Analyzes the metadiscourse in persuasive essays written by university students studying English as a Second Language at a midwestern university. Results indicate that skilled writers are aware of their readers' needs and control the strategies for making their texts accessible to the reader, whereas poor writers cannot generate considerate texts.…

A study compared the influences of rhetorical and sentence-level features on holistic essay scores assigned by raters who are experienced writing instructors but not trained in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. In scoring six university-level essays, these raters placed emphasis on ESL sentence-level errors far more than on essays'…

In a study of the verbal environment, teachers' language was analyzed in two different interactive contexts: when interacting with a different number of interlocutors, and when talking to children of different linguistic competence. Results show that in both interactive contexts teachers tend to adapt their linguistic style to the characteristics…

A qualitative study is described investigating the university graduate student seminar presentation as a speech event and its status as a genre. Findings support Swales' (1990) contention that the graduate seminar is an independent genre related to the experimental research article, not merely an oral replication. (20 references) (Author/LB)

Analysis of "tutor talk" occurring between native or proficient nonnative speakers of English and limited- or non-English-speaking elementary students found that, although tutors used little sentence-level simplification, they made extensive use of conversational and tutorial strategies similar to those used by native and nonnative adults. (59…

Explores the nature of explanations used by 20 middle school science teachers utilizing the constant comparative analysis method in analyzing transcripts of classroom discourse. Discusses a subsuming categorical framework for the 10 types of explanations generated, along with examples of each type, namely: analogical, anthropomorphic, functional,…

Analysis of spontaneous language samples of 10 children (ages 8-9) with specific language impairments found that interviews were a reliable, valid, and efficient assessment context, eliciting the same profile of behaviors as a freeplay context without altering diagnostic classifications. (Author/JDD)

Describes the practice of concept mapping, the student-student and student-teacher interactions, and cognitive activity occurring in participants. Authors conclude that concept mapping is an excellent activity that allows students to engage in extended science discourse. The maps provide students with a means to learn the language patterns of…

Examination of syntactic complexity in the movie retellings of 77 elementary school-age Spanish-speaking children revealed developmental differences in the length of T-units, index of subordination, use of relative clauses, and prepositional phrases. Analysis underscores the significance of subordination as a cohesive device and as an indicator of…

Strategies used to show participants' agreement or disagreement are examined, based on a phone-in radio program in which a male psychologist offers diagnosis and advice to a female caller during a 10-minute conversation. Linguistic devices including repetition, back-channel responses, and hesitation are noted in the context of an asymmetrical…

Four short articles are combined: "Adding Discourse-Level Practice to Sentence-Level Exercises" (Eric S. Nelson); "Presenting Picture Books in the ESL Classroom" (Lijun Shen); "Role Playing in a Large Class" (Ellen Rosen); and "Calvin and Hobbes and Other Icons of Americana" (Daniel J. Conrad). (Contains seven references.) (LB)

It is argued that bringing the cultures of business, industry and advertising into higher education, in the form of quality assurance systems, goes beyond a healthy challenge to be destructive of many traditional values of university culture. Imposition, and acceptance, of the language of management reflects this phenomenon. (MSE)

Examines the communicative value of 205 anticipatory-"it" clauses taken from scientific and technical texts. Suggests that the main discourse function of the clauses is to provide author comment. Argues that use of the anticipatory-"it" clause indicates academic acculturation. (SG)

By looking at how two Brazilian and two American businessmen patterned their speech during negotiations, the author indicates how different conventions in discourse organization may affect natural conversation. Stylistic differences, interactional problems, and implications for training business people are discussed. (18 references) (Author/LB)

Explores role of discourse functions in children's use of "because" ("perche" in Italian). Disputes of 172 preschoolers were analyzed in terms of interactive move, argumentative strategies, and communicative acts. Results showed causal connective tends to co-occur with justification acts and may work as device introducing new information and…