A collaborative research project examines limitations of and identifies opportunities for moral practices in the inner city. Discourse analysis and Maxcy's theory of critical pragmatism unite methods of data analysis with participants' relationships, needs, and values to expand the centers of moral discourse among urban educators. (MMU)

The functional literacy discourse ignores the ideological role of literacy in society and enables workers to be blamed for poor economic performance. A more meaningful concept of literacy at work includes understanding workplaces as communities of practice and inclusion of the voices and experiences of workers. (SK)

States several postmodernist currents of thought have rejected the modernist faith in a stable, autonomous self (and the natural culture it inhabits) as a pernicious fiction. Argues for a dialectical view of self and culture, exploring the weaknesses of both modernist and postmodernist models through an analysis of "Dances with Wolves,"…

Extends the notion of language awareness to include intercultural communicative awareness. The interconnectedness of language and cultural processes is illustrated through a discussion of metapragmatic awareness. The second half of the article looks at the potential of misunderstandings in intercultural communication and charts some of the…

Using a contingency framework, three stages in the evolution of human resource development (HRD) in the National Health Service were identified: tell (training enacted within the classical management paradigm); sell (a competence approach to development for all employees); and gel (strategic HRD linked to corporate goals and future needs).…

Examines vocatives and theme in Japanese discourse. Based on examples taken from comics, romance novels, and fiction, argues that vocative and thematic strategies are pragmatically motivated in a similar manner, and they both convey the speaker's varying emotional expressivity toward participants and characters relevant in discourse. (Author/VWL)

Juxtaposes postmodernist discourses on language, identity, and cultural power with historical forms of language inequalities grounded in the nation-state. Focuses on mixed legacies of language-state relations within the pluralist nation state, colonial and post-colonial language policies. Examines the concept of linguistic minority rights beyond…

Provides reflections on articles contained in this special issue of the journal. Substantial comments are included for each of the four articles contained in the issue. (Author/VWL)

Describes procedures for constructing story-based causal diagrams. Discusses the cognitive and pragmatic constraints that govern the tendency to attribute events to incomplete causes. Uses causal diagrams to analyze major disagreements about the 1987 stock market crash. Explores how causal diagrams may mitigate the constraints on causal…

Discusses research on how race of actors in a text, race of participant, and race of experimenter relate to discourse processing. Uses the O. J. Simpson murder case to demonstrate the fruitful use of extended discourse and how belief-based disposition contributes to a rich mental representation of and inferential use of discourse. (PA)

School systems offer unlimited choice, controlled choice, or no choice. Concerns about school choice include what happens to those left behind, whether teacher autonomy is limited by emphasis on the most popular methods, focus on advertising/competition rather than educational substance, and further balkanization of the nation. (SK)

Explores a theory of 'politeness' which claims to describe and explain some universal features of dialogue, and considers what new insights it might give into teacher-pupil dialogue. Uses it to analyze two interviews between a teacher and pupil in order to assess the implications of any new interpretations. (Contains 20 references.) (ASK)

Analysis of current discourse about lifelong learning as the key to economic and social development suggests that its ability to enhance democracy is being compromised. Communities should reclaim lifelong learning for the purpose of the greater public good rather than private profit. (Contains 31 references.) (SK)

Bilinguals in the Southwestern United States use Spanish as an ethnic marker to accept other speakers as members of the in-group, or English to exclude them, in situations in which they have a choice of code. Shows that the choice of code used in El Paso, Texas is based on the perceived ethnicity of the other bilingual speaker. (Author/VWL)

Explores the discourse on working knowledge that subject matter experts use with technical communicators to represent work in organizations. Focuses on the narrative authority of speakers in the discourse process because participants constructing task representations bring distinct viewpoints to the documentation process. Studies imperative…