The authors, one a female student and the other a male teacher, argue that women in a male-dominated society are often silenced, even in the classroom. They describe and analyze the process of silencing as it occurred in their graduate seminar designed to explore the relationship between language and power. (Author/CH)

Indicates a periodic structure in the distribution of between-turn silences in two-party conversation, a finding that is inconsistent with current stochastic or signaling models, which view social interaction as an exchange of stimuli and responses. Finds that social interaction is fundamentally a collaborative activity. (JD)

Contrasts classroom questioning with questioning functions used in normal discourse and suggests ways in which teachers can promote more normal questioning exchanges in the second language classroom. (Author/MSE)

Examines the ideas in the parochial sermons of Thomas Cradock of Baltimore County, Maryland. Argues that Cradock's pulpit rhetoric expressed what Richard Weaver, a southern scholar, has called the "roots" of southern thinking. Claims that these roots had begun to develop even earlier than Weaver traces them and from a denominational…

Surveys research exemplars of performance studies by tracing their epistemological claims and methodological assertions through discussions of text, event, performer, and audience. Claims a paradigmatic relationship between oral interpretation and performance studies. (JD)

Respectively, three experiments indicate that (1) people can identify all the terminal units in stories as well as different kinds of episodic structure; (2) when attention was focused on the intermediate units, the Goal Path emerged in the judgments; and (3) the same judgments about terminal units were made even when the number of sentences per…

Reports on a study that used two approaches to examine how words are used to create meaning in written discourse in order to illuminate the differences among a group of essays written by 12 developing writers. (HTH)

Reports results of a study of the effects of rhetorical organization of different types of expository prose on intermediate English as a second language readers of different native languages. Certain English rhetorical patterns were easier to recall for nonnative readers in general but there were differences among the various native language…

Demonstrates the value of quantitative analysis of discourse options by focusing on two discourse options for the representation of cause and effect. (HTH)

Describes a study of what makes a statement important in a text. Results indicate that judgments of importance are determined, in part, by local linking of one event to another by causal and/or logical inferences. The results of these individual links is a network of events and event relations. (SED)

Describes a study that attempts to define what features of foreigner talk (FT) aid learner comprehension. Features investigated were: (1) a reduced rate of delivery, and (2) features of grammatical FT such as synonymy, hyperonomy, parallel syntactic structures, and paraphrase. Measures showed that the effect of reduced rates of delivery was…

Provides a structured overview of the techniques available for analyzing discourse. Reviews literature in the field and offers implications for reading instruction. (FL)

Argues that James L. Kinneavy's theory of discourse proposes standard written forms that do not exist in the abstract and absolute sense implied by the theory. Examines his discussions of the four aims and of the theoretical construct at the heart of his theory, arguing that it cannot serve adequately as a foundation principle for a theory of…

Introduces the notion of a "discourse world," that is, a set of elements against the background of which a unit of talk makes sense, and claims that several discourse worlds coexist in classroom discourse. The notion is interpreted in terms of frame theory and applied to classroom language learning. (SED)

Criticizes traditional discourse analysis and suggests some new ideas for describing and analyzing classroom interaction. Emphasizes the importance of the study of turn-taking and looks at the roles of teachers and learners. The uses of "repair" and correction are compared in a study of classroom communication and communication outside…