A framework for analyzing and evaluating classroom interaction is proposed that links the social and psychological purposes underlying the communication with resultant discourse in terms of patterns of interaction. (76 references) (JL)

A Polish study of foreign language (FL) interactional discourse concludes that strategic competence, consisting of the use of communication strategies in interactional discourse, plays a relatively unimportant role in the performance of low proficiency FL learners who are not used to taking part in interaction. (27 references) (LB)

Two beginning learners of English were followed over a two-year period. In the early stages of acquisition, both developed a common learner variety determined by minimal requirements of the required tasks. One learner developed further morphosyntactic means to achieve greater cohesion in discourse but the other did not. Implications are discussed.…

Investigated ways in which different writing tasks influence quality and quantity of foreign language composition, as well as writing strategies used by American college students when composing in Japanese as a foreign language. Study proposed to compare qualitative and quantitative differences between descriptive and narrative writing tasks; to…

Studies on comprehensible input generally emphasize how input is made comprehensible to the nonnative speaker by examining native speaker speech or teacher talk in the classroom. This paper uses Hong Kong secondary school data to show that only when modification devices involve learner participation do they serve as indicators of comprehensible…

An examination of approaches to analyzing speech reporting, found that the various approaches fall into two broad categories: traditional, emphasizing the syntactic dimension; and discourse pragmatic, emphasizing the interaction of syntactic, pragmatic, and stylistic factors. A model is proposed and applied to learner varieties of English and…

Argues that translation can be an effective learning tool for English speakers learning Chinese if semantic and discourse analysis are incorporated. Examples are given to illustrate various problems in such translation, including the division between state and action verbs, and the nonuse of -LE with verbs in past meaning. (15 references) (JL)

Reports on a two-phase study of second-language learner use of listener feedback, particularly their use of clarification questions in native speaker-nonnative speaker discourse. (29 references) (JL)

A review of data collection methods used in 39 studies of interlanguage pragmatics, focusing on the validity of different types of data resulting from discourse completion, role play, observation of authentic speech, and multiple approaches, concludes that caution is needed in determining the true validity of the collected data. (72 references)…

A review of research on second language (L2) speech looks at four issues of process and product: whether speech is different from writing; whether oral discourse patterns differ from one language to another; whether L2 speaker oral skills differ significantly from native speakers'; and how L2 speech develops. (MSE)

Reviews Faerch and Kasper's model (1983) of communication strategies and demonstrates that it is too rigid to have a sound psychological foundation. The article argues for more emphasis on studying learners' strategies from a discourse analyst's perspective and touches on the interrelation between language, culture, and personality in verbal…

Reports the results of a three-year qualitative observation study of a Japanese foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) program. The observation was analyzed from the sociocultural point of view led by Vygotsky, which treats learning through social guidance and motivation as central to an account of language development. (Author/JL)

Employs the Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) analytic framework to produce pictorial representations of lengthy Chinese and Australian news journal text. Results demonstrate the feasibility of using the RST framework in this type of analysis. (Author/VWL)

Examines the discussion of results in medical research articles to determine the strategies used by the writers to persuade the readers that their research is either new or a development of previous work and that their study is a contribution to a specialist field. Twenty-four research articles were analyzed using Swales moves analysis as well as…

Discusses gendered-discourse in the foreign language classroom. Presents research suggesting that boys do not necessarily always dominate and that girls create learning opportunities for themselves and are able to utilize those provided by the teacher. (Author/VWL)