A genre analysis of 284 essay examination prompts reveals specific discoursal characteristics that function to communicate what type of response will be considered legitimate. The finding suggests that, for test-takers to decode prompts, they must draw from the same functional/linguistic knowledge of genre that the test constructor did. (15…

A convenient and user-friendly method for computer-based second-language instruction (especially exotic-alphabet languages) presents a "pool" of text chunks from which the student uses a mouse to select and drag the chunks to form answers. Several types of feedback, including edit markup, may be selected; revision consists of rearranging, adding,…

Through experimentation, concurrent articulation was demonstrated to impair native English subject's ability to compare the internal stress patterns of written words. It was determined that the articulators' movements specifically affected stress analysis of words and this reflected postlexical, off-line processing. (25 references) (JL)

Law students were asked to simulate, in writing, the thinking of a lawyer advising a client. Scripts produced by students and teachers revealed a pattern of repeated syllogisms, or an algorithm, contained within the macrostructure of situation-problem-solution. Variation depended upon the issues discussed or type of law studied. (28 references)…

Explores whether children acquire semantic structures from early book reading experiences by examining similarities between discourse structures of stories read to and written by two small children. The generative relationship of prototypic and derived stories is demonstrated by the high correspondence between both constituent structure and…

Notes that research and clinical studies have identified many relationships between various oral language processes and written language. Provides overview of findings regarding auditory receptive and expressive language processes, including phonemic discrimination, linguistic awareness, listening comprehension, word retrieval, syntax,…

Three to five-year-olds' visual discrimination and phonetic sound awareness were assessed, their knowledge about storybook reading and writing was investigated, and their play with blocks was observed. Found that children's reading and writing behaviors advanced with age, and that children at different reading and writing levels showed different…

Addresses the discourse domains of academic writing in English and Polish using the example of school writing. The English argumentative-expository essay is related to its potential counterpart in Polish.(Author/VWL)

Explores the notion of writer identity in academic essays by focusing on first-person pronouns. The main argument is that the first-person pronoun in academic writing is not a homogeneous entity. Essays of 27 first-year undergraduates at the University of Singapore are examined based on a typology of six different identities behind first-person…

Presents a reinterpretation of writing activities based on the analysis of the nature of written and spoken language, and then discusses how writing activities can be put into practice to facilitate speaking. (Author/VWL)

Investigates native speakers' (NS) perceptions of coherence and comprehensibility of nonnative speakers' writing and talk that lacks or misuses grammatical cohesive devices. NS readers of NNS texts with missing cohesive devices assumed coherence and imposed coherence on the text by adding grammatical cohesive devices missing in the original,…

Notes that prior assumptions that writing requires phonological mediation has been questioned due to the observation that on tasks requiring the production of spoken and written responses on the same naming attempt, some aphasic subjects produce different words. The data suggest that phonological and orthographic word forms can interact. (53…

The traditional view of the lexical system stipulates word-specific representations and separate pathways for regular and exception words, while an alternative approach views lexical knowledge as developing from general principles applied to mappings among distributed representations of written and spoken words and their meanings. In this study,…

The effectiveness of written instructions was compared with the effectiveness of direct instructions for training in the application of four behavior change processes with 12 undergraduates. Both instructional techniques were effective. Direct instruction was more consistently effective immediately, with both techniques producing similar effects…

Presents case study of one child, Scrap, as he uses play and experimentation within a facilitative classroom environment to resolve conflicts related to written language. Classroom practices are described. Shared journal entries are used to illustrate a conscious awareness of how words are written, morphosyntactic aspects of written discourse, and…