Examines the experience of reading student writing by holding it against current views of reading from literary theory and composition studies. Describes this experience as a concentrated effort at once to read and not to "read" the student writing. (MS)

Offers an approach to text analysis that discusses what makes good writing good. Argues that good writing involves the presentation of propositions that are not too dense, in a schema that is familiar or explained carefully, requiring not much inference on the part of the reader, and in a pattern that is coherent from beginning to end. (MS)

Uses text processing (computer) and pen and paper protocols to compare the revising process of professional writers and experienced writers (PhD students). Concludes tentatively that (1) professional and experienced writers do not differ in their approach; (2) the interaction between human and machine influences the writing process; and (3) that…

Analyzes the five factors in combination that appear to account for the mind-set in which the decision to launch the Challenger was made: (1) perceived pressure, (2) rigid conformity to perceived role requirements, (3) questionable reasoning, (4) ambiguous use of language, and (5) failure to ask important relevant questions. (NKA)

Communication in the undergraduate science curriculum in an Indian university is restricted primarily to the teacher explaining and the students understanding. The English curriculum at the same university includes practice in the interaction process as well, but could do much more to improve the communicative competence of the students. (LMO)

When second, fourth, and sixth grade students were asked "What's this?" questions (differing in intonation and stress) and guessed whether there were new or different objects pictured on cards, results indicated that use of intonation was recognized as a marker for topic collaboration by grade four. (Author/CB)

To determine the reliability of evaluation decisions about student writing competency across modes of discourse, a large sample of students was randomly assigned a writing task in one of four modes of discourse. Results provide evidence that mode of discourse must be considered when judging the adequacy of student writing. (Author/LMO)

Presents a psycholinguistic analysis of the development of writing skills and reports a developmental study of knowledge effects in writing. A theoretical framework decomposes the requisite knowledge into three main components: (1) generalized, high-level problem-solving plans, (2) content, and (3) discourse. (Author/SED)

Today there is a growing belief that everyone who wants access to college can have it. College enrollments have continued to grow for over half a century and now it can be argued that most American families dream of a college education for their children. A 2003 report by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) demonstrates there is a growing…

This volume brings together the majority of lectures and papers presented at the 1998 and 1999 discourse symposia at Vaxjo University. Part one, "Four Perspectives on Discourse," offers a matrix perspective on narrative, a cross cultural perspective on academic rhetoric, a cognitive perspective on informational discourse, and a construction…

MULTEXT is a European Union project to identify and develop language resources, language-related software, and standards to make the resources maximally usable. MULTEXT-EAST is a spinoff project to develop significant resources for six Central and Eastern European (CEE) languages (Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovenian) and…

This study explores the different meanings of "ahora" (now) and "ahorita" (right now) in Spanish usage by a migrant community of mushroom pickers in Mexico and the United States. Both terms are used as temporal expressions in Mexican Spanish spoken on both sides of the border. They are discourse markers. After studying groups…

This qualitative study provides a detailed account of the experiences of nine female doctoral students through an analysis of their personal narratives. The nine students, attending two large Midwestern public universities, volunteered to share personal narratives; all were working toward doctorates in various fields and were at various stages in…

This exploratory study examines the efficacy of Focus on Form (i.e., brief instruction on linguistic forms while learners engage in meaning) at the pragmatic level. Specifically, comparing Focus on FormS (interactions followed by explicit debriefing on pragmatic forms) and Focus on Form (interactions followed by debriefing on meaning), the…

This case study examined the role of field dependence in the failure of an online dyadic discussion of a complex issue, whether or not creationism should be placed on an equal footing with evolution in high school science classrooms. In this study, field is used to designate whole disciplines, rather than factions within disciplines. Using…