Examines how account episodes are organized as a communicative practice. Finds that account episodes involve minimally a three-part sequence: problematic event, accounts, and evaluation. Indicates that accounts may be seen as a local solution to the problem based on a person's practical reasoning to prevent the loss of face. (JD)

Discusses the sources of information in oral language. Uses converging evidence from prosody, pausing, structural and semantic parallelism, and stylistic analysis to argue for a series of hypotheses about the units that organize the construction of narrative discourse. Provides examples and appendixes. (JD)

If language research is to arrive at valid analyses of speech behavior, both observation and elicitation methods of data collection will have to be used as necessary complements to one another. The advantages and disadvantages of different research methods are discussed. (CB)

Analysis of the use of the connective "but" by 3- to 9-year-olds indicated that all most commonly used the word to signal semantic relationships and for pragmatic functions. Younger children most frequently used "but" when causal or precausal relationships existed, and older children used "but" more to encode complex contrast. (Author/CB)

Although exophoric reference is crucial to appreciating the role of context in spoken language (both to the speaker in producing meaning and to the listener in determining meaning), analysis of eight beginning German textbooks revealed that only two provided all three types (directional, pronominal, and definite article) of such reference. (CB)

Discusses a case study of the interaction between the New Christian Right, or Moral Majority, and its humanist opponents. Concludes that because the groups argue from incompatible premises, they cannot share a common moral framework within which to agree. Labels the rhetoric of the two groups reciprocated diatribe. (SRT)

Describes a range of forms and functions expressed by "you know," as well as its use by women and men in a corpus of spontaneous speech. Interesting contrasts were found in the most frequent functions expressed by "you know" in female and male usage. (Author/SED)

Investigates the hypothesis that letters to lower-status recipients would consist of a greater number of more familiar modes than letters to higher-status recipients and that letters to recipients of high solidarity with the writer would consist of a greater number of more familiar modes than letters to recipients of low solidarity with the…

Presents a set of descriptive models for teaching paragraph development in English as a second language (ESL) writing classes based on the "given/new contract," a theory of information distribution developed text linguists. Discusses applications of the models to ESL composition classes, particularly scientific and technical writing classes. (SED)

Explores the surface structure observed in Japanese and English spontaneous oral narratives from the perspective of subject and theme. Although both the Japanese and the English narratives employ participant identification as a major cohesive ingredient, how referring forms are used and how they contribute to discourse organization differ. (SED)

Reports an empirical study which compared recalls of two types of stories--one well-structured and the other deliberately not well-structured--by students of English as a second language. Results indicate that the quantity and temporal sequence of story recall are affected by differences in story structure. (SED)

Eleven brief items providing a range of activities and exercises to help students master the elements of coherence in text and to foster both comprehension and production are presented. (MSE)

Description of several computerized tutoring systems is organized around types of knowledge any tutor must possess--subject area, student's information, and how to teach and communicate. Data and control structures of Meno-tutor are described to illustrate use of artificial intelligence to model the student, a domain, and teaching strategies. (MBR)

Analyzes four types of repair activity in the foreign language classroom. A distinction is made according to whether the trouble source is produced by a teacher or a learner. Findings show that different preferences for repair patterns vary with the type of classroom activity (language-centered or content-centered). (Author/SED)

Variation in three representative teacher input variables are compared across second language studies to derive viable hypotheses about instructional factors that contribute to second language development. The review indicates that, while the quality and quantity of comprehensible input are important, interactive pedagogical behaviors are also the…