Applies communication accommodation theory (CAT) to a study of the utility of selected discourse indices of adaptability that compared conversations involving native speaker-native speaker and native speaker-nonnative speaker dyads. Subjects were 132 student volunteers from a large midwestern university. Results are analyzed in terms of their…

Investigates the availability of syntactic cues to verb meaning. In Experiments 1-3, adult subjects' judgments of verbs' semantic similarity were compared with other adults' judgments about the syntactic properties of the same verbs. In Experiment 4, subjects paraphrased sentences formed by pairing verbs with unaccustomed sentence frames. (54…

Presents data from a cross-sectional study of the use of cohesion in Italian texts written by second-language adult learners and by native speakers. The study's goal was to compare learners and native speakers in their use of cohesion and to observe the developmental sequences in the use of cohesion. Data interpretation is presented. (64…

Analyzes the academic records of 191 nonnative students who took a writing examination in 1991 to assess their performance on the writing examination of Georgia State University. Results indicate that questions remain about the relationship between English proficiency and academic preparation and about responsibilities for academically weak…

Discusses the importance of conversational implicatures in cross-cultural communication and argues that the use of opened-ended questions to study such implicatures is inherently flawed. It is asserted that multiple-choice tests are better investigational devices, and an ongoing investigation of the cross-cultural interpretation of implicature…

The "Year 2000" document, a comprehensive statement of policies and objectives for education in British Columbia issued by the Ministry of Education, is reviewed. This analysis reveals a subtext that contradicts the stated objectives of the document itself. The agenda of the subtext would maintain social stability. (SLD)

The role of cultural context in the communicative interaction of young Inuit children, their caregivers, and their non-Inuit teachers was examined in a longitudinal ethnographic study conducted in two small communities of arctic Quebec. Focus was on discourse features of primary language socialization of Inuit families. (32 references) (Author/LB)

Discusses ways that language shapes moral experience. Suggests that words provide the tools necessary for thinking, feeling, and acting and so are essential to psychological functioning. States that understanding how language mediates the functioning of the psyche is prerequisite to understanding how narrative expresses moral experience and…

Four ideas for French language instruction are described, including an exercise in summarizing or retelling something told to one; an exercise in descriptive and expressive language; an exploration of the different uses of the word "cadre"; and activities related to coffee in different cultures. (MSE)

Describes novice biology teachers' strategies to exert sociolinguistic control over conversations when teaching unfamiliar science content; illustrates discourse control strategies used in one teacher's lessons. Findings suggest that teacher knowledge influences how teachers begin instruction, structure turns at talk, question students, evaluate…

Five teachers using a conversational approach to language teaching with hearing-impaired students were studied. Teachers tended to exert a high level of conversational control, though conversational control decreased over time. The children (ages 4-10) exhibited language growth in their imitations and responses but not in spontaneous utterances.…

The diagnostic discourse of medical students and physicians in thinking-aloud protocols on paper cases was analyzed for evidence of semantic structure. Results show that structural semantics can be used to distinguish various levels of mental processing among novices as well as between novices and professionals. (MSE)

Analyzes the use of imperatives in five scholarly journal articles (main text and notes) in each of ten disciplines, and follow-up interviews with authors using imperatives within main text indicate specific patterns and purposes of usage and field-specific expectations and conventions. Discusses implications for instruction of non-native-speaking…

Visual elements in articles in "Science" and "Newsweek" magazines are analyzed and compared using linguistic concepts of interpersonal, ideational, and textual meta-functions. Relationships between text and visual, between gloss and visual, and among the visuals themselves are examined. Visuals in academic text are mainly…

Drawing on native/non-native speaker discourse data from goal-oriented interaction in Australian workplaces, it is argued that modality is inherently a centrally important function in such discussions, and that appropriately nuanced expression of modality is often crucial to "getting the job done," and that emphasis should be given to…