Examines the relationship between consciousness, language learning, and social interaction from an ecological perspective. Argues that consciousness and language are integral parts of the human ecology, that is, they can be defined in terms of social activity and relationships among people, as well as in terms of mental operations or cerebral…

Considers aspects of talk into telephones by young children in play. Examines expression of the incorporation of recognition of another's perspective, a movement towards recontextualization of language from the primary conversational contexts of joint environment, and experiences reflected in face-to-face talk on here-and-now topics with familiar…

Examines theoretical concerns about discourses associated typically with what has come to be referred to as the oral tradition and discourses associated typically with academic contexts in order to see how these may relate to students' experiences of higher learning. Looks at the writing of students who are predominantly Xhosa speakers and…

Examines bilingual women and their discourses of identities, language choice, and language maintenance in light of new research on gender and language contact. Presents a view of value, roles, and directions of past and present research about gender and language contact and provides an example for future directions through examination of the…

Reports on Senator Arlen Spector's interview of Anita Hill during hearings on Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas and her allegations of sexual harassment. Examines the social structures and argumentative strategies Spector invoked to place Hill in a position of "powerlessness." Argues that the key resource contributing to the…

Analyzes the discourse of radio personality Rush Limbaugh, pointing out that he uses the following rhetorical strategies to deliver his political message: anecdotes, stories, and metaphors; double bind; contingency; rapport; authority; humor; emotional words; pacing; questions; missing words; and absolutes. (PA)

Investigates how argument structures are related to perceptions of communicators in conversational argument (viewed as convergence-seeking discourse represented in minimally rational structures). Finds that complex arguments are judged as appropriate in discussions of important topics, and overall are judged more favorable than simple arguments…

Analysis of natural speech from 6-year-old (n=10) and 10-year-old (n=10) children suggests that, during later language development, the complexity of structures at the group/phrase level increases. There are also developments in discourse, including increased sensitivity to the role of topic-selection in developing the shape of a text, and to…

Reports results of a study that was designed to empirically verify a system dynamics model that represents the relationship between dialog and structure as they relate to transactional distance and distance education. Topics discussed include discourse analysis; other variables relating to transactional distance; developing a prototype; and future…

Uses think-aloud protocols to triangulate previous research on the cognitive editing of messages. Finds evidence for existence of all but one of Hample and Dallinger's editorial standards that arguers (undergraduate students) apply in deciding whether to suppress or produce an idea in persuasive discourse. Shows these editorial standards are used…

Suggests that variation in spelling, like other levels of language variety, reflects social practices in speech communities. While the social identities and stances encoded in such variation are not simple to interpret, they offer another mode of investigation of language in social space and practice. (Author/VWL)

Suggests that William Gibson offers a way to negotiate the conventional discursive elements used within online communication. Notes that cyberspace discourse appears to be at its best not when it tries to minimize the effects of the conventional narratives from which it is built, but instead when it exploits those discourses most fully to reveal…

Discusses the question of what is critical in critical language awareness by drawing on Hans Georg Gadamer's development of the dialectic of experience, historically effected consciousness, and the dialectic of question and answer. The openness found to characterize these three events initiates the space of distance by which the critical instance…

Examines the multiple voices of educational reform in the discourse of a third grade classroom community. Integrates the social and the individual as well as the past, present, and future in analysis of the discourse in this classroom community. Discusses implications for understanding one of the dilemmas of educational reform and advancing…

Considers the ways in which two late 19th-century American Indian intellectuals, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins and Charles Alexander Eastman, use the discourses about Indian-ness that circulated during that time period in order to both respond to that discourse and to reimagine what it could mean to be Indian. Argues that this "use" is a critical…