The Levels of Verbal Intimacy Technique (LOVIT) is an instrument for the analysis of verbal statements along a continuum from most intimate to least intimate. It enables an observer to place all verbal statements in one of 10 categories along this intimacy continuum. The technique has been used in research. (Author)

The results of this study indicate that analysis of teachers' verbal behavior according to specific purposes reveals differences that are masked when the purpose is disregarded. (JD)

Examines patterns of oral communication in encounter groups and identifies three stages of group life: boundary-seeking, ambivalence and actualization. (MH)

Drawn from a 1978 Speech Communication Association seminar, this collection of papers and other materials explores the subject of argumentation as epistemology. The first paper reviews several critiques of traditional argumentation theories and offers directions for new theories, and the remaining eight papers offer responses to the ideas and…

When an interview is used as a research technique, the process of the dialogue between the experimenter and the subject is a part of the experimental conditions. The dialogue can be extensively structured, or it can be open-ended. Though the latter situation may provide more information about the subject's thought processes, there is a greater…

A study was conducted to develop and test a method for describing, in a systematic and quantifiable fashion, the nature of the interaction that takes place between a supervisor (e.g., principal or helping teacher) and a teacher. Tape recordings of 50 supervisor-teacher conferences were collected. They were analyzed by use of a 15-category…

As one of four research projects conducted to increase the amount of study focused on traditional nursery school (group day care centers) and family day care centers, this paper presents and tests two hypotheses: (1) that there would be more verbalizations and more movement in the family day care center, and (2) that there would be less movement…

The purpose of this study was to develop paradigms of verbal interaction for problem solving discussions. Taking selected definitions from previously published work, categories were built which classify verbal moves. Using the categories, models of verbal interaction were built which subsumed such verbal interaction concepts as the venture, move,…

Discusses findings which suggest that frequency adverbs do affect the perceived aggresiveness of sentences at most levels of verbal aggression. (MH)

Oral responses of 180 male and female undergraduates to scenarios containing positive-loving, neutral-informational, and/or negative-rejecting male child communications were obtained. Responses were scored along 25 specific categories, as well as a global rating of acceptance/rejection of child. (Author/JMB)

Examines how any utterance or activity can be opposed in order to better understand the origins of children's disputes. Shows that children analyze others' moves not only verbally but nonverbally as well. Thus, bodily action and presupposition are necessary components in the analysis of how arguments are started. (SED)

An interactional analysis of reading activities of 48 third grade Chicano students with limited English proficiency showed that Ss, on the whole, used language effectively to obtain responses in their reading groups, their requests were directly and clearly stated, interpreted sincerely, and concerned the teaching and learning task. (CL)