Understanding situated learning requires bridging sociocultural and cognitive theories. The reconciliation of cognitive and sociocultural theories provides a basis for accounting for ways situations influence the coconstruction of knowledge. The proposed framework accounts for the complementarily of the two perspectives and shows how arrangements…

Argues that social language should be delayed in a second language course until a core of factual language has been built up. The article presents an account of verb-form clustering and of some of the problems caused by discrete treatment of verb forms. It also suggests how to implement verb clustering within the context of syllabus design. (11…

Shows that variation in the composition of the lexicon at token-level between more and less formal oral styles is identical to the variation between written and oral discourse. The article argues that speakers deictically anchor their utterances in a non-linguistic spatio-temporal context and that the degree of context-dependence is reflected in…

Replies to Billig's (1995) critique of his paper on the relations between language and ideology. The article argues that the paper critiqued is tentative and maintains that social cognition should not be reduced to structures of interaction or rhetoric. The article also emphasizes that ideologies are crucial in the cognitive and social management…

Collected longitudinal data from rural, African American, single mother-headed families with young adolescents to examine longitudinal links between contextual risks, parenting, and youth outcome. Accumulated risks related to lower levels of the competence-promoting parenting practices that were linked directly with youth outcomes via youth…

Presents a response to Gifford-Smith and Brownell's "Childhood Peer Relationships: Social Acceptance, Friendships, and Peer Networks" (this issue). Focuses on the interaction of context, children's social skillfulness, and the type of peer relationship targeted as central elements in conceptualizing effective interventions. (Contains 12…

Mother and child dyads were videotaped four times over 16 days as they repeatedly read an initially unfamiliar storybook. Results are discussed in terms of maternal scaffolding approaches, child participation, importance of context and the nature of the task, and implications for intervention. (Author/VWL)

The role of contextual factors in intelligibility was examined using sentences produced under varying conditions by a speaker with severe flaccid dysarthria. Results indicated that gestures, predictiveness, and context influenced intelligibility. It is argued that when signal fidelity is poor, different combinations of signal-independent…

Reports on two studies examining the effects of object size, container size, sex, and language group on the use of counts in prescriptive and descriptive grammar. Results indicate that people's selection of noun forms in a measure partitive noun phrase is influenced by nonlinguistic factors, such as their gender and the food size relative to…

Explores the phenomenon of post verbal alternation in English double object constructions and presents a statistical model for predicting the position of the indirect object in instances where alternation is unconstrained. The study includes analysis of a large set of written and oral American English data using a parametric multiple regression…

Provides an account of the functions of "sumimasen," one of the expressions used for apology and thanks in everyday Japanese conversation. The study observes the different socio-cultural contexts in which this expression occurs, using a database of 10 hours of daily conversation. The study attempts to relate "sumimasen" to…

Describes the first semester writing curriculum of a second-year university German course based on the proficiency guidelines of the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. Notes that a traditional review grammar gives students practice with words and sentences while films provide a context for creative writing. (41 references)…

Explores how children negotiated social identities through language used in spontaneous, casual conversation. Examines how audio transcripts of the childrens' conversations exhibit different aspects of their social "selves" and suggests that their talk can be analyzed in relation to the individual self, the immediately situated social actor, and…

Argues that the psychosocial bases of achievement motivation, when integrated with principles of cultural anthropology and cultural psychology, will move both theory and research forward. Maintains that researchers should contextualize research questions, develop authentic means of inquiry, and acknowledge within-group differences. Presents…

Used an ecological framework to examine predictors of delinquent behavior among Hispanic sixth graders. Student surveys assessed proximal and distal contextual factors. Overall, proximal variables such as peer and parental attachment did not contribute significantly to four aspects of delinquent behavior. Contextual factors accounted for a…