The four parts in this section present: (1) an advertisement based on the literary style of Emile Zola; (2) exercises designed to practice expressions of similarity and difference; (3) the transcript of a discussion on the problem of swamps; and (4) variations on the shopkeeper-customer dialogue. (AM)

Presents a language teaching method designed to increase communicative competence through an application of speech act theory and the use of dialogs and the source language. (AM)

Examines the role of redundancy, as a universal linguistic feature, in language learning and teaching. (Author/AM)

Explicates how teachers' control over classroom discourse patterns during teaching-learning activities influences the types of knowledge children create and acquire. Examines the relationship between two types of teacher-child discourse commonly used in early childhood classrooms and the semiotic tools children appropriate through participation in…

Investigates the role of language in adult numeracy classrooms, utilizing the resources of systemic functional linguistics and constructs derived from conversational analysis and ethnomethodology to examine how these classrooms are constructed in discourse. The study characterizes these classrooms as mixed-mode discourse sites and examines how…

Argues the need for an updated and explicit description of language teaching areas generated with reference to a detailed model of communicative competence. Describes two existing models of communicative competence and proposes a pedagogically motivated construct, which includes discourse, linguistic, actional, sociocultural and strategic…

A study analyzed the verbatim transcription of a videotaped literacy lesson in a heterogeneous middle-school urban classroom. Ways students participated in the literary discourse and teacher practices that supported students' participation are described. Findings indicate students with disabilities could acquire the discourse practices needed for…

Describes how improving mathematical arguments improves classroom discourse through a classroom activity. (YDS)

Describes a method for helping students evaluate ethical issues in a systematic way, based on Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Recommends the case-study approach for creating social constructs in which students face ethical dilemmas, and outlines a case-study ethics unit using Kohlberg's model. (MM)

Attempts to clarify the role of grammar in second-language instruction. It is suggested that changes in language teaching have encouraged the view that grammar is one of several dimensions along which learners need to progress to achieve greater proficiency but that it should not be dominant. (22 references) (CK)

Examines what should be the oral component of a foreign language course. Structural, interactive, generic, and contextual constraints are discussed in terms of their implications for teaching. (32 references) (Author/CK)

Traces the development of Languages for Specific Purposes in the United States, presents a rationale for its place within the foreign language curriculum, and offers an assessment of its research base. (212 references) (GLR)

Discusses Barrett Wendell's theory of discourse, including a critique of his definitions and an assessment of his discourse scheme. Challenges the image of Wendell as a technocrat who never rose above a consideration of style to examine more significant rhetorical issues. (MG)

Analyzes ways in which an experienced physics teacher uses questioning to guide student thinking during a benchmark discussion on measurement. Proposes that teachers may shift toward more reflective discourse by asking questions that help students clarify their meanings, consider various points of view, and monitor their own thinking. (Author/DKM)

Summarizes content analyses of verbatim transcripts of secondary chemistry lessons. Finds that the use of words with a metacognitive and metalinguistic function was generally limited in extent and simple and colloquial in expression and that the language of the enacted curriculum did not match the terminology of the official curriculum document.…