Describes and discusses the language practice of mathematics, science, and English language teachers and learners in a sample of urban and rural, primary, and secondary schools in South Africa. Particular focus is on reception and production of language through code switching, exploratory talk, and discourse specific talk. (Author/VWL)

Explores the most visible expression of a writer's presence in a text: the use of exclusive first person pronouns. Shows that not all disciplines follow the same conventions of impersonality, and that there is considerable scope for negotiation of identity in academic writing. (Author/VWL)

Examined the nature of literacy-related, teacher-child talk in the daily routines of three child care centers. Found that adults talked about reading and writing to a modest degree, compared to total talk with children. Incidence of adults' literacy talk, aside from book talk, was primarily intermittent and spontaneous. Discourse features of…

Describes the use of a real-time Local Area Network (LAN) in a basic reading and writing course. Argues that student use of real-time networks encourages democratization. Suggests that real-time writing offers opportunities to learn about writing, communication, topic exploration, brainstorming, and the role of identities in discourse. (SG)

Reviews previous research on the effects of signals (structural cues that announce or emphasize content or reveal content relationships) on readers' comprehension of expository prose. Concludes that inconsistent results are due to inadequate methodologies that fail to control for confounding variables, such as text length and difficulty, topic…

The theoretical and empirical work of J. Britton and his followers is reviewed. The uses of Britton's discourse system in writing research and studies of school writing are considered. Topics addressed include Britton's conceptualization of heuristics, written discourse, pedagogy, function system, learning processes, teaching methods, and text…

Discusses the use of the WORDS computer program in scoring writing assignments. Explains that computerized analysis has identified factors in experienced writers' essays that graders favor but has failed to distinguish clearly between basic and average writers' works. Concludes that holistic scoring can work effectively for student placement, but…

Examined miscommunication episodes occurring between 2.5-year-olds and their parents during videotaped free play sessions. Although children generally responded appropriately in form to parental clarification requests, they responded more often to and resolved successfully more of those following their own requests than those following their…

Comparison of oral and written language samples collected from young and elderly adults revealed an age-related decrease in language complexity. Better-educated subjects had higher vocabulary test scores and produced longer utterances. Subjects with greater memory capacity produced more complex utterances and used more right- and left-branching…

Examines the performances of Geraldine Ferraro and George Bush in the nationally televised vice-presidential debate in 1984 to determine differences in female and male patterns of communication concerning issues and decision-making. Suggests that rhetorical critics examine whether a masculine ethic has framed their analyses. (KEH)

Examines a code mixed variety of English and Hindi called Filmi English, which reflects the linguistic influence of the Indian film industry. A corpus of more than 2,000 intrasentential code-mixed sentences drawn from a film magazine, "Stardust," is analyzed. (Author/OD)

Examines code mixing and borrowing across two generations of New York Puerto Ricans, and explores the possibility of existence of a lifecycle of language use in the community. (26 references) (Author/OD)

Two prominent recent education reform reports ("A Nation at Risk" and "Tomorrow's Teachers") are examined, using discourse analysis. This article concludes that the reports' language and discursive practices limit rather than expand possibilities for substantive curriculum reform. (IAH)

Discusses issues of men's sexuality in the context of school sex education, and analyzes units on human reproduction in secondary biology textbooks. Compares official school knowledge about men's sexuality with alternative sources, including progressive books and the films of John Hughes, to explore the overlapping and contradictory discourses…

Investigates eighth-graders' summarizations of a scientific article used in their science class. Presents an analytic coding system developed to describe and detail structural and semantic strengths and weaknesses of students' expository summary essays. (SR)