Introduces a new method for studying influence of media on language. Compares radio call-in conversations and normal telephone conversations, where differences might be seen as aspects of the interaction between media and language use. (JK)

Critically examines contemporary interactional studies of the cultural specificity of human language. The study is a cross-cultural analysis of misconstrued communications in human interaction, ascertaining whether these interactions are crucially dependent on nonlinguistic variables. (CB)

Asserts that the complexities peculiar to "bottom-writings" (essays graded at the lower end of a holistic scale) are often overlooked. Analyzes organizational patterns of high-rated, low-rated, and professional writers, noting similarities between the latter two groups. Considers how teachers can work with the skills bottom writers…

Presents a taxonomy of jokes and wit as a useful, descriptive tool. Argues that humor processing may occur in a parallel rather than serial fashion by contrasting a serial-processing, incongruity-resolution model with an alternative dual-processing model. Also presents a taxonomy of the social functions of wit. (JK)

Extends G. P. Mohrmann's premise regarding the textual study of rhetorical discourse to indicate that (1) textual criticism should result in theoretical understanding of texts, not in autonomous theories; (2) the sequencing or timing of textual elements offers ground for critical judgment; and (3) foundational conceptions frame discourse and…

Argues that we are all fiction-makers/historians, that most failures of communication result from some willful or inadvertent but unknowing violation of the space and time we and others live in, and that most of our speaking is tribal talk. (EL)

The nature and development of discourse topic skills in preschool children are examined and illustrated by observations of very young children. Possible social and cognitive components are explored with implications for language-disordered populations. (CL)

Presents results of a study indicating that, over many propositions appearing in passages that vary widely in content and vocabulary difficulty, early and later propositions are better recalled, and that the rated importance of a proposition predicts probability of recall independent of serial position. (HTH)

Reports on the applications of psycholinguistic principles to the formulations of jury charges in criminal trials in British Columbia. These principles were applied to standardize jury instructions both from the point of view of the legal information conveyed as well as from the sentence and discourse processing done by the jury. (SED)

The way in which children organize their discourse is examined, and the steps involved in topic initiation, maintenance, and development are traced with examples highlighting the interaction of text, topics, an goals/functions. Implications for cross-cultural language development are briefly considered. (CL)

Follows the slow growth of a body of knowledge about how information could best be communicated without necessary references to overt persuasion from Aristotle's "Rhetoric" through the beginnings of a theory of written discourse in the American nineteenth century. (FL)

Discusses the metalinguistic elements of argumentation in the legal definition. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

This paper presents five snapshots of data collected by adult basic math students taking part as co-researchers in a project to investigate the discourse of an adult basic math classroom. The work is presented against a background of the Freirean influence on adult literacy and numeracy. The notions of empowerment and dialogue in the Freirean…

In interactive media, it is the spaces between the text that are as important to read as the text itself. Visual literacy is a vital form of reading in an increasingly pictorial world. This paper examines the grammar of visual literacy by analyzing the discourse of a group of adolescents and the way they interpret multi-layered, seriated, and…

This study investigated the dynamics of intersubjectivity within the zone of proximal development. Its theoretical framework is based on three principal approaches to intersubjectivity, those of J. Wertsch (1984; 1985), B. Rogoff (1990), and R. Rommertveit (1979), with reference also to self-regulatory speech (L. Vygotsky, 1986). Data were…