Refers to an article by H. Sopher entitled "Discourse Analysis as an Aid to Literary Interpretation." Argues that such interpretations are more clearly supported by a surface structure analysis. Proposes a different approach based on the use of grammatical and syntactic features. (Author/MES)

Builds up a profile of causal development in 10-year-olds based on their recall of history and science texts in which the amount of causal connectivity differed. Finds that causal connections play an important role in expository text recall, and that subjects who have a strong causal profile also, generally, perform well in English. (PA)

Describes a model that displays structures necessary to map between the conceptual and external levels in database management systems, using an algorithm that maps the syntactic representations of tuples onto semantic representations. A technique for translating tuples into natural language sentences is introduced, and a system implemented in…

Reports on two experiments examining the influence of intensity (the quality of language indicating the speakers'/writers' attitude toward their topic) on inferential processing. Finds that high-intensity passages triggered inference making during recall more readily than did the texts low in intensity. (SR)

Explores four views of the role of interclausal connectives as a set of linguistic devices that help the reader interpret a narrative text. Finds that interclausal connectives carry meaning, connect textual meaning at both local and global levels, and mark discourse continuity and discontinuity both in the text and as inferred by the reader. (SR)

Describes a study designed to determine the differential effects of text with and without logical linguistics connectives (e.g., because, since, as a result) on developmental college readers' comprehension. Results strongly suggest that text with explicit connectives facilitates readers' ability to make inferences. Discusses implications for…

The present experiments investigate the influence of modifier relation frequency and discourse context on the interpretation of novel noun-noun phrases (as measured by both the ease of interpretation and the types of interpretations that are provided). We assess whether people access knowledge about the relations with which the modifier is…

Pronominal referencing was evaluated in a sample of 569 children comprising four diagnostic subgroups: typical language (TL), specific language impairment (SLI), nonspecific language impairment (NLI), and typical language with low nonverbal IQ (LNIQ). Participants generated oral narratives in second grade and again in fourth grade. The narratives…

The structure of natural conversations in first-grade classrooms is the focus of this inquiry. Analyses of a particular type of discourse, namely, connected conversations initiated and sustained by questioning, suggest that the probability that a conversation will be continued may be expressed as a simple exponential function. (Author/RM)

This essay explores the metaphors of language and conversation as a way to connect thought and action in understanding teaching. The goal of the essay is to look more closely at the influence of context and situation on the conversation of teachers--not only a means of interaction, communication, and thought but also a type of relationship with…

Kuno's direct discourse analysis is examined and rejected, and the Prague School concepts of theme and rheme are shown to be relevant to Kuno's data and additional data. It is further shown that an incompatible application of two or more transformations produces sentences that tend to be bad. (SC)

It is contended that there are such things as discourse blocs, and that they are composed of discourse units glued together into a contextuated whole by bloc signals. There are three kinds of structures with which it is necessary to deal in order to discuss coherent discourse: the discourse bloc, the discourse unit, and the bloc signal.…

THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ASSOCIATIVELY RELATED NOUNS EMBEDDED IN CONNECTED DISCOURSE--AT LEAST IN THE CASE OF ITEMS THAT APPEAR IN THE SAME OR IN CONTIGUOUS SENTENCES--ARE STORED MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN ASSOCIATIVELY UNRELATED NOUNS. A 2X2 FACTORIAL DESIGN WAS EMPLOYED (WITH 20 SS IN EACH GROUP) IN WHICH SS WERE ASKED TO…

The author describes a program in guided writing instruction designed to help beginning students of English prepare for enrollment in American universities. The lessons were planned to develop the students' mechanics (the ability to spell, punctuate, and follow grammatical conventions), and some degree of competency (what to say, how to organize…

Information necessary to understand many English sentences appears to be supplied by a source outside the sentence which is composed of a fund of knowledge accumulated throughout life. This fund of knowledge may be visualized and a conceptual network into which the incomplete information supplied by a sentence can be mapped, thus making it…