Within an evidentiary framework for operationally defining academic English language proficiency (AELP), linguistic analyses of standards, classroom discourse, and textbooks have led to specifications for assessment of AELP. The test development process described here is novel due to the emphasis on using linguistic profiles to inform the …

This study examined the moral values embedded in the instruction and practice of higher education, focusing on instruction within three disciplines at a mid-sized residential university in the Pacific Northwest over the course of three semesters. Through classroom observations and transcriptions of tapes of classroom interaction in 46…

The purpose of this paper is to describe the function of English articles in a functional-pragmatic perspective, to clarify how the functions of the articles are reflected in the discourse, and to give some pedagogical implications for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Deixis is a grammatical category involving reference to…

This study tested a refined version of the discourse domain hypothesis, which defines the discourse domain as a topic area in which second language learners demonstrate extensive, current, and important knowledge, including both cognitive and affective dimensions. The study tested the results of previous studies, which showed that learners show…

This study examined the ways in which adult, Korean, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners performed the "request" speech act, with particular attention to deviations caused by negative transfer. An oral discourse completion test with six request situations was given to three groups of learners; situations varied in terms of the…

The study focused on problems that Finnish learners of English (NNS) encounter with epistemic modality in conversational interaction with native speakers of English (NS). Epistemic modality refers to modal expressions that convey the speaker's commitment to the truth of the propositions he is expressing (e.g., "surely he…

A study investigated the kinds of English literacy experiences of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students in a an all-English mainstream classroom, the conceptualizations of ESL students and their English language literacy learning held by a monolingual English-speaking teacher, and instructional strategies used to facilitate ESL students'…

The grammar of the Korean language presented here is descriptive and structural, and does not align with any particular theory. An introductory chapter gives some background information about the language and related research. Subsequent chapters treat: writing and sound systems, including some sound rules and suprasegmental features; morphology…

A study of the discourse of book reviews in several academic disciplines examines how interaction of text and context varies across disciplines. Sixty academic book reviews in linguistics, chemistry, and economics were analyzed for rhetorical structure and for the communicative goal of the genre, that of evaluating knowledge production. The book…

This paper presents a detailed analysis of a teaching evaluation conversation between Michael Darwin, high school principal, and teacher, Joseph Wolenko, in order to explore how both attended to issues of "face" during the evaluation process. The analysis draws on data from a larger study in an ethnomethodology/conversation analysis…

A study investigated three issues: (1) differences between two types of rhetorical organization of expository text (problem-solution pattern and collection-of-descriptions pattern) in the reading recall of second-language readers; (2) differences between the two types on reading recall of readers at two levels; and (3) relationship between the…

To suggest that activity in the classroom shift from a focus on memorizing procedures to using mathematical reasoning is to suggest a shift in the classroom environment accompanied by shifts in teacher talk. The task of this report was to introduce the idea of teachers' orienting behaviors aimed at facilitating student cognition, and to suggest…

A study analyzed the multiple purposes of songs in which children in early childhood classrooms sing and move their bodies to the lyrics, the discourses the songs mobilize, and the gendered positions the songs accomplish. Subjects, 28 students entering their first year in a suburban primary school in a large regional center in southern Victoria,…

Issues related to changing modes of business communication, particularly those that are computer-mediated, are discussed as they relate to the teaching of business English. Information about current practices in computer-mediated communication (CMC) drawn from the business press and research journals is summarized, focusing on that which can help…

Experiences with the data, analysis, and results in the Finnish Contrastive Discourse Analysis Project (1985-1988) at the University of Oulu are reported. The purpose of the project was to describe the conversational skills of advanced Finnish speakers of English, and especially to determine the level of their social competence or their ability to…