The ability to use written language to communicate receptively (i.e., reading) and expressively (i.e., writing) is important in school, work, and independent living. Students who struggle early with reading have difficulty catching up with their peers as they move through school and in academic areas that rely on reading proficiency. Individuals…

Describes the Experience Sampling Method, a quasi-naturalistic method that involves signaling research subjects at random times throughout the day, and asking them to report on the nature and quality of their experience. Discusses the method's applications and value in research topics in organizational settings; with mass and mediated…

This study examined the use of dual communication boards for teaching appropriate communication responses to three deaf-blind high school students. Students were able to use the boards with 100% accuracy in three communication routines in both school and community environments. (Author/DB)

Communication prostheses are critical components of the nonvocal child's communication process, but are only one component. This article focuses on the steps involved in communicative interaction processes and the potential barriers to the development of effective interaction and analysis of nonvocal communicative interactions. A discussion of the…

Describes the author's research that explores the role of language, particularly texts, in the engineering design process. Notes that results of this case study support a new "mediated" model of engineering design as an inventional activity in which designers use talk, written language, and other symbolic representations as tools to think about…

Discusses uninhibited behavior in computer-mediated communication (CMC), or flaming, and describes a study that examined the social context in which flaming occurs by analyzing messages posted during one week to four Usenet social newsgroups that represented different national and cultural groups. Results confirm that social context is the primary…

Investigates the interactional rhythmicity among a group of four people and presents a new analytic model involving two parameters, floor and time. The model is used to further investigate the emic meaning of interactional rhythm and cross-cultural differences. (47 references) (GLR)

Fort Hays State Univesity offers a hybrid basic communication course. Competent speakers need to master public speaking skills (including suitable interpersonal skills), demonstrate nonverbal behaviors which support the verbal message, and be able to listen with literal and critical comprehension. However, increasing numbers of schools teach only…

Facilitated communication is described as a method of training communication partners or facilitators to provide physical assistance to communication aid users, to help them overcome physical and emotional problems in using their aids. In Melbourne (Victoria, Australia), the DEAL (Dignity, Education and Language) Centre has identified 96 people…

Divided into two sections, this report describes research on the range and degree of assessment of students' communication skills in colleges and universities and includes the following findings: (1) of the 384 respondents from college speech communication departments, 45 reported using large-scale, uniform testing of students; (2) these…

Significant progress has been made to enhance the oral English proficiency of International Teaching Assistants (ITAs), with the greatest strides being made in the linguistic aspects but little attention being paid to cultural communication and pedagogical dimensions. A survey of ITAs in the chemistry, mathematics, and physics departments at…

Uses the metaphor of "performance" from an interpretive perspective as a guide to understanding the nature of managerial communication. Develops three managerial processes of "rationality,""sociability," and "authority" and illustrates these processes with observational data from a field study of managerial…

Discusses outcomes assessment. Describes the Boise State Project, a comprehensive outcomes assessment study of alumni of the Department of Communication spanning a 20-year period, 1970-1989. Discusses conceptualization and design, methodology, analysis of data, general survey findings, and conclusions. (SR)

Describes the use of the Communication Anxiety Graph (CAG) to help students trace the pattern of their anxiety when making a speech. Also reports the results of a study using the CAG. Provides advice for student speakers based on when their anxiety peak may occur. (PD)

Describes the use of video tutoring for distance education within the context of a post-graduate teacher training course at the University of Exeter. Analysis of the tapes used a protocol based on non-verbal communication research, and findings suggest that the interaction of participants was significantly different from face-to-face…