Volume 2020, Issue 72

The goal of text-procedure-oriented writing instruction models is to foster metalinguistic awareness, but they lack a sound theoretical foundation for the concept of metalinguistic awareness. In response to this, this paper discusses theories from the field of metalinguistic awareness research, which are then used to develop a text-procedure-orientated writing instruction model. Using a mixed methods approach which combines inferential statistics, corpus analysis and the in-depth analysis of individual cases, the writing instruction model was evaluated, and the texts produced by the students were analyzed in conjunction with their collaborative writing dialogues (since these document the genesis of the texts) to examine the relationship between metalinguistic awareness and academic writing competence.

This paper examines the relationship between accommodation processes and social norms in varietal choice within tertiary education in Austria. The investigation consists of (a) a content analysis of metalinguistic statements in semi-structured interviews and (b) a variable rule analysis of actual language variation in university lectures. The findings show that there are norms prescribing that listeners must have at least be able to comprehend a particular variety, whereas accommodation to actual language use does not appear to be required to the same extent. However, the norms depend strongly on group membership: while there is a norm prescribing the use of the standard variety in the presence of speakers of German as a foreign language, there is no such norm for Austrians vis-à-vis people from Germany, although speakers from both groups may lack the ability to understand the respective nonstandard varieties. This difference can be explained by the sociocultural context and differing language attitudes.

The article focuses on methodological issues of practice-oriented discourse research and suggests several methodological approaches to assess conversational practice. It makes an argument for the relevance of assessing conversational practice and for why aspects of good practice should be included more systematically in the analyses by way of considering objectives in the examined practice domains. We provide examples of different institutional fields (mostly doctor-patient and lawyer-client interaction) and discuss how actual communicative practices can be assessed with methods of discourse analysis. We thus aim to expand the methodological spectrum of conversation research by including matters of immediate social interest and aspects that are relevant for practitioners.

The current research in the field of argumentation in school contexts predominantly focuses on the development of oral and written argumentation skills and interventions to improve students’ argumentative skills, while comparative studies of argumentative practices in different modes, particularly the linguistic features of oral versus written argumentative practices, are still rare. To close this gap, our study investigates argumentative oral and written practices of students in secondary school to answer the question whether the mode has an influence on the use of specific procedures and linguistic features. We examined how students express their stance on a controversial issue linguistically ( Positionierung ) by analyzing a small corpus of argumentative discussions and letters by 12 th grade students. The results of the study show that while students use similar procedures and linguistic features in both modes, they are more varied and multifaceted in discussions, i. e. oral communication, than in letters, i. e. written communication.