This annotated bibliography lists books, articles, and other related sources dealing with the areas of Asian culture and communication. The 87 citations are organized under the following headings: (1) Asian Culture and Communication (in general); (2) China; (3) Japan; and (4) Korea. (HB)

This research disproves the hypothesis that less-skilled comprehenders are less able to take advantage of constraints at all levels of structure. Five studies used self-paced reading, meaning probe judgment, recall, and sentence and word recognition tasks to examine the effect of supportive discourse contexts on sentence processing in skilled and…

This paper describes a writing program designed for graduate students at the Smith College School for Social Work, and also a research project undertaken to identify and analyze the distinctive writing needs of this graduate school population. A major finding was that, although faculty understand the importance of argument and identify it as the…

An advanced writing course required of English education majors may also be taken by students in the humanities. The course helps students gain experience with longer and more complex essays, develop a more mature writing style, and learn how to make metacognitive evaluations of their own and others' writing. It also extends the contexts and…

Interviews with executives, managers, and entry-level engineers and analysts in 15 large corporations from both technical and nontechnical fields yielded sociolinguistic information about some of the writing problems young professionals have. The first of the problems is the familiar case in which the writer uses overly elaborate syntax and…

Introduction: The aim of the study reported is to examine user discourses identified in the Swedish public library field. The following questions are posed: What user discourses can be found and what characterises them? How are users categorised and what does this categorisation imply? The departure point in this paper is that the ways users are…

A literature class can be successfully taught and organized around content that confronts oppressions (subtle, moral and intellectual forms of discrimination) and empowers students to critique their conceived worlds which are often at odds with their perceived realities. First, selected writings for examination illuminate life in a resistant world…

The metaphor of community has become central to discussions about reading, writing, and teaching. According to this metaphor, an individual learns a discourse through entering into the community that uses it, and by accepting the practices and values of those already in it. Yet an argument can be raised for a definition of discourse that is not…

Investigates the effects of writing ability and mode of discourse on cognitive capacity engagement across three stages of the composing process, noting that writing ability differentially affected cognitive capacity engagement across discourse modes when using the secondary-task method. (HOD)

Explores creating a thesaurus from a cognitive viewpoint, based on a system that organizes its knowledge representation/classification according to the authors' and users' images of the subject domain, in order to increase user-text interaction. Discusses the general framework, methods for implementing author-text structures, and an approach…

Discusses the state of Victoria's (Australia) policy of mainstreaming English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL). Argues that the notion of mainstreaming has not been adequately addressed by research in this area. Explores the epistemological authority of an ESL teacher when planning curricula with a science teacher. Examines the importance of…

Outlines a collaborative writing exercise designed to help students develop position statements for persuasive essays. Notes that this exercise helps students adopt the discursive style and language of the academic community, as well as develop reader-based arguments. (MM)

Explores how written text emerges from classrooms and wider socio-cultural contexts by examining writing in art, English, biology, sociology, history, and geography classes in a London secondary school. Asserts that writing is a mode of inquiry embracing a variety of language transactions as students make meaning of their world. (MM)

Investigates the use of questions in medical texts. Six medical journals were studied; a large number of questions were found, particularly in editorials and letters. The paper discusses their uses in the organization of discourse and as part of the rhetorical devices used by the authors. (seven references) (Author/LR)

Considers the attempts of some rhetors, when accused publicly through news media, to shift blame onto the reporting media by questioning their coverage. Defines this strategy as a "role imbalance attack" that deflects criticism away from a rhetor. Discusses the factors influencing the success of this strategy. (HB)