Dialogue from 30-minute samples from "Sesame Street" and "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" was coded for grammar, content, and discourse. Grammatical analysis used the LINGQUEST computer-assisted language assessment program (Mordecai, Palen, and Palmer 1982). Content coding was based on categories developed by Rice (1984) and…

A study investigated time factors in two-person telephone conversations, in which visual clues were absent. The lengths and occurrences of vocalizations, pauses, turns, switching pauses, and simultaneous speech were measured with the aid of a computer program. The timing patterns of three conversation types were compared: two Finns speaking in…

This text is aimed at those interested in learning the Wolof language, the most widely used language in Senegal, spoken by more than 80% of the Senegalese and Gambian people. This manual can be best used under the following conditions: (1) the instructor is Wolof born or speaks the language fluently, (2) the course is taught in intensive or…

This booklet is presented as a guide for parents of elementary school French language students who wish to learn the language along with their children. Divided into seven sections, the booklet presents: (1) language learning hints; (2) pronunciation help including practice in the repetition of phonemes and stress and rhythm patterns; (3)…

This booklet is presented as a guide for parents of elementary school German language students who wish to learn the language along with their children. Divided into seven sections, the booklet presents: (1) language learning hints; (2) pronunciation help consisting of practice in listening to and repeating German phonemes; (3) conversation…

This guide for parents of elementary school Spanish language students who wish to learn the language along with their children contains the following materials: (1) language learning hints; (2) pronunciation help including rhythm patterns; (3) conversation capsules (small dialogs and a selection of drawings to accompany the texts) permitting…

Recordings of various sound effects may be used to stimulate dialogue in foreign language classes. Examples are given. (CHK)

Describes a project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology concerned with making computer-assisted instruction more "human," communicative, and interactive for students learning a foreign language. The goal of the project is to create prototypes for beginning and intermediate courses in French, German, Spanish, Russian, and English as…

Discusses the sources of information in oral language. Uses converging evidence from prosody, pausing, structural and semantic parallelism, and stylistic analysis to argue for a series of hypotheses about the units that organize the construction of narrative discourse. Provides examples and appendixes. (JD)

Description of several computerized tutoring systems is organized around types of knowledge any tutor must possess--subject area, student's information, and how to teach and communicate. Data and control structures of Meno-tutor are described to illustrate use of artificial intelligence to model the student, a domain, and teaching strategies. (MBR)

Although role playing is a well-established and useful method of second language instruction, its success is often undermined by assignment of roles alien to the students' needs and experience. Redefinition of role playing to include the roles an individual assumes in everyday life will help the teacher plan more appropriate activities. (MSE)

Focuses on the narrative function to show how children can build on another speaker's turns in conversation and can build on their own utterances as they speak. Analyzes children's dialogs and narratives to highlight the primacy of the oral language arts as they are enacted in daily conversation and play. (HTH)

The Vicarious Learning project is aimed at understanding the role of dialogue in learning about complex conceptual domains. The fundamental assumption of "vicarious learning" is that students can receive benefits from exposure to discussions among their peers and between students and tutors. To elicit dialogues that can be captured, F.…

Purpose of this essay is to provide groundwork for further investigation of the concept of communication as dialogue. Contains extensive footnotes. (Author/DR)

Clients (N=31) completed a six-week program using Gestalt two-chair dialog to work on intrapsychic conflict related to the making of a decision. Clients were classified as resolvers or nonresolvers. Resolvers were found to be significantly less undecided and less anxious after treatment. (Author)