Literacy experts in composition have examined the exclusionary forces of academic discourse, and have identified various forms of classroom power that result from the system of academic literacy. Little is understood about the power relations that function to relate and regulate the classroom. Largely a humanistic notion, literacy has been defined…

The single great value of composition theory is that it gives writing instructors ways to perceive and to talk (about)/write (about) and experience the language that they purport to teach. It is a vocabulary (or set of vocabularies) that, in its structures and definitions, (re-)structures and (re-)defines perceptions of language. If writing is a…

The teacher, as an authority figure in the computer classroom, can choose from a number of types of interactions with students to counteract homophobic comments as well as racial and gender prejudice. A model of four responses to student communication in the InterChange computer framework sets a continuum of teacher control: (1) passive…

This paper explores what it means, and what it might mean, to "achieve" in literacy. The paper points out that, although there is considerable concern over the misrepresentation of literate achievement by standardized tests, there has been substantially less demonstration of what is being left out, that is, exactly what of significance is achieved…

A case study examined assumptions of current written language pedagogies, particularly the links between oral performance, literacy pedagogy, and the use of the explicit, analytic language valued in school. The subject, a young African-American child enrolled in an urban K/1 classroom, used school writing activities and the music of language to…

Teachers' attempts to establish and maintain authority in their classrooms give rise to one of the essential tensions of teaching: reconciling caring and controlling. This paper examines sociopolitical questions about the nature of classroom authority and the uses of power to understand this tension. The first part presents an overview of the…

A study addressed the question of how young children's spontaneous use of private speech in the kindergarten classroom varies as a function of contextual variables, such as type of activity, immediate presence of others, degree of teacher-given structure, and classroom age composition. Twenty children from two classrooms (one mixed-age, one…

Teacher immediacy has surfaced as an important instructional communication variable, yet little is known about how it functions to effect learning. To offer an explanation as to how teacher immediacy facilitates learning, a study investigated implicit communication theory. Subjects consisted of 625 undergraduate students who completed…

This report reviews findings from ethnographic and microethnographic research to further an understanding about how classroom interaction patterns can affect student achievement. The report discusses the concept of communicative competence in general and in the classroom setting in particular. Next, the report reviews findings from studies of…

The difficulties and obstacles encountered in research in the analysis and interpretation of writing conference talk are theoretically important. These dilemmas may serve as markers to help researchers see how the routines of research and the interpretations of findings are integrally related. The ways in which talk "rearranges" problems…

A speech communication professor informs his students of implicit classroom rules by using a humorous handout. Now and then, the professor elaborates on items in class using stories of classroom encounters that led to the handout's creation. Some of these "tongue-in-cheek" rules (there are 22 in all) are: (1) try to arrive at class a few…

Few empirical studies have focused on how composition students draw on classroom interactions to develop as writers. For instance, when students disagree fundamentally in their interpretations of what they have read, how are the range of voices reflected in their subsequent writing? The student-led format for discussions proves conducive to…

A discussion of the visual aspect of second-language reading processes proposes a theoretical model of reading and reports on research into the kinds of questions second-language students ask in class. The model of reading outlined is based on the operations of the human eye. Just as the operations of the lens (focus) change the picture at the…

Teacher immediacy and use of power have surfaced as important instructional communication variables, yet little is known about how they function to effect learning. To offer an explanation as to how teacher immediacy and use of power facilitates learning, a study investigated implicit communication theory. Subjects consisted of 625 undergraduate…

Misunderstandings across communication situations frequently occur due to gender differences in communication styles, differences in either meanings or values attached to the linguistic symbols used to convey a message. An analysis of communication in the classroom based on Walter J. Ong's educational history, "Fighting for Life Contest,…