Evaluation in academic discourse has received considerable attention from researchers. Much of the work on evaluation has focused, however, on written genres, and less attention has been paid to how evaluation unfolds in spoken academic genres. In our present research, we are interested in disclosing how the interpersonal meaning of evaluation is…

Explores the possibility that the characterization of native speaker-nonnative speaker speech (NS-NNS) is too broadly conceived. Confirms earlier claims about NS-NNS interaction, but also offers evidence that the frequency of use of discourse modifications by NSs in conversation with NNSs is variable. (EKN)

The prosodic features of maternal speech to infants were measured quantitatively in a tonal language, Mandarin Chinese, to determine whether the features were similar to those observed in nontonal languages such as English and German. The pattern of results for Mandarin motherese was similar to that reported for other languages. (PCB)

A study examined 11 sociolinguistic interviews for insight into how the informant's verbosity affected the type and quantity of gestures and verbalized signals provided by the interviewer and reflect the listening process. Results suggest that informant loquacity does exert an important influence on production of these cues. (Author/MSE)

Describes three experiments that show that when requesting information, speakers estimate the greatest potential obstacles to compliance and try to overcome them through their choice of indirect, or conditional, requests. In selecting their request, speakers in most situations try to pinpoint the obstacles as specifically as they can. (SED)

Baby talk, also known as motherese or child-directed speech, refers to a set of speech modifications commonly found in the language adults use to address young children. The same functional motivations underlying adult speech to other adults also shape adult speech to children. These include pedagogy, control, affection, social exchange, and…

A study examined lexical density in interviews and conversation with the same subjects. Sixteen undergraduate and graduate students, members of religious, political, and/or cultural societies at Aston University (England), were interviewed in pairs by the university chaplain, who knew them. Immediately following each interview, the chaplain left…

Investigates the hypothesis that letters to lower-status recipients would consist of a greater number of more familiar modes than letters to higher-status recipients and that letters to recipients of high solidarity with the writer would consist of a greater number of more familiar modes than letters to recipients of low solidarity with the…

This analysis looks at the humorous use of second-speaker repeats to initiate conversational repair. It is proposed that consideration of joking repeats forces reanalysis of the organization of conversational repair. The preference analysis theory is rejected in favor of a locally governed analysis of conversational repair in which participants…

This dissertation presents a study of patterns of speech in Western Subanon, as heard in areas of Mindanao, an island in the Philippines. An introductory section discusses relevant general issues in linguistic research and the present study. The relationships of language to linguistics and of language to society, the objectives of the study, the…

A study of distinctive characteristics of the style in which people communicate in computer-mediated communication (CMC), focusing on use of politeness conventions, is reported. Aspects of the concept of "face" and politeness in social interaction are first reviewed, and threats to speaker's and hearer's face are outlined. The…

A study re-examined the hypothesis that an identifiable register of child-directed speech (motherese) contributes to child language acquisition. The hypothesis was studied from two perspectives: (1) that it has not been documented adequately at earlier ages; and (2) that individual differences in style of language acquisition interact with…

A study of mother-child interaction focused on the contingent responses children make to various mother strategies to elicit language and the mothers' frequency of using that tactic. The subjects were six normal and four retarded children, matched for general language skills, and their mothers. Mother-child interactions videotaped at home were…

Documented sex differences in speech and their significance are considered. The research literature on sex-differentiated speech reveals the influence of sex-role stereotypes and assumptions about the relation of speech to sex-differentiated socialization. The more substantiated differences form three clusters: (1) the production of esteemed…

A study investigated the variety of ways in which managers use language in sociolinguistically sensitive ways to get things done at work. Drawing on a database of over 300 interactions in a range of New Zealand workplaces, aspects of power (how things are accomplished), politeness (the importance of small talk), and solidarity (the difference…