Analyzes ethnographic data regarding one prolonged speech event, the negotiation of a driver's license at the Ministry of Transportation in Puno, Peru, from the perspective of Hymes' redefinition of linguistic competence. Implications for the acquisition of second language communicative competence are also discussed. (Author/CB)

Examines the relative importance of various factors, skills, and courses in the hiring and advancement of employees of business, industrial, and governmental agencies based in the United States. Finds that communication skills are most important for business entry-level jobs and career success. (MS)

Reports the use of a newly developed measures of communication support behavior. Investigates mentoring and other relational support behaviors among academic professionals to determine the effects of communication support on various indicators of success. Finds that patterns of communication and success differed by gender/mentee status. (MS)

Explores relationships between motivations for television viewing, including shyness, loneliness, self-esteem, and three measures of social support. Suggests viewing motivations are related to needs arising from two distinct sources: social compensation and mood management. (MS)

Considers the attempts of some rhetors, when accused publicly through news media, to shift blame onto the reporting media by questioning their coverage. Defines this strategy as a "role imbalance attack" that deflects criticism away from a rhetor. Discusses the factors influencing the success of this strategy. (HB)

Reviews research related to oral communication and discourse. Asserts that discourse analysis is the theory and method of studying social practices and the actions that constitute them. Recommends collecting naturalistic records of interaction that will allow analysts to consider activities in their sequential context. (CFR)

Explores the nature of explanations used by 20 middle school science teachers utilizing the constant comparative analysis method in analyzing transcripts of classroom discourse. Discusses a subsuming categorical framework for the 10 types of explanations generated, along with examples of each type, namely: analogical, anthropomorphic, functional,…

Discusses results of a survey of managers in high-technology industry in Taiwan regarding their needs for English business communication skills in the workplace. Finds that English conversation and English telephoning are the most urgently needed training courses. (SR)

Examines the communicative value of 205 anticipatory-"it" clauses taken from scientific and technical texts. Suggests that the main discourse function of the clauses is to provide author comment. Argues that use of the anticipatory-"it" clause indicates academic acculturation. (SG)

Shows that the Scottish Vowel Length Rule supports Kiparsky's (1988) association of diffusing sound changes with lexical, and neogrammarian changes with postlexical rules, and to some extent, is a clearer illustration of Harris' (1989a: 55) notion of a phonological "life cycle" of changes and rules. (50 references) (GLR)

Surveys student and faculty perceptions about dissertation advisor-advisee relationships regarding roles, the nature of the relationship, communication between advisor and advisee, and communication with committee members. Pinpoints conflicting expectations about faculty feedback and advisor-advisee roles as areas of dissatisfaction. (SR)

Describes the functions and forms of metadiscourse as an alternative to recitation. Presents an analytic-narrative technique for studying discussion. Offers two illustrative examples from two different middle grade classrooms. (SR)

Describes how oral and written-discourse processes in a high school physics class are related to sociocultural practices in scientific communities. Finds that students' appropriation of scientific discourse was related to the framing activities of the teachers and the social practices established over time in the classroom. Contains 74 references.…

Presents results from a teaching effectiveness survey of alumni. Indicates alumni believe that good instructors should demonstrate effective preparation, interest in course material and students, availability to students outside of class, effective pedagogy, practical application, classroom interaction with students, sociability, and a high level…

Comments on a set of five analyses that all examine the same data (the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine). Argues that each of the analyses is representative not only of a research tradition, but also of a distinct research language and, as such, can be analyzed on the basis of the expressive potential of that language. (SR)