Examines the rhetorical situation of the modern freshman composition student in America, in light of nineteenth-century developments in rhetoric pedagogy and discourse classification conventions. (MS)

Describes an interdisciplinary writing course organized around the theme of language as used by individual disciplines. Reports a significant improvement in students' writing skills, exposure to a breadth of issues to which these skills might be applied in students' respective majors, and an enthusiastic response to the approach. (DMM)

Reviews the present status of the categories developed by the Writing Research Unit at the University of London for classifying discourse function. (HOD)

Shows the power of dramatistic writing, which uses representative anecdotes as well as argument and demonstration. Proposes that dramatism be taught as an alternate style, in addition to and in conjunction with argument. (EL)

Discusses the many ways in which conversation surfaces in a seventh-grade classroom and the significance that talk has for the students' linguistic and affective learning. Contains excerpts from student diaries and teacher responses to them. (HTH)

Describes a study that examined responses to contingent queries in two groups of young adults with IQs in the mild to moderately retarded range. One group exhibited pervasive developmental disorders; that is, they showed distortions in social relatedness and language use that could not be accounted for by mental retardation alone. (SED)

Considers the extent to which a testing task can be made authentic so that it constitutes an example of normal and natural language behavior on the part of both examiner and candidate. Also considers the effects on test validity and the correct interpretation of test results if a test cannot be made authentic. (SED)

An account of how the author's son began writing as a play activity, issuing tickets to neighbors, attempting to read and interpret signs, and participating in making shopping and duty lists in the household. Includes observational recommendations. (CRH)

Studies patterns of frequent mistakes in the use of articles in English by speakers of Hindi/Punjabi. The control over the definite and indefinite article is examined in relation to their forms and functions. The use of articles is also considered in complex noun phrases and different syntactic structures, and an attempt is made to establish a…

Explores the concept of language for learning or discovery and suggests that classrooms based on that principle offer more favorable climates for assessing both students' language and their learning. (DF)

Examines features of and sources for the discourse of Martin Luther King, Jr., as they relate to the language and assumptions favored by his listeners and readers in an effort to understand how speakers and writers can successfully argue from premises that audiences accept. Indicates how an understanding of King can help in composition…

Describes the complex multilingual situation that exists among the Tucanoan language groups in Columbia and Brazil, which illustrates interrelationships among cultural patterns and values, language attitudes, language use, and language survival. The groups are patrilineal and patrilocal; thus one's primary language is one's father's primary…

It is argued that second-language classroom communication is often limited by the lack of instructor use of tonic pronouns. Two uses of the pronoun form that should be used from the beginning of the second-language program to promote authentic communication are described. (MSE)

Reports on a study of mothers' uses of nouns and pronouns and their references to objects and persons as environmental variables which might relate to children's nominal preferences. Findings suggest that environmental factors do contribute to stylistic differences in language acquisition and that the communicative functions of language are an…

Examines the impact of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (1982) on minority groups in Canada, focusing on linguistic minorities and handicapped citizens. Considers each group in a political, economic, and social context, offering selected comparisons with the U.S. (DMM)