Summarizes the current state of research in conversation analysis, referring primarily to six different perspectives that have developed from the philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and linguistics disciplines. These include pragmatics; speech act theory; interactional sociolinguistics; ethnomethodology; ethnography of communication; and…

The relationship between teachers' theories of language and learning and the nature of classroom discourse is explored. Data from two classes on Aborigine lifestyles suggest that there are three components functioning in all lessons: interpersonal, content, and metalanguage. The quality of the metalanguage component influences the overall quality…

An analysis is presented of the speech act sequence of indirect complaint/commiseration in conversational interactions between Japanese learners of English as a Second Language and their English-speaking peers. Consequences of nonsubstantive, noncommiserative responses are explored in light of missed opportunities for interaction. (46 references)…

Suggests that second language classrooms need to account for the discourse processes involved in learning a second language as well as in the fostering of an interactive reading of literature. Proposes a new stance on literature in the foreign language classroom based on the defamiliarization theory. (Contains 18 references.) (CAK)

A discussion of speech behavior and social distance outlines the major ways in which the study of rules of speaking can provide insights into the norms and values of a speech community. It shows ways in which the same material can provide information about the interaction process and the situations in which interlocutors negotiate their…

Approaches used by linguists to examine the way in which speakers or writers modify their commitment to the propositional content of their utterances are discussed, and it is noted that a frequent criticism is the failure of inexperienced speakers or writers to modulate their utterances properly. This paper considers economic reports and in…

Using as an example indirect discourse in English, the article shows in detail how the introduction of "pragma-linguistic dimensions" requires a different approach from that of the traditional pedagogy, for teaching FL with communicative ability as the chief goal. Concrete teaching suggestions are given. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Reviews the research on ageing, focusing on issues of multi-disciplinarity versus inter-disciplinarity; research orientations to "subject" populations; ethical imperatives in language research; interactivity; and linguistic versus ideological perspectives. Makes a case for considering research on language and ageing as falling within an…

Reviews research in the field of language and gender from the 1970s through the 1990s, observing that language and gender research has moved away from variationist studies to broad-based ethnographic investigations and examinations of discourse and conversation where language is studied in communicative context. An annotated bibliography discusses…

Twenty different monologues were analyzed; and the interrelating roles that clause relations, lexico-grammatical cohesion, and intonation choices play in creating cohesive monologue were examined. It is argued that these linguistic resources can be exploited by speakers to signal underlying concepts and help listeners interpret the text. (Contains…

Discoursal construction is illustrated with 1 case (a 26-year old's academic essay) and then discussed in terms of Goffman's framework of self-representation through any form of social action. It is suggested that Critical Language Awareness, unlike other teaching/writing approaches, focuses explicitly on the discoursal construction of writer…

Discusses the application of pragmatic and discoursal principles to second-language acquisition (SLA). After critical examination of more traditionally oriented approaches, the article reanalyzes the process of SLA in an interactively oriented setting and applies the principle of "adjacency pair" to the context of SLA. The principle of…

Doctoral students' research presentations were investigated for the way in which the students articulated their rationales for data selection for their research projects. Rather than look for genre-related characteristics, though still working within the area of academic discourse (spoken), the objective of this study was to identify a set of…

This paper explores the difference between conversations of new acquaintances and those of established friends. Psycho- and sociolinguistic literature on the subject lacks a systematic grammatical and lexical approach to the analysis of distinguishing features. This paper describes a longitudinal study of the 1991-1992 Edinburgh University Applied…

Analysis of adult discussions reveals a lack of fit between pedagogical grammars and actual usage. (JH)