Comparison of the narratives of 16 children with word-finding problems and 16 normal children (grades 1-6) found that children with word-finding disorders did not differ in language productivity but manifested significantly more word-finding characteristics in their narratives. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed. (Author/DB)

Investigates the argumentation advanced in briefs, oral arguments, and the Supreme Court's opinion in the case of Miranda versus Arizona. Considers the background of the case, analyzes the argumentation and its influences on the court, and stresses the importance of viewing the Supreme Court as an active participant in the decision-making process.…

Responds to the conversation of two eminent compositionists with Noam Chomsky. Discusses the alleged literary crisis, sensible prescriptivism versus linguistic permissiveness, police and thought control, intellectually interesting versus humanly significant topics, and rhetorical theory. (PRA)

Argues that interpretation is not only an essential mode for understanding the construction of rhetorical texts, but that interpretation is itself an important source of invention and, therefore, of social critique in postmodern culture. (KEH)

Examines the rationale for research into what constitutes sociopragmatic competence; reviews a series of relevant empirical studies; and reports on one such study of requests, thanks, and apologies made by native speakers and non-native learners of French. (23 references) (GLR)

Examines the effect of the misuse and over-use of logical connectives in English-as-a-Second-Language undergraduate writing, and suggests that students use a small subset of relatively comprehensible connectives, employ connectives for phrasal expansion, and view logical progression as an integral stage in writing. (Author/CB)

Describes the context of the Valdez disaster in terms of an organizational crisis. Discusses the nature of scientific argument and the norms of scientific ethos as they represent an appropriate standard for measuring the ethics of profit-seeking organizations during times of crisis. (NH)

Uses "resemblance" and "similitude" as guiding metaphors for an exploration of two prevailing notions of academic writing as it is perceived in composition studies. Describes differences between student writing and academic writing. Shows how the concept of similitude may be helpful in reconceiving academic discourse. (HB)

Outlines five competing ideas about how the literal meanings of sentences can be determined. Studies people's intuitive sense of the literal meanings of sentences. Examines through two experiments people's judgments about the literality of sentences containing figurative language. Discusses implications of findings. (HB)

Discusses the problem of "overlap" sometimes experienced by interdisciplinary teams. Analyzes a brief segment of a team conversation in which overlap is discussed. Reveals participants' territoriality in the face of an ideology of interdisciplinary collaboration. (HB)

Discusses the Renaissance idea of "copia," a rhetorical and literary term indicating enthralling richness in terms of detail, variation, and figures of speech, which might now be termed "copias thinking." Offers examples from Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, and Shakespeare. Discusses the uses for copias thinking. (SR)

Investigates the applicability of B. Weiner's attribution theory to compliance-gaining interactions. Finds that attributional dimensions (locus/controllability and stability) affected participants' persistence at seeking compliance, use of particular strategies, and perceptions of target sincerity. (SR)

Discusses the need for mathematical registers in aboriginal languages and presents some mathematics and language examples. Outlines information on the choices which can be made and the possible consequences for the language in making those choices. Contains 24 references. (ASK)

Examines the debate over creation and evolution in Wilmington, North Carolina's principal newspapers in order to consider the ways in which this debate exemplifies patterns of public discussion among academics and non academics, including conflicting attitudes about education, authority, and persuasion. Proposes ways to read and intervene in such…

Illustrates how examination of children's "condensed" utterances can reveal the emergence of complex thought processes. Shows how these expressions, often brief and easily overlooked, when negotiated and probed by the teacher, reveal multiple connections, the drawing of analogies, divergent frames of reference, intertextual…