This study investigates topic units and suggests some practical applications to the teaching of composition to native speakers and second language learners. A topic unit is a structural unit beyond the sentence. It is composed of clauses and consists of two parts -- a head proposition and a set of comments. The head proposition consists of the…

This volume contains six articles. In "Integrational Linguistics as a Basis for Contrastive Studies," Hans-Heinrich Lieb discusses the problems associated with complex contrastive analysis. Hanne Martinet's "A Functional and Contrastive Analysis of Attributive Adjectives Endings in '-ant' and in '-ende' in French and Danish,…

This paper examines what devices a speaker of English uses to produce continuous language, and how such devices are used in English. (CLK)

An account of a research project based on the psycholinguistic theory of reading. Its purpose was to isolate, analyze and directly compare the use of syntactic, semantic and discourse constraints by readers of French either as a first or as a second language. (AMH)

The use of "interpretative tasks" is advocated in the teaching of short stories. Such tasks encourage learners to explore stories beyond the level of pure narrative and also encourage development of a "feel" for creative uses of English in literature. (Author/CB)

Presents the results of a one-year longitudinal analysis of the interlanguage of an adult acquiring English without formal instruction. Observations of the form-function relationships in the early interlanguage are included as well as the ways these relationships change over the 12 months of the study. (SL)

Presents the results of an investigation into how native speakers of English provide corrective feedback to errors in conversation with their nonnative speaker friends. Native speakers responded to errors by using either on-record or off-record corrective feedback and several noncorrective discourse devices to repair conversational difficulties.…

Examines the interaction of teachers and learners in their various activities along a continuum that extends from instructional to natural discourses and is determined by the way participants present themselves to one another and negotiate turns-at-talk, topics, and repairs. Suggests ways to broaden and diversify discourse options in the…

Discusses the suggestion that certain features of "real life" language use must be incorporated in any assessment of a foreign language learner's communicative competence. The validity of current assessment schemes, such as role play tasks, is discussed, and a case study of a role play testing situation is reported. (SED)

Reviews various approaches to the description of conversation and discusses the role of conversational discourse dimensions. Mentions the participants' assumptions about conversation and strategies, in relation to the acquisition of conversation skills in a second language. Also examines the effects of transfer of L1 conversational norms into a…

Focuses on some positions advanced by Firth and Wagner in a preceding article regarding research in second language acquisition (SLA). Argues that if the microanalytic tools of conversation analysis were incorporated into a language socialization approach to SLA, it would be possible to reconstruct links between second language discourse and the…

Based on a variety of recorded classroom data, this article focuses on language teachers' classroom explanations and suggests that teacher talk in the form of explanations can be a source of valuable language input for learners. The article emphasizes that in language teaching, explaining is a central and difficult part of any teacher's work. (38…

Argues that presentations in second language conferences should not be read because written discourse is too difficult for the audience to understand, whereas spoken discourse normally has a great deal of repetition to ensure that the main points are successfully transferred. Points out that read presentations are dull and inflexible, difficult to…

Analyzes second language oral proficiency interviews, including a case study and a contrastive discourse analysis. Findings indicate that the case study interviews are conducted according to a procedural script and that oral proficiency questions formulated for the other interviews are based on the interactional discourse characteristic of…

Investigates variation in knowledge construction in three disciplines--sociology, economics, and physics--by drawing on Halliday' s notion of "metaphenomenon." Specifically, the study analyzed the frequency and type of agentive elements in textbooks to find the extent to which knowledge in these disciplines is attributed to individual scholars,…