Criticizes traditional methods of defining the syntactical complexity of utterances and proposes distinguishing the various types of subordination in the sentence as well as elements of continuity and discontinuity in discourse structure, with particular reference to child language. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

This article discusses the discourse functions of relativization. Relativization is seen as an instance of the application of "bracketing" devices used in the organization of information. Syntactic structure is thus seen as a component of, and derivative from, discourse structure. (CLK)

This paper uses data from two mathematics lessons to explore the nature of progressive discourse and examine critical features of teacher actions that contribute to mathematics classrooms functioning as communities of inquiry. Features found to promote progressive discourse include a focus on the conceptual elements of the curriculum and the use…

Asking how what an individual knows shapes the ways in which he or she reads, this book starts from the premise that any productive theory of narrative must take into account the presuppositions the reader brings to the text. The book explores how prior knowledge of literary conventions influences the processes of interpretation and evaluation. It…

Special admissions programs may offer access into higher education for students who, for various reasons, do not meet the institutions' standard admissions criteria. Once the special admissions status has been granted, these programs provide support to these students. This paper is not a critique of special admissions programs in general or…

This paper describes a specific form of qualitative research--narrative inquiry. In this form of research, peoples' stories become the data. The paper explores the power of narrative inquiry as a "heretical" research method and how it can be used to examine stakeholders' experiences and beliefs related to transforming a system; for example, the…

Despite three decades of research on African American English (AAE), educational workshops aimed at improving the academic achievement, particularly the literacy achievement, of African American students still emphasize differences between Standard English and African American English. One result is that teachers may overlook the linguistic…

This study used Bloom's Taxonomy in conjunction with new and emerging research paradigms, such as discourse analysis, to examine the outcomes of online science instruction in various biomedical science courses (i.e., histology, histopathology, physiology, microbiology, and farm animal anatomy). By combining quantitative and qualitative data, a…

The development of a scientifically literate society is dependent upon effective communication. Accordingly, the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, which defines science literacy goals for United States students K-12, contains an entire section on communication skills. One of the skills described in the Benchmarks is that "students should be able to…

The articles in this collection offer rich and provocative views, backed by research and intensive classroom experience, of science and mathematics and teaching and learning. In particular, they explore some combination of the following: (1) science and mathematics as discourses; (2) students' home- and culturally-based ways of knowing, talking,…

This paper traces the range of literacy events that occur in one cybercommunity whose members are participants in the ongoing role play, "Cybersphere." A sample text produced by users within the community serves as the focus for critical analysis and offers a rich example of the ways in which language is being used within cyberculture.…

One especially productive avenue of research is the close analysis of classroom talk. In the micro-ethnographic approach used in this study, conversation is not simply a metaphor, but becomes the unit of analysis. For the study, one key element to the functioning of thinking communities is the way they are co-constructed by participants. While all…

This article examines how participants in an interview use different linguistic and social resources in order to construct multiple, complex self-representations. It discusses interviews from a critical discourse perspective. In particular, it suggests that interviews are sites of struggle where individuals strive to construct representations of…

A study investigated the involvement strategies present in the textual conversations of four graduate students enrolled in a fully online graduate course in language education. The students interacted through an asynchronous interactive computer conferencing system that allowed communication from two continents. Two 2-week ongoing discussions were…