Suggests that research on language and social interaction can best proceed by engaging in the puzzle-solving enterprise that characterizes normal research. Systematic explorations are needed of the language phenomena deemed relevant by the respective paradigms. (Author/VWL)

Raises issues of concern related to the field of language and social interaction (LSI): (1) LSI cannot be properly studied by treating language as a transparent medium; (2) discourse is a multimodal activity system; (3) LSI research has the potential to contribute to a wide range of language research; and (4) technology is deepening the…

Defines the most prominent aspects of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and discusses how such a research program enables individuals to cope with the changes in societies. Also identifies social problems deserving investigation.(Author/VWL)

Investigates the communicative treatment of secrets, presenting examples from recorded communicative interactions in a wide range of social milieus and settings in which the participants revealed knowledge of secrets, tried to dig out old secrets without appearing to be doing so, and occasionally, appeared to be hiding some items of knowledge from…

Investigates moral issues in delivering good and bad news, examining episodes of good and bad news in ordinary conversation and in institutional settings, then describing an interaction between a teacher and a parent. As the parent blames the teacher for the student's poor performance, and the teacher delicately notes the student's need to mature,…

Investigates creation and interpretation of nonlexicalized categories within discourse, as indicated by the use of general extenders. Shows that such categories are locally contingent, depend on contextually salient features for identifying similarity among members, can be created through contrast or contiguity, and clearly depend on assumptions…

Concentrates on one area of discourse relations, the concession family, identifying its underlying semantics and pragmatics. Proposes (on the basis of extensive corpus studies) a new classification of concession markers in English and German. Suggests a generation model for producing bilingual text that can incorporate marker choice into its…

Concludes that, whereas inference processing may be impeded by the relative lack of familiarity of the content of expository text, it is not strictly precluded. Indicates rather that inference processing in the comprehension of expository text is regulated by the information-processing constraints of the reading task and by the discourse and…

Demonstrates that reactivation of unsatisfied goal information depended on the type of original goal context and whether it was fully reinstated and that reinstatement of goal information from the distant target episode was successful only when the context was fully reinstated. Supports models of comprehension that assume reactivation of relevant…

Tests two views of how relevant global information becomes readily available to readers. Demonstrates that backgrounded information became readily available if it shared features in common with the current contents of working memory. Shows that this occurred independently of whether the information was relevant or thematically related;…

Examines a corpus of audio and audiovisual recordings of people engaged in acrimonious argument, in which complaints and accusations are being made about the behavior of copresent parties. Analysis focuses on the sequences immediately following complaints. (Author/VWL)

The analysis of spoken language requires a principled way of dividing transcribed data into units in order to assess features such as accuracy and complexity. This article discusses a reliable and comprehensibly defined unit to assist with the analysis of a variety of recordings of native and nonnative speakers of English. (Author/VWL)

Organizational quality improvements involve adoption of new values, achieved by apprenticing workers to new discourses of "empowerment" and "learning organizations," which silences some workers. Educational institutions should critically evaluate the quality agenda before attempting to implement it. (SK)

Analysis of conversations in adult vocational education demonstrates how learner, teacher, and text interact to reproduce social practices as learning outcomes. Judgment of whether learning has occurred is based on a match between learners' new discourse practices and those of the evaluator. (SK)

Examines the specific problems of roof support in coal mines to construct a theoretical framework that describes how texts represent information that is embodied, sensory, and uncertain. Raises ethical questions about (1) textbook notions of instructions as systematic procedures designed to produce predictable outcomes; (2) limits of particular…