This article is a response to a request to consider the following three questions in relation to the recent history of research into student learning in higher education: What do we know?, What do we need to know?, and What might we do about it? A survey of article titles reporting on research into student learning was carried out in three key…

Describes how linguistic analysis can change the computer from a generator of data that can be used to develop a critical analysis to a tool that provides a means to explore the processes and inputs that generate different interpretations of literary works. Illustrates this concept by analyzing a Shakespearean sonnet. (CFR)

To investigate the speech of black college students for nonfluencies--linguistic elements breaking the flow of words or ideas--and to ascertain if students' attendance of a largely black or largely white university influenced their use of nonfluencies, 21 black students at a predominantly black university and 25 black students at a predominantly…

Maintains that linguistics has great potential value for historians. Contends that the pidgin and creole languages of the former colonies of European nations provide avenues for examining the histories of "people without history." (CFR)

Argues that psycholinguistics relies on a number of methodologies that bear little relation to actual language comprehension. Maintains that computer software illustrating classic experiments in psycholinguistics can introduce students to these techniques. The software examines experiments concerning reaction time, reading time, and recognition.…

This journal is an international review for researchers and teachers of modern Celtic languages. This volume contains seven articles. There are three research articles: "Issues in the Design of Irish Credited Courses" (Thomas W. Ihde); "Learning Irish for Participation in the Irish Language Speech Community outside the…

Utilizes Uwe Poerksen's concept of "plastic words" to examine and criticize the preeminence given to research in art education. "Plastic words" refers to vague technical jargon that suggests meaning without actually providing it (e.g., development, process, goal-setting). Argues that this usage inherently corrupts and diverts any productive…

Explores the extent that sociological concepts have been incorporated into the vernacular of U.S. society and the impact of sociological techniques on politics and society. Study tracked frequency of selected sociological terms in the popular press. Identifies a danger of sociology becoming too popular and losing its credibility. (MJP)

Discusses concepts of social agency, cultural mediation, and constitutive action for understanding inequality in schools. Describes the sociolinguistic argument about the structure of language, the interpretive school, and the demands of capitalism. Urges transcending the macro-micro or structure-agency dualism by demonstrating the situated…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the communication training needs of managers in large businesses; (2) sociolinguistic signals of role in university office-hour interactions; (3) the determinants of participation in…