Drummond and Hopper's article in this issue, "Back Channels Revisited," is argued to have decontextualized Jefferson's acknowledgement token phenomenon. The need for careful coding protocols for research on conversational practices is discussed. (eight references) (LB)

It is argued that the combination of research methods used in Drummond and Hopper's article in this issue, "Back Channels Revisited," is appropriate. Factors that make for good social science research are discussed. (eight references) (LB)

It is suggested that the conventional coding procedures of experimental social psychology miss critical (identifying, defining, or constitutive) features of conversation analysis' phenomena because the procedures present the analyst with two different sets of entities; i.e., they are incommensurable. (20 references) (LB)

Forty-six Spanish-speaking children, ages 4-8, were asked to explain what happened in a silent film. Compared to younger children, older children demonstrated increased use of elliptical reference to refer to places in stories, an increase in appropriate phrases, and a decrease in ambiguities and additions. (Author/JDD)

An analysis is presented of the speech act sequence of indirect complaint/commiseration in conversational interactions between Japanese learners of English as a Second Language and their English-speaking peers. Consequences of nonsubstantive, noncommiserative responses are explored in light of missed opportunities for interaction. (46 references)…

Considers the metrical foot in Diyari, a South Australian Language, and concludes that, on the basis of stress alone, an argument can be made for the constituency of the metrical stress foot under certain theoretical assumptions. This conclusion is reinforced by the occupance in Diyari of other less theory-dependant phenomena. (46 references) (JL)

A brief review of research on native language production precedes a critical discussion of recent second-language production research, focusing on native language research applications to second-language research, the relationship between second-language learning and production, and the various methodologies used to study such production. (190…

Evidence is presented that the analogy between oral and written language development is misleading and that literacy has few of the characteristics of naturally acquired behaviors. It is contended that researchers should concentrate on the differences between oral and written language development. (SLD)

Prevailing conceptions of young children's mental life represent children's thinking as confused and lacking western rationality. Instead, we should consider their mental life as a positive oral culture, and evolve a new science of early childhood education based on understanding of peoples in oral cultures. (MSE)

Explores the nature of code switching by comparing and contrasting learners' code-switching behavior with that of speakers in a bilingual speech community, hypothesizing that the more students succeed in overcoming the psychological dichotomy between themselves as learners and individuals, the less they will resort to code switching as a mode of…

Discusses recent research on social interaction and literacy (the notion that substantive talk is a primary means for becoming literate). Discusses social interaction as a means for learning, as part of literacy periods, and as a means for integrating learning across the curriculum. Discusses the effects of social interaction on literacy learning.…

Analysis and comparison of speech samples of advance English-as-a-Second-Language learners before and after a 6-month residency in Great Britain found that the use of a battery of 12 readily quantifiable performance variables could help to identify fluency improvements in individual learners and had the potential for providing objective assessment…

A classroom approach that brings oral and written language learning closer together is outlined. The strategy focuses on proper pronunciation using minimal pairs and uses exercises designed for listening and visualization, production, discrimination, re-use and reinforcement, and computer-assisted instruction. (MSE)

The quantitative methodology of GOLDVARB is used to examine the variable distribution of lexical noun phrases representing core arguments of the verb in a corpus of spoken French and Spanish. The distribution is shown to conform to a grammatically and pragmatically motivated pattern known as Preferred Argument Structure. (Contains 26 references.)…

Describes a system of teaching English as a Second Language to infants and children that has been tested in Israeli primary schools. Topics discussed include learning spoken English only; starting at as early an age as possible; learning in smaller groups; and the use of audio courses and accompanying printed materials. (Contains six references.)…