This sequential analysis tested the relative extent to which several adult utterance types elicited conversational replies from eight developmentally delayed children (mean age 53 months). Among findings were that child replies of any length were elicited by adult topic continuations more than by any other adult utterance type. (Author/DB)

This study found that three oral discourse genres (script, picture description, and replica play narration) were able to characterize development in discourse abilities in 6 children (ages 5-7) with brain injury and 43 nondisabled children. Brain-injured children produced shorter discourse performances with more off-task talk but showed…

This article reports two studies on the effects of "recasting" (adjusting discourse to provide new information in relation to an utterance) within the context of microcomputer-videodisc-assisted intervention for 84 deaf individuals (ages 3-20) acquiring spoken, written, and/or signed language. Gains were demonstrated in reading and…

This article describes an exploration of activities that can encourage students to think more critically about the influences on their gender and identity. Using read aloud, literature circles, and mini-lessons rooted in the students' experiences, the author's successes and failures are explored within a context where students are placed at the…

This conference presentation is offered as a prolegomenon, or introduction, to a paper and research project. The issues of whether prolegomena are modernist explanatory devices and whether postmodern prolegomena are possible are discussed. The paper proposes a research inquiry into "postmodern teaching" initiated through the metaphor of…

To test three specific hypotheses about recall as a function of four categories of logical relations, a study was done to determine whether logical relations systems of prose analysis can be used to predict recall. Two descriptive passages of naturally occurring expository prose were used. Each text was parsed into 45 statements, consisting of…

This investigation provides descriptive information about the developmental characteristics of syntactic and morphological structures found in the written Spanish language of native Spanish-speaking students in fourth to ninth grades. A sample population composed of 34 male and 56 female Spanish-speaking students was randomly selected from two…

A study is presented that considers the narrator's knowledge of conventional schemata for stories and the cognitive factors which seem to be affecting the selection and organization of material for narration. Children ranging in age from 3 years 10 months to 7 years 4 months were asked to watch a video tape cartoon and recount the story to a…

This manual attempts to establish a hierarchy or sequence within the study of syntax. It is to serve as a textbook, and has as its aim the discussion and explanation of the structure of the correct "properly formatted" sentence. The approach is to begin with "text" and gradually work down. This tendency to begin syntactic research with the global…

A discourse analysis of videotaped teaching demonstrations by 18 Korean and Chinese teaching assistants reveals these non-native speakers of English lack the mastery of those cues, such as prosody and topicalization, that allow native speaker/listeners to perceive intended relationships among the ideas presented. (DJD)

Describes and examines the word choice and frequency in six tests and raises questions about the use of word lists and controlled vocabulary in producing basal readers, judging and manipulating readability of texts, and building vocabulary. (HOD)

The focus of this study will be on the intersection of the following domains: Second Language Acquisition research on cohesion and coherence, discourse acquisition of young children, the effect of text form-focused instruction on student non-fiction writing and the impact of schema theory on student decision-making during the writing process.

In an effort to increase reading proficiency, five 9th- and 10th-grade students with behavior disorders were instructed to read along with an audiotape of vocabulary words. Results suggested significant effects due to practice. Minimal generalization from reading word lists to reading passages was demonstrated. (Author/JDD)

The Verbal Interaction Analysis System (VIAS) was applied to interaction between high school students and adult confederates. The VIAS successfully discriminated between two groups of verbally skilled students (n=8) and less skilled students (n=8). When these adolescent-adult interactions were conceptualized as interviews rather than conversations…

At the turn of the millennium, the term "spiritual" began to gain more prominence in the educational discourse in Hong Kong, both in official policy documents and in religious schools' descriptions of their own mission. Addressing each of these two cases in turn, a description of the context in which the increased use of the term has…