objectionable, and still others are acceptable. Notes that cultural (and perhaps gender) differences between humanistic teachers and…