Transcribing interview data is a time-consuming task that most qualitative researchers dislike. Transcribing is even more difficult for people with physical limitations because traditional transcribing requires manual dexterity and the ability to sit at a computer for long stretches of time. Researchers have begun to explore using an automated…

The particular forms of relative clauses (RCs) in Mandarin Chinese lead to particular cognitive, semantic, pragmatic, and discourse constraints on speakers and writers. In this study, analyses of oral and written Mandarin Chinese narratives demonstrate that SS structures (subject head noun phrase [NP] modified by a subject RC) are produced more…

A number of studies have found that writers produce text in bursts of language. That is, when creating a text, writers produce a few words, pause, produce a few more words, pause, and so on. Chenoweth and Hayes (2003) hypothesized that language bursts occur when writers translate ideas in to new language. This study tested this hypothesis against…

In this strategy, students individually select and record 10 important words on self-adhesive notes as they read a text. Then students build a group bar graph displaying their choices, write a sentence that summarizes the content, and then respond to prompts that ask them to think about words in powerful ways. Several prompts are suggested, each…

This paper uses a methodology that synthesises an Academic Literacies approach and Critical Discourse Analysis to explore student experiences of feedback on written assessments in two higher education institutions. The qualitative analysis of student interviews is oriented around three topics: (1) the socially situated meaning of feedback; (2)…

This study of L-2 Russian interlanguage production examined the salience of phonetic, lexical and syntactical features for L-1 listener intelligibility, based on L-2 recitation of written scripts (Part I) and also unrehearsed speech (Part II). Part III of the study investigated strategies used by native-speaking teachers of Russian as a Second…

The emerging use of portable digital devices by students, parents and teachers, is forcing schools to develop real-time communication systems that integrate technology into the general operations of schools, and contemplate governing policies and procedures to sustain and guide the challenges of these new technologies. This study contributes to…

This article explores mother tongue awareness among several Brazilian Amerindian societies in contrast with the perception of the importance of the vernacular according to policy makers and academics. The perception of the vernacular as important is discussed in the light of continuing debate among Brazil's educators concerning appropriate…

Rubrics are an integral part of many writing programs, and they represent elements of good writing in essays, stories, poems, as well as other genres and forms of text. Although it is possible to use rubrics to teach students about the processes underlying effective writing, a more common practice is to use rubrics as a means of assessment, after…

A great deal of disagreement exists as to whether the writing systems of the Brahmi family of scripts from Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent and the Hangul script of Korea should be classified as alphabets or syllabaries. Both have in common a mixture of syllabic and alphabetic characteristics that has spawned vigorous disagreement among…

The comparison of a tape recording of Pompidou's press conference on Sept. 21, 1973 and its reproduction in "Le Monde" on Sept. 23, 1973 shows what changes the text undergoes on being put into writing, from the spoken original. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

The media are sources of great power because they are relentless and invisible persuaders. Man does not offer resistance for he is often unaware of the effect of their presence, concentrating on the "content" while every form of his experience and the quality of life itself is shaped by the "message" form. (VT)

Describes the current use of comparative subordinating conjunctions or coordinators on the basis of data collected from a corpus of one million words of German in print. Revises a number of the grammatical rules regarding the use of these words. (SED)

This study of suicide notes involved deduction of 25 protocol sentences that reflected important specific aspects of Freud's formulations regarding suicide. Independent judges noted incidence of contents corresponding to protocol sentences in 33 genuine and 33 simulated notes. Comparisons between genuine and simulated notes revealed that protocol…

Presents major characteristics of comtemporary views on oral and written language development. Critically reviews recent theoretical and research findings on language function and brain and concludes that very little information exists about the relationship between brain development and language development. (CMG)