Argues that empirical questions about laws governing human activity do not have definite answers, but certain conceptional questions do; and many conceptual questions do not have definitive answers. Focuses on John Wilson's views on philosophy and moral education. Explores the implications for educational research. (CMK)

Presents John Wilson's response to the articles within this issue of the "Journal of Moral Education". Focuses on broad issues related to the disagreements that surfaced. Explains that one issue concerns the nature of philosophical or conceptual analysis. Addresses aspects of his own work. (CMK)

Compared Japanese first language (L1) and English second language (L2) organizational patterns in the argumentative writing of Japanese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) student writers. Made within-subject comparisons of L1 and L2 compositions in terms of organizational patterns, organizational scores, and overall quality. (Author/VWL)

Explores the research on argumentation in science education by focusing on two questions: (1) what should constitute argumentation?; and (2) what does research say about classroom conditions that promote, nurture, and sustain argumentation practices among students? Discusses possible barriers to argumentation and foundational frameworks and…

Addresses ideas presented in the article "The Struggle for Democracy in South Africa: Race, History and Education" (David W. Hursh). Provides information from a South African perspective and highlights ideas Hursh omitted that are central to the race-related discourse in South Africa. (CMK)

Discusses the treatment of historical events within Hollywood (California) films. Addresses the idea of verisimilitude, or the true replication of history in all aspects. Examines films such as: "Pearl Harbor,""Park Row,""Verboten!,""October Sky," and "Thirteen Days," to demonstrate how films portray history. (CMK)

Presents the results of a study that trained ten and eleven year old children to improve their argumentative abilities. Explores whether didactic sequence with oral exercises and co-operative oral debate affected the children. Explains that the children were required to produce three argumentative texts before and after each training phase. (CMK)

Applies the concepts of persuasive definition, ideograph, and ideological history in an analysis of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s, discourse. Uses this analysis to enhance understanding of how the strategic definition of terms such as "liberal" can influence the ongoing struggle to set presumptions in American political life. (SR)

Examines the ethics of fostering false inference. Presents and discusses a hypothetical case in which a firms's proposal seems intended to mislead, while actually stating nothing that is not literally true. (KEH)

Analyzes advertisements as vision, myth, and mirror. Provides an interpretive technique that can be used as a curriculum for studying issues advertisements. Offers eight advertisements as examples and provides an analysis and critique of each. (MVL)

Traces the development of studies of writing related to teaching and learning that have appeared in "Research in the Teaching of English" (RTE) between 1966 and 1986. Finds that RTE has served to both maintain the dominant paradigm and act as a forum for calls to pursue other research approaches. (JAD)

Argues that negative assumptions about demagogues have precluded an adequate understanding of demagogic discourse and its functionality and appropriateness in certain rhetorical situations. Discusses the social movement perspective which employs a "social construction of reality" approach, and analyzes the discourse of Louis Farrakhan…

Argues that the United States government suppressed Frank Capra's 1944 documentary, "The Battle of China," because it lacked the visual framework of arguments evidenced by the other films in Capra's "Why We Fight" series. Investigates Capra's portrayal of fundamental American values through the visual contrast techniques of…

Encourages teachers to regain the Sophistic awareness that no teaching is done in a social and political vacuum, that teachers must make judgments about which issues are more important than others, which issues deserve to be studied, and which issues should be ignored. (RAE)

Proposes a model for building the self-concept or self-esteem of students through carefully designed writing assignments that emphasize persona. Includes four writing assignments. (RAE)