When designing a workshop about communication and stress, it is important to consider the medical definition--that stress is a physiological reaction to an external force that is interpreted by the individual--and the psychological definition--which suggests that through communication with self one can change the stress in one's life. Stress can…

Surveys experts to establish the importance of 87 content areas for an intercultural business communication course. Finds 22 of the content areas to be essential, 65 to be important, and none to be unimportant. (RS)

Suggests a program for teaching students with communication problems. Outlines in-class strategies supportive of a positive interpersonal climate and a sense of orderly purpose. Uses written dialogues between teacher and student and individual conferences. (JMF)

Since the elderly are a significant population of health care consumers, health care professionals should be trained to deliver health services to them as effectively and humanely as possible. While the primary tool for delivery of health care services to people is human communication, there is evidence that the communication between the providers…

Discusses a survey of business professionals and business teachers to determine the written communication problems of recent college graduates and solicits opinions about the content of the college business curriculum. (MH)

This case study compared the performance of teaching assistants (TAs) who were native speakers and nonnative speakers (NNS) of English during office hour consultations with undergraduates. Three nonnative- and two native-speaking TAs in the economics department of a major American university were videotaped during office hour consultations. The…

Testifying to the virtues of teaching at an all-women's college (Mills College, Oakland, California), a male tenured professor of communication and film acknowledges the necessity of making difficult decisions concerning course content and focus. Through several uncomfortable experiences, he has learned what it is like to be gender conscious; he…

To provide special instruction for students who report fear and avoidance of communication, a reticence program was instituted at Pennsylvania State University. Since the school has a general speech requirement that nearly all students have to meet in order to graduate, students are given an opportunity to enroll in this special section if they…

Developed for a course in social psychology, a guided design unit was created to help students explore the phenomena known as communication apprehension, reticence, and shyness. The social psychological theories introduced in the unit are belief theory, attribution theory, and perception theory. These theories are used to explain the phenomena…

An evaluative study examined the role communication scholars should play in the planning, development and teaching of peace studies courses. Numerous surveys indicate increased student concern over world communication and peace. The language and war metaphors being used by the various governments in the Persian Gulf crisis illustrate how the…

In order to determine the content of an organizational communication course, this study examined 26 textbooks in that field, according to the frequency of discussion of a topic and the number of pages devoted to a topic. The findings from that examination indicate that topics in organizational communicaton can be outlined under three course types:…

Communication courses have a unique role to play in the education of the adult or nontraditional student in a community college. Because these classes are often one of the introductory courses and academic success may, to a large extent depend on the ability to use oral communication skills in the classroom. Communication courses provide an…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The seven titles deal with the following topics: (1) the effects of a seven-hour communication training program on participant utilization of six components of communication style; (2) communication skills and cognitive processes in…

Describes some features of French business correspondence that contrast sharply with that of the American equivalent. Provides a sample syllabus for a commercial French course and lists sample vocabulary and phrases useful in business correspondence. (LMO)

Certain conventions governing administrative, faculty, and student conduct have come through tradition and common sense to be accepted generally in academe. Obviously, they do things differently at different institutions. But when Professor Barbier carefully details the standards of pedagogy, privacy, and ethics she encountered at a Canadian…