Uses Kenneth Burke's theory of perfection to explore the vocabularies of nuclear weapons in United States public discourse and how "the Bomb" as a God term has gained imbalanced ascendancy in centers of power. (MS)

Contrasts the content of media narratives with the stories presented in actual trials. Describes media narrative as a type of montage, illustrating this with the "Washington Post's" stories about the Jean Harris case. Suggests ways that "narrative about narrative" can present stronger arguments that increase audiences'…

A longitudinal study of four 17- to 33-month-olds revealed that their linguistic selection at the one-word stage was governed by principles of informativeness, while the two-word stage was characterized by new, or a combination of new and old, information. (Author/CB)

Analysis of the communicative setting of televised electoral debates in Israel focused on the stylistic features of the political candidates' discourse. The analysis identified and described such rhetorical strategies as figurative expressions and intensifiers, irony and rhetorical questions, repetition and parallelism, and meta-discoursive…

Analyzes the rhetorical functions carried out by the selection of voice--active, passive, or "se"-passive--in biological research articles in Spanish. The author compares these rhetorical functions with those found in French and English scientific papers and on the basis of this comparison, suggests the existence of some universals. (18…

Focuses on concepts and arguments from psychoanalysis and presents an example of a counterargument on the slip of the tongue. The article delineates psycholinguistic accounts of speech errors, showing how these accounts can enhance a comparison of three samples of literary and nonliterary word substitutions that elucidate claims being made in…

Examines the component parts of personal narrative, the sort of language resources they consist of, and the respective roles they can play in turning sense into experience. People share in the making of their stories, evaluating them creatively with the help of their hearers. To survive in a complex world of meanings, a narrator must constantly…

Examines the behaviors of two teachers during language experience dictation events to describe the "productive ambiguity" of their decisions about how and when to translate children's talk into "school" language. Finds two conceptual categories of teacher behavior--scaffold building and gatekeeping. Suggests that scaffold building increased…

Reviews the reasons for the discourse problem in language study, examines the nature of this problem, and suggests ways in which applied linguists and foreign language teachers can engage in intellectual dialog. It is suggested that applied linguists and language teachers can understand one another by exploring the forces that have shaped their…

Analyzes the public rhetoric of the influential "Law and Economics" movement. Explores the affinity between rhetoric and judicial argument in the work of Judge Richard A. Posner. Shows how Posner's antirhetorical posture is itself a rhetoric inviting audiences to adopt particular views of society and law. (HB)

Investigates whether National Debate Tournament debaters are evaluated differently because of gender. Shows that male speakers received more points than females; the effect was more pronounced in the negative when female judges heard female/female teams; and male judges gave higher points to same-sex teams. Encourages all participants to be…

Using transcripts of children's talk, this paper examines the validity of claims that children provided with opportunities to work cooperatively and collaboratively in small groups will use talk to help them make meaning and enhance their cognitive understanding. The claims are substantiated. (Contains 32 references.) (Author/LB)

Reviews recent research on the use of language in the mass media, focusing on the work of Teun van Dijk, A. Bell, Roger Fowler, and Norman Fairclough, as well as research on broadcast interviews, talk shows, and advertising. An annotated bibliography discusses 16 important works in the field. (58 references) (MDM)

Conceptualizes how a study of vernacular discourse could be carried out by defining vernacular, describing the critique of vernacular discourse, and explaining the purpose of such criticism. Illustrates this approach through a brief study of one example of vernacular discourse: World War II representations of women in the "Pacific…

This article is derived from a lecture broadcast on the BBC World Service, in which the author takes the reader on a journey to visit selected features of contemporary English in use, with the intent of pointing out to the traveler some implications for the presentation of language in textbooks and other curriculum documents. (nine references)…