Describes the conversational rhythm in an elementary class in order to understand when and how teacher and students succeed in developing shared understandings, and when and how they encounter difficulties. Uses the two contrasting concepts of "intermingling" and "bumpiness" to catch the phenomenological aspects of time in the…

Examines how native and nonnative undergraduate-student speakers adjust their referring expressions to each other in conversation. Finds that lexical entrainment was just as common in native/nonnative pairs as in native/native pairs; natives uttered more words than nonnatives in the same roles; and native expressions were judged less…

Discusses outcomes of a research project analyzing the relationship between academic literacy specialists and a subject specialist from a nursing faculty engaged in a collaborative curriculum development project at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. Focuses on how participants in this partnership negotiated a working relationship…

Focuses on if conditionals in medical discourse. Three genres are examined: research articles, journal editorials, and doctor-patient consultations. Analyzes a variety of formal, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of conditionals across genres. Concludes with brief reflections on pedagogic implications. (Author/VWL)

Conjoins policy questions, feminist theory, and discourse analysis to demonstrate the power of discourse in framing and managing gender policy that comes from marginal groups, challenges institutional privilege, and survives despite resistance and backlash. Descriptions of Australian gender policy were derived from participant observation,…

Reports on a pilot project in teaching and learning business English at the University of Botswana, where English is the language of instruction and, for most learners, a second language. The project was tailored to the prevailing social and academic context as described from the standpoint of discourse analysis. (Author/VWL)

Explores the use of an institutionally-sponsored program of reflective teaching (RT) activities at a university-based intensive English program in the United States. The activities are analyzed in terms of their function not only as a means of teacher development, but as a socialization mechanism for the teachers into the role and practice of…

Reports the results of a study on the intonation of 18 Mandarin Chinese speakers lecturing in English. The study investigated the hypothesis that the nonnative speakers who were able to use the intonation system of English most effectively would score higher on a global language test. (Author/JL)

Discourse analysis of audiotapes of simulated telephone hotline conversations of adolescent dyads consisting of either one, two, or no adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) found that adolescents with and without LD were equally skilled at requesting advice, but adolescents with LD had significantly greater difficulty generating solutions to…

Analyzes ways in which an experienced physics teacher uses questioning to guide student thinking during a benchmark discussion on measurement. Proposes that teachers may shift toward more reflective discourse by asking questions that help students clarify their meanings, consider various points of view, and monitor their own thinking. (Author/DKM)

Discusses "Building a Literate Nation" (1997) which offers "the strategic agenda for literacy for the next five years." Finds that it offers no clear way forward for those who teach underachievers, especially with regard to teaching reading. (PA)

Analyzes talk among students on videotaped recordings from a teaching sequence on the particle model. Emphasizes the role of two types of discourse and epistemological and ontological obstacles in the construction of scientific meanings in the classroom. Contains 41 references. (DDR)

Contains annotated bibliographic entries for 93 dissertations, books, and articles published, for the most part, between January and June, 1995. Divides entries under the following headings: Historical Studies; Language (English as a Second Language, Family Literacy, Language and Learning, Language Interrelationships); Literature (Censorship,…

Examines the use of gender-distinctive language in preschool sibling conversations, focusing on mitigation in directives and related forms used during pretend play. Findings indicate that gender-distinctive patterns of language use are sensitive to variations in situation and interaction partner. (19 references) (CK)

Using M. Foucault's interpretation of discourse, identifies and examines two dominant discourses from New Zealand kindergarten teachers within the texts from the 1992 National Kindergarten Teachers' Collective Employment Contract Negotiations. Each discourse reveals teachers in a powerless position for negotiating wages and working conditions, but…