Discourse analysis of interaction in a course on language and literacy development elucidates and exemplifies how preschool teachers constructed new knowledge that can be assumed to contribute to the improved literacy instruction observed in their classrooms. An analytic framework rooted in sociocultural theory and interactional sociolinguistic…

The concept of "career" has long been investigated in the social sciences. It has been described as being in relationship with identity and providing a residual trace of the individual's relationship with work. A constructionist approach to research enables a focus on the language of career-talk as an opaque phenomenon. The analysis of…

This paper details an analysis of BBC reporting of the proposed links between MMR and autism. The study aimed to identify main issues arising from the media reports into the link between MMR and the development of autism, and how these contribute to common understandings about people with autism. The study employed a form of discourse analysis to…

Open and distance education has integrated quality assurance processes since its inception. Recently, the increased use of distance teaching systems, technologies, and pedagogies by universities without a distance education heritage has enabled them to provide flexible learning opportunities. They have done this in addition to, or instead of,…

This paper investigates the nature of texts produced for assessment at the highest level of advanced academic literacy: PhD theses. Eight theses from within a single department (Agricultural Botany) at a British university are the subject of study, and the contexts in which these texts were written are investigated through interviews with the…

How should the relationship between immediate interaction and verbal convention be understood? The present article argues that dialogism transcends the distinction between interactionist and constructionist social theories of written communication, as presented by Nystrand and colleagues. The theoretical argument is illustrated by a study of one…

Pairs of students from two age groups made choropleth maps using Arc View. Evidence from their discourse is used to assess aspects of their cartographic understanding as well as the nature of their collaboration. Students from both age groups spent a high percentage of their time talking about cartographic strategy and a low percentage of time on…

This essay analyzes contemporary temporary employment texts and the competing rhetorical definitions that shape the meanings of employment and identity in the contingent economy. Arguing against resistant labor rhetoric that is ill-suited to present conditions of temp work, the author locates and advocates a rhetoric of "performativity" that…

The success of policies to attract adults back to the learning of mathematics, at various levels, is often linked to questions of motivation. However, motivations depend on relevant beliefs, attitudes and emotions about mathematics--which themselves reflect, together with experiences with maths in school and in the home, wider cultural discourses…

This article draws on two previous studies by the authors, both based on interviews with European-American individuals, to document white experiences with multiculturalism, race, and cultural differences. We consider recent developments in research on whiteness and offer a perspective on racial identities defined as discursively enacted…

This article explores the use of discourse analysis and conversation analysis as an evaluation tool in problem-based learning. The basic principles of the methods are discussed and their application in analysing talk in problem-based learning considered. Findings suggest that these methods could enable an understanding of how effective…

This study explored how asynchronous discussion supported by a Web-based learning system facilitated collaborative learning. The participants in this study consisted of the instructor, facilitators, and the students in a master's level course at a university in the south. Different sources of evidence were used in the study (individual/group…

Research into press reporting on young people has tended to concentrate on young people as offenders. In contrast, this article focuses on press coverage of teenagers as victims. Reports in two Swedish newspapers (a morning broadsheet and an evening tabloid) were studied over a period of four months and subjected to a qualitative analysis of…

Through successive rounds of negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) encourages countries to commit their higher education system to the mandates of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The WTO is an organization committed to the aggressive trade liberalization of services like higher education. This ideology, known as…

Using a blend of social constructionism, critical feminism, and dialogue theory, the discourse of nine Manitoba superintendents is examined to determine if it illustrates particular gendered assumptions regarding superintendents' leadership style. Qualitative inquiry and analysis methods were utilized to identify emerging themes, or topics of…