A training course providing German primary school teachers with techniques for asking classroom questions resulted in increases in the questions using higher cognitive processes and in the correspondence between levels of questions and responses, maintained over a three-month period. (MSE)

Questions the prevalent attitude of English as a second language teachers regarding the teaching of writing skills. Weaknesses in syllabi and teaching strategies are cited, indicating deficiencies in the teaching of discourse analysis--the manipulation of words, structures, and ideas--all skills necessary for the development and production of a…

Discusses the use of discourse analysis with students who are familiar with international relations and interested in understanding discourse organization in greater depth. The discussion indicates how such a procedure can help students understand and produce texts in their field. Several examples are included. (MSE)

Pursues the argument that grammar teaching in a second-year university degree French course should be in line with the functional/notional communicative aims of the "Lyon a la une" project. Discusses the study of the pragmatic dimension of language as an essential prerequisite to the functional skills fostered by the project. (SED)

Discusses the collaboration that developed among two classroom teachers and a university instructor while one of the teachers visited classrooms to investigate the question: How can classroom teachers promote children's language and language skills? (HTH)

This paper reports on a study that investigated group learning processes in computer-supported collaborative concept mapping. Thirty 5th grade Taiwanese students were selected to attend a computer-mediated collaborative concept mapping activity. Dialog messages and map products tracked and recorded by the mapping system were analyzed. The…

The Minorities and Communication Division of the proceedings contains the following 6 papers: "Can We Talk? Racial Discourse as a Community-Building Paradigm for Journalists" (Meta G. Carstarphen); "Can Cross Burning Be Constitutionally Proscribed?: Sixty Years of Hate Speech Rulings Culminating in 'Black v. Virginia'" (Roxanne…

A discussion examines the importance of communication between non-native speakers (NNS/NNS), reviews relevant theories and issues in intercultural interactions and NNS/NNS interactions, and explores methodological issues in interpreting linguistic and interactional data. The intent is to explore features of communication between NNSs from…

The purpose of this study was to find out how pupils reached agreement and handled disagreement in science group discourse. Fifth-grade students were observed in small groups and participated in face-to-face interviews. Pupils' methods of reaching agreement--including using social psychological means--and ways of addressing disagreement--including…

A study explored the way various levels of narrative voice in historical texts influence high school students as they carry out a common historical problem-solving task. Participants, 30 students in a suburban Seattle (Washington) high school, wrote a historical essay after reading an introductory text excerpt and six historical documents. Half of…

A study compared the language of interactions of teachers with students who are native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) of English in academic writing tutorial sessions. Data were gathered through discourse analysis of transcripts of 12 tutorials and interviews with the participants. Analysis of talk examined topic initiation,…

Repudiates the theory that black dialect has African origins. Supports the British Isles influence theory. (FL)

Lexical phrases such as deictic locutions, phrasal constraints, sentence builders, and situational utterances are examined using categories from artificial intelligence. It is argued that these and other types of patterned speech should be carefully organized and given a greater place in English as a Second Language curricula than at present. (PMJ)

Presents four articles in the context of workshop discussions on characteristics of environments that promote language development: (1) "Children's Conversations: Why are They Important?"; (2) "Ways of Talking: Respecting Differences"; (3) Paul's Talk: Teachers and Parents Look at a Child's Language"; and (4) "In the…

Focuses on the understanding of the concept of function and presents discussions of the topological properties of functions and of students' mathematical thinking when they are asked to determine whether a property of a function is a topological property or not. Contains 15 references. (DDR)