Uses discourse analysis to display the interplay between resistance and domination using one man's description (in interviews and in a newspaper article) of sexual harassment and his attempts at redress. Reveals how the articulation of resistance becomes oppressive and the articulation of repression offers resistance. (SR)

Examines grammatical and discourse-pragmatic reflexes of the existential and resultative readings of the English present perfect and presents negative and positive arguments regarding its ambiguity. It is suggested that the resultative verb represents a formal idiom and that mastery of aspectual grammar entails knowledge of form-meaning pairings.…

Explores communication ethnographically in six text-based virtual realities through four items of jargon: spoof, spam, lurk, and lag. Suggests that articulated aesthetics serve as rules for proper behavior, markers of experience and belonging, metaphors for poetic expression, and resources for play and challenge within the community. (RS)

This article presents a theoretical consideration of the nature of classroom talk. It argues that traditional methods of instruction do not provide the conditions necessary to encourage pupils to think critically, and that a major reason for this is inappropriate discourse in schools. (JL)

Argues that Henry Clay's rhetorical performance during the 1850 compromise debate employed a particular idiom and enacted a particular form of prudential conduct: prudential accommodation. Explores the rhetorical forms and practical limits of this prudential idiom. Helps disclose an alternative prudential idiom--prudential audacity--within the…

Discusses the characteristics of rhetorical status, compares it to ethos and source credibility, and discusses social status and rhetorical status. Shows how rhetorical status enters into everyday communication by examining a protracted set of interactions between two sisters and a small-town mayor over disputed water bills. (SR)

Studies televised political advertising during the October 1993 Canadian federal election campaign to identify referential argumentation and provide a basis for ethical analysis. Identifies a number of "ad" arguments (ad hominem, ad verecumdiam, ad misericordiam, etc.) according to four types of reference. Discusses two criteria in the…

Uses a think-aloud protocol to investigate how a professional actor analyzes a script to discern the plans his assigned character is following. Shows that the actor attends not only to the meaning but also to such elements of the text as structure, punctuation, and linguistic devices to determine the character's internal states and specific…

Explores the territory of whiteness in order to map the discursive space it occupies, as the first step in the process of exposing whiteness as a rhetorical construction. Discusses some of the rhetorical strategies through which whiteness resecures its discursive space and concludes with three aspects of reflexivity that offer directions for…

Finds that temporal markers modify the availability of preceding words: segmentation markers like "around two o'clock" and "then" reduce this availability, whereas continuity markers like "and" improve this availability. Supports the hypothesis that segmentation markers lead readers not to integrate new information…

Proposes four defining conditions for undoable phenomena and applies them to power, examining the foundation of its inevitability and looking for a lever to unhinge its constructions. Suggests, with four procedural steps, how power may be contested, rearticulated, and undone. Explains the distinction between power and force, and demonstrates the…

Describes a method for using electronic mail discussion as a heuristic in a business communication class for planning and writing business documents. (SR)

The notion of critical linguistics is examined, and it is argued that the diverse objectives usually given for Language Awareness programs appear to be given desocializing weightings in actual materials. Ways that Critical Language Awareness can be incorporated into a family history writing project are described. (20 references) (Author/LB)

After critiquing speech act treatment of inviting as either single or cooperative speech act, it is proposed that Chinese invitation is type of discourse that features tripartite structure and embodies dual politeness strategy. It is argued that such a discourse accords to its participants a cultural identity that attends both "a public…

Describes typical differences in conversational routines in French and Australian English and kinds of tensions arising when speakers with two different sets of rules come into contact. Even simple questions contain a variety of assumptions ranging from whom it is suitable to ask to the kind of answer or the amount of detail that is expected. (13…