Considering the complicating effect of cultural differences in writing conventions, this study examines discourse tradition as influenced by Confucian/Taoist precepts and those of U.S. academic environments, the latter requiring rational argumentation, justification, and proof. Pedagogical implications of native-speaker and nonnative-speaker…

A study investigated the effectiveness of teaching preservice elementary school teachers to adopt the learner role during application of a literature discussion instructional strategy. Analysis of two discussions by 24 teacher trainees indicated that the teachers did apply the target strategy from the learner's perspective as it was taught to…

Explores the development of a multicultural literacy project designed to develop literacy both in English and the students' individual native languages. The intervention fostered collaborative relationships among researchers, teachers, parents, and students. (37 references) (Author/CK)

Argues that linguist John Swales has consistently worked to maintain English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a distinct field of study in which practice is firmly founded in theory. Swales has developed the concept of "genre" in ESP into a fully articulated theory, allowing analysis of language that is contextually situated in terms of…

Presents 29 brief descriptions of research in the teaching of English (published July through December, 1999) in the areas of: bilingual/foreign language education; classroom discourse; discourse processes; literature; professional development; reading; research methodology; technology and literacy; and writing. (SR)

Profiles interlanguage pragmatics as an area of inquiry in second-language acquisition (SLA) research by reviewing existing studies with a focus on learning, examining research findings in interlanguage pragmatics shedding light on basic questions in SLA, exploring cognitive and social-psychological theories illuminating aspects of pragmatic…

Explores whether pragmatic fluency is best acquired by provision of input and opportunity for communicative practice alone, or whether learners profit more with additional explicit instruction in the use of conversational routines. The article hypothesized that such instruction raises learners' awareness of the functions and contextual…

Describes a case study and a follow-up comparative study that focused on expert foreign language teachers' professional knowledge as it was reflected in their spoken and written discourse. Both studies provide evidence indicating that professional knowledge can develop via its verbalization in reflective-narrative discourse from personal…

Examines issues confronting English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students in mainstream content areas at the secondary school level. Research on the integration of language, content, literacy, and culture in courses is reconducted at a Canadian school with a concentration of Asian background students. Focuses on discourse contexts for mainstreamed…

This study examined how, in some instances, participation in the cultural practices of high school science classrooms created intrapersonal conflict for ethnic minority students. Discourse analysis of videotaped science classroom activities, lectures, and laboratories was the primary methodology employed for analyzing students' discursive identity…

This research examined 2 strategies for encouraging children's narratives. Twenty-five European American and 31 African American children from low-income backgrounds (M age = 4.76) participated. Children were assigned randomly to either high or low elaborative narrative style conditions and to either a draw-and-tell or tell-only reporting…

Spoken word is a form of poetry that utilizes the strengths of the communities: oral tradition, call-and-response, home languages, storytelling, and resistance. Spoken word poetry is usually performed for an audience and must be heard. The authors are interested in investigating how spoken word can be utilized as a critical teaching tool that can…

In this article the author discusses the communicative encounters--oral and written--between members of two discourse communities--human resources (HR) and faculty--housed within an urban university in the Northeast. The author focuses on one individual's attempts to articulate and impose a component of her community's implicit rules for behavior…

Elementary teachers engaged in weekly conversations about their students' writing. Conversations were guided by a protocol that began with an assessment of students' writing samples and then moved to the generation of instructional ideas. The conversations were analyzed for what the teachers talked about and the extent to which they generated…

Interactive discourse structuring is used to guide listeners through on-going speech and has been shown to have a positive effect on lecture comprehension, particularly in L2 settings. As mobility increases in the academic world, there are more opportunities for lecture events characterized not only by linguistic/cultural diversity, but also by…