The goal of this study is to better understand how the study participants' cognitive discourse is displayed in their learning transaction in an asynchronous, text-based conferencing environment based on Garrison's Practical Inquiry Model (2001). The authors designed an online information ethics course based on Bloom's taxonomy of educational…

We describe an exploratory study carried out within the University of Milan, Department of English the aim of which was to analyse features of the spoken English of first-year Modern Languages undergraduates. We compiled a learner corpus, the "Role Play" corpus, which consisted of 69 role-play interactions in English carried out by…

This article offers a linguistic analysis of interpersonal stancetaking in four argumentative term papers written in an upper-level undergraduate course in economics. Two of the papers were written by English L2 writers who experienced particular difficulty with the assignment and two by English L1 writers who received the highest grades among the…

A component in the study of critical thinking which needs to be addressed is informal reasoning fallacy. It is a type of mental trickery which is able to self-deceive undergraduates and public at large. In order to practice good critical thinking, one has to detect and get rid of these fallacies. However, students have to be disposed in detecting…

This study investigated the use of discourse markers (DMs) by college learners of English in China. It compared the use of DMs for four discourse functions by students at different proficiency levels. An audio-video instrument called Video Oral Communication Instrument was conducted to elicit ratable speech samples. Fraser's (1999) taxonomy was…

The American Graduation Initiative stands as the cornerstone of the Obama administration's higher education agenda. To investigate the state of the politics of education in the Age of Obama, this article employs critical discourse analysis to unveil the hidden meanings and ideological commitments inherent in Obama's policy discourse. Read within…

The goal of this study was to explore the processes of group role formation in online class settings. Qualitative analysis was used to code chat logs and discussion threads in six undergraduate Family and Consumer Sciences online courses that required online group projects. Four themes related to the process of group role formation emerged:…

New users of virtual environments face a steep learning curve, requiring persistence and determination to overcome challenges experienced while acclimatizing to the demands of avatar-mediated behavior. Concurrent structured self-reports can be used to monitor the personal affective and cognitive struggles involved in virtual world adaptation to…

Metadiscourse is a new and interesting field of inquiry which is believed to play a vital role in organizing and producing persuasive writing, based on the norms and expectations of people involved. Metadiscourse embodies the idea that writing and speaking are more than just the communication of ideas and presentation of ideational meaning. Rather…

Collaboration is widely promoted in school librarianship and education, yet little is known about the talk it entails. This intrinsic case study of eight planning meetings employed a discourse analysis and socio-cultural perspective to examine the school librarian's role as a broker for learning in the discourse of collaborative planning with…

The purpose of the this study was to explore how peer coaches support the development of collaborative communication skills in an online format for consultants in training (CITs). The program examined was Instructional Consultation which pairs a consultant with a teacher to work collaboratively to resolve the teacher's concern regarding a student.…

This dissertation studies the creation and implementation of service learning policy and the implications of these programs for democratic citizenship and political participation. The project focuses on service learning centers at three universities in the Los Angeles area, framing the creation and implementation of these campus-wide centers as an…

Using the Practice Theory Approach to Language, this dissertation examines how social actors use communicative practices within activities to constitute a communicative context that I call the American English Stuttering Speech Community (AESSC). Building on previous linguistic research on stuttering and sociological research on collectives of…

This article explores the potential for critical discourse analysis to provide insight into the language principals use to describe the adult relationships within schools. Unpacking the discourses of leadership may shed some light on how language strategically shapes the thoughts and actions of principals. In particular, the invoking of "family"…

This qualitative study explored the nature of student initiations during interactive read alouds of fiction and non-fiction texts in a second grade, urban classroom. Data sources--including expanded field notes, video/audiotape records and transcripts, and teacher interviews--were analyzed inductively, utilizing the constant comparative method and…