Analyzes children's verbal disputes for the development of discourse markers "because,""so,""and,""but," and "well." Shows that the markers were primarily used to mark the exchange structure of discourse when they were first used by children two years seven months to three years six months and that the first markers to do so were "but" and…

Studies the discourse competence of mentally retarded residents of a group home by examining their arguments. Shows how their arguments exhibited useful patterns and gave evidence of being an acceptable and sought after discourse genre. Outlines the features of the residents' argument patterns. (HB)