Discourse analysis describes a level of spoken text that lies between grammar and nonlinguistic organization. Using such an approach to understand the practical problems of communication in supervisory conferences, this paper explores two dimensions of the conference: risk and politeness levels. Level of risk is determined by the degrees of…

A study measured attitudes towards Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) victims by providing a qualitative content analysis of newspaper coverage of the epidemic. A search of the NEXIS database was conducted to identify every "New York Times" article on the subject of AIDS in which the word "innocent" appears. Results…

The limited existing research on text structure and its effects on reading comprehension in English as a native language and English as a second language (ESL) is reviewed, and studies that have shown facilitating effects on first language reading comprehension of explicitly teaching text structure are discussed. A research project in progress…

The four papers in this compilation were drawn from a conference designed to encourage scholars to continue the rhetorical tradition. The first paper, by Robert S. Cathcart, was the opening address of the conference and discusses the "technologization" of rhetoric. Specifically, the paper discusses the application of rhetorical analysis…

Explores the effects of metaphorical language on receiver attention and memory. (MH)

Two questions, what is a contrastive grammar, and what is comparable across linguistic systems, are touched on. The problem of the exact relationship of contrastive linguistics to linguistic theory is addressed. Two perhaps mutually exclusive views are discussed. See FL 508 197 for availability. (Author/RM)

Advertising copy should be given classroom attention in literary as well as moral terms. (JH)

Most textbooks, ignoring current narrative theory, fail to explain a large number of published essays containing narrative. To challenge textbook definitions of narratives, three points should be made: (1) a clear distinction should be recognized between narratives making points and narratives proving points, (2) the textbook equating of…

Analysis suggests that Korean children use different sentence-ending morphemes to encode different degrees to which they assimilate information into their knowledge system, and that they acquire such epistemic distinctions at a very early age. The study focuses on the occurrence of the modal markers "-ta,""-e," and…

The use of figurative language permeates American Indian discourse, across differences in time, geography, and tribal culture. Traditionally, the presence of figurative language has been attributed to a compulsion for decoration and to a need for mnemonic devices. However, neither of these explanations accounts for changes in the rich tapestry of…

This study reports the use of automated textual analysis on a French novel. An introductory section chronicles the history of artificial intelligence, focusing on its use with natural languages, and discusses its application to textual syntax. The first chapter examines computational linguistics in greater detail, looking at its relationship to…

This paper explores the emergent and polyphonic character of voice in adolescent writing. It proposes a model, derived from M. M. Bakhtin's work on discourse, to account for how adolescent writers borrow voices from various speech communities and communication domains and combine them in complex overt and covert ways in order to construct their…

Helen Forbes, in her short story "The Hunky Woman," written in 1916 for "The Masses," an eclectic Socialist magazine, undermines particular categorical propositions. By using narration with a shifting of narrative voice, Forbes calls into question the validity of the traditional teaching of argumentation. Forbes demonstrates…

Addressing areas of conflict between parents and young children, this study reports the results of interviews with parents about parent/child conflict that occurs in such natural settings as the home, the supermarket, and during visits to grandparents. Specifically, the investigation is concerned with three broad issues: (1) the identification of…

This paper builds upon the poetics of scientific discourse which provide extraordinary insights into the workings of the scientific imagination and into the ways it is both colonized and liberated by the medium of social and ideological transfer--metaphor. The paper examines what constructivism is teaching us about the role metaphor plays in…