The data reported by Avery and his colleagues do not support their challenge to the construct validity of empathic understanding ratings. It is argued here that empathic understanding ratings should demonstrate "correspondence" and independence. (Author)

The cumulative results of the studies of the three verbal interaction styles provide convincing evidence of the reality and potential usefulness of this distinction among counseling orientations of rehabilitation counselors. (Author)

Physiological and self-reported reactions of counselors in training to five disabled clients and a minority client were examined. Implications for counselor practice, education, and in-service education are discussed. (Author)

Examined mothers' provision of novel and familiar toy animals during play interactions with infants at ages 0;10, 1;1, 1;5, and 1;9. Analyses indicated that mothers facilitated their children's determination of reference and differentially adjusted their naming practices to novel, comprehended, and familiar animals. Results indicate that maternal…

Focuses on communicative language-teaching (CLT), which holds that language-learning is learning to communicate and that it encourages students to communicate from the beginning. CLT creates communicative needs by implementing task-based activities in the classroom, e.g., self-introductions, obtaining information, and social small talk. (eight…

This study observed 65 friendship/acquaintance dyads, half of which involved one child with learning problems, among preadolescent children during play. Unlike friendships between children without disabilities, friendships involving a disabled child were marked by limited collaboration and shared decision making, a low level of cooperative play…

Focuses on two primary meanings of the term interaction in the second-language (L2) context: face-to-face interaction in which two or more people create meaning, and the creative interaction between the reader and the text. Argues that many claims related to the value of L2 spoken interaction can apply equally well to L2 reading. (94 references)…

Endorses the position that fabricated discourse presented as nonfictional in nature is a model of ordinary talk, which is relied upon to convince an audience of its verisimilitude. The purpose of the article is to document the strategies used in a puppet show, "The Sooty Show," and to demonstrate their effectiveness in generating a sense…

Reviews Deborah Tannen's collection of essays, "Gender and Discourse." The review maintains that this collection is padded with anecdotes but provides little evidence of the research supposedly underlying this work. It is concluded that what is needed in a discussion of gender and discourse is a methodology in which linguistic features…

Explores the relationship between scientists' orientation to one another and to an experimental apparatus, analyzing as data a videotaped authentic interaction among co-workers in a chemistry laboratory. Demonstrates how the scientists display systematic orientation to the apparatus as their common spatial point of reference and the physical…

This study compared the prosodic characteristics of parental language targeted to children with Down syndrome and children with other etiologies of mental retardation. Results showed that parents of children with Down syndrome showed prosodic characteristics more typical of infant-directed speech than did parents of other children with mental…

This article describes use of "comic strip conversations," a type of social story adapted for younger students or those with limited verbal communication skills. It utilizes simple symbols, stick figures, and color to identify key elements of a social interaction. Three steps to implementing the technique are explained and illustrated with…

This article describes the current training and certification procedures in place for linguistic interpreters, the continuum of interpreter roles, and how interpreters' perspectives may influence the interpretive interaction. The specific skills needed for interpreting in either health care or educational settings are identified. A table compares…

Describes an approach to helping trainee teachers in England ask questions effectively in the English second language classroom. The approach is based on a method of categorizing questions intended to systematically show the main options and to lead naturally towards a consciousness-raising discussion of important aspects of teacher-student…

Discusses the dominant paradigm for analyzing interactions, Conversation Analysis (CA), pointing out that the paradigm does not include participant intention in its analysis. Notes that CA practitioners focus on empirical investigations of what the participants are doing and how they are doing it and that the understanding of an utterance is…