A working definition is proposed for "scientific text" in terms of text function, based on pragmatic criteria derived from various approaches to the sociology of science. The term "Language for Academic-Scientific Purposes" (LASP) is preferred because it allows for the inclusion of texts in the human sciences, at the same time implicitly excluding…

This study examined how modes of organizing conversation determine the type of knowledge conveyed to preschool and kindergarten children. Approximately 150 audiotaped conversations from 23 classes of students of different age levels from 2 to 6 years were analyzed. Children's spontaneous speaking turns or answers to teachers' questions were…

In Judith Richards' ethnically diverse third and fourth grade classroom, the morning meeting is a time for discussion. The functions these discussions serve range from sharing personal news to talking about problem-solving strategies. During these meetings, the teacher has a polyphonic role. She participates, moderates, and sometimes writes…

A study described the characteristics of sociocognitive conflicts and the discourse associated with such conflicts, and determined how the cognitive processes exercised during discussion were internalized. Participants were 97 fourth-grade students and 6 elementary classroom teachers. Peer-led and teacher-led discussions of texts were examined to…

The place of women in the existing and emergent discourses of the visual and spatial is explored. When gender and the visual-spatial emerge together, the visual and spatial are almost always associated with the masculine perspective. The social construction of women is tied to visual-spatial representations in diverse domains. Within the…

Using a textualist approach (looking at meaning above and beyond overt message elements), a study examined televised public service announcements (PSAs) about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) produced by the Ad Council and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Both ads identify young people who should be concerned…

The eight papers in this volume, prepared by staff and students of the Institute for Applied Language Studies of Edinburgh University, address a variety of issues in applied linguistics. The papers include: (1) "A Coding System for Analyzing a Spoken Database" (Joan Cutting); (2) "L2 Perceptual Acquisition: The Effect of…

A computerized grammar checker was developed to assist teachers of English as a Second Language in editing student compositions. The first stage of development consisted of an error analysis of 125 writing samples collected from students. The 1,659 errors found were classified into 14 main types and 93 subtypes. This analysis served as the basis…

A qualitative study explored the potential for using a male and female systems model (identified as the White Male System and the Female System by Anne Wilson Schaef) to analyze the news coverage of a woman executive mired in controversy. The female chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia was engaged in a public controversy concerning a…

There is a growing recognition that racism, far from being an unvarying and monolithic attitude, comprises many different racisms. This book brings together analyses of different forms of racist expression in philosophy, literature, popular modes of discourse, politics, and law. Its aim is to identify and isolate the cultures of racist discourse…

A study examined the relationships between the media, public opinion and the Medicare Catastrophic Act of 1988 which was repealed in 1989. Using the NEXIS electronic database, 11 years (1977-89) of news articles, opinion pieces, editorials, and letters to the editor were harvested in random sequence from the Associated Press news wire, the…

A class "on" metaphor can be usefully distinguished from a class "in" metaphor. A class on metaphor concentrates on metaphor theory and function. To teach in metaphor would be to coach students in pragmatics, to guide them in the study of how key metaphors are used and help to structure discrete universes of discourse. For…

Instruction in English for academic purposes can be enhanced by an approach using metadiscourse, or an awareness of the operations of discourse. Student competence in this area would improve the ability to appreciate the strategies of academic writers, describe the arguments of others, and write academic essays, particularly introductions. In…

A description of what occurs in the social context of the supervisory conference, based on the concept of conversational inference, a process by which participants assess each others' intentions and make appropriate responses, is presented in this paper. Using the illustration of a supervisor's request for teacher action that occurs in a…

A 2-year study of optimal structures for multimedia instruction is being conducted to provide experimentally validated guidelines for the design of computer-based instruction generation systems and for human instruction in a multimedia setting. In order to obtain for analysis a significant range of the possible discourse structures that occur in…