Presents theoretical bases for making language (and its study) the essential agent in the generation of thought and meaning. Suggests strategies to engage students (and instructors) in the creation of meaning and the negotiation of knowledge. Argues that such epistemological uses of language can empower developmental students to become early and…

This study of 3 boys (ages 5-6) with autism found that adult high-constraint antecedent utterances elicited more verbal utterances in general, including subjects' echolalia; adult low-constraint utterances elicited more subject high-constraint utterances; and the degree of adult-utterance constraint did not influence the mean lengths of subjects'…

Argues that text construction and the construction of subjectivity are coimplicated, historical, intertextual, social, and political. Interpretative analyses of the essays of two fourth-grade children demonstrate how these intertextual links implicate and are implicated in particular social formations and political ideologies. (Contains 39…

Calls for language education to be retheorized to make it serve education for democracy. Highlights the relationship of language and power. Suggests that progressive language educators' theories-in-practice may well just be a kinder, gentler way to maintain those systems of dominance that keep democracy as far away as ever. (RS)

Introduces a special issue of this journal devoted to bilingualism in texts. Explores the practice of bilingual writing in a wide variety of texts, with emphasis on the historical dimensions of the problem, on increased attention to actual texts and their various contexts, and on some of the details of the practice of bilingual writing. (SR)

The use of three aspects of recommended practice (language use, replicability analyses, and reporting effect sizes) was studied in quantitative reports in "The Journal of Experimental Education" (JXE) for the academic years 1994-95 and 1995-96. Examples of both errors and desirable practices in the use and reporting of statistical…

Discusses the use of Frenglish on the island of Mauritius. An examination of the local press over a nine-month period turned up ten categories of Frenglish. Frenglish in the Mauritian press highlights the uniqueness of local society by linguistically contextualizing broad ranges of social, economic, political, legal, and administrative life.…

Describes research creating a feminist, rhetorical analysis of legal language by examining in detail both the "Plain English" and the "Law and Literature" movements. Examines legal texts that construct the "reasonable woman," asking how that hypothetical legal subject is construed by judicial discourse and what its…

Reports results of four experiments in which undergraduate students rated the degree of condemnation in critical remarks. Shows that ironic criticism in many cases is used to enhance rather than to dilute condemnation. Notes significant implications for both pragmatic and processing theories of verbal irony. (SR)

Explores arguments around critical-discourse analysis (CDA) and suggests that neither proponents nor critics of CDA have fully come to terms with the implications of what it means to acquire discourse. (Author/VWL)

Finds that managers were more likely to recommend that environmental remediation proposals receive priority for funding when they read proposals written in candid language than when they read proposals written in legally defensible language. Shows that threats and a negative tone are highly persuasive in internal environmental compliance reports.…

Tests the assumption that technical writers and editors assume readers are generally helped when nominalizations and the weak verbs that accompany them are replaced with the verb form of the nominalization. Indicates that denominalized text is most effective in helping native speakers focus on more important information, but for nonnative…

Discusses "January Morning," a poem of William Carlos Williams, wherein the 15 sections come in no apparent order and are "unparallel" (varied in content, tone, length, etc.). Finds the language colloquial and conversational, with casual notation. States the poem, with its free format, can be used successfully in college poetry…

Recounts historical uses of wordplay. Discusses how wordplay has been used in writing in the past and in the present. Describes efforts to create the first dictionary of wordplay. Presents 15 basic wordplay terms and around 30 more additional wordplay terms, giving examples of each. (SG)

Analyzed article use in Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment who are learning English as a Second Language. The surface hypothesis account of specific language impairment was evaluated in relation to the use of articles in these children. Language samples were obtained from 15 Spanish-speaking children with language…