Describes discourse development in the sign language of 24 profoundly deaf children. Findings indicate children were acquiring appropriate discourse strategies comparable to those used by hearing children in spoken conversations and adult deaf signers. (DF)

Three experiments conducted with normal adults in both Israel and the United States show that the answers people give to questions vary with the category of the target and its distance. (FL)

Uses eight languages in five distinct linguistic areas to examine two hypotheses regarding text generation and analysis and to illustrate their reciprocity relative to narrative discourse. Demonstrates how these hypotheses yield salience schemes and constituent analysis which mutually corroborate and correct each other. (KEH)

Concludes that children's discourse production is organized according to a schema that is discourse specific but modality general. (FL)

Compares interactional rules in the lessons of a teacher who taught in a culturally congruent way and one who did not. Concludes that control over topic of discussion was maintained only by the teacher who used culturally congruent interactional patterns, and that the lessons of the other teacher were frequently sidetracked because of conflicts…