Describes systematic desensitization as a form of behavior therapy for reducing anxiety. Examines its rationale and clinical practice and explores two features of the technique (relaxation and anxiety hierarchy) as they may be applied to classroom speech instruction for reticent students. (JMF)

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)

An investigation of the confusion resulting from reliance on visual perceptual teachers in the identification of dactylemes (handshapes) in the American Manual Alphabet (MA) is reported. A hierarchy of errors varying with subjects' degree of expertness in the MA is established. This can help manual communication teachers develop techniques for…

Analyzes and compares the communication process within effective and ineffective decision-making groups to identify specific behaviors and patterns of communicative behaviors which consistently discriminate between them. Results suggest that effective decision-making groups spend more time interacting and agreeing upon procedural matters than do…

Notes that the general public has developed an awareness of sexist language usage and has begun to make changes in its use of the word "man," and traces parallel changes that are gradually being made in the English pronoun system. (GT)

Guidelines are offered to a college or university for conducting a communication audit. These include steps in planning the audit, use of the variety of tools available for administering the audit, the development and feedback to the institution, and development of recommendations to improve institutional communication. (JMF)

Twenty-five Indian patients at a Public Health Service clinic indicated that inadequate communication influenced by age, English fluency, and cultural differences contributed to abuses in the health care system. Journal availability: see RC 503 481. (DS)

The article discusses the problems and stresses teachers of the gifted may encounter in working with other teachers and the school system. The difference between role pressure, which is seen as a positive pressure, and role strain, which is viewed as a negative force leading to low morale, tension, and poor communication patterns, is considered.…

Describes program for preservice teacher education which resolves teachers' concerns about communication. Three categories must be dealt with: self-concerns, or effectiveness of one's ability to communicate; task concerns, or knowledge of communication techniques; and impact concerns, or the effect of one's communication on others. (KC)

Membership in deaf communities in a metropolitan area is neither granted to nor sought by all who are deaf. Rather, it is achieved through indentification with the deaf world, shared experiences of being hearing impaired, and involvement with other members. (Author/EB)

Reports on five case studies of adult unskilled writers, revealing these writers' strengths and weaknesses. (RL)

Suggests the expansion and refinement of the basic sender-channel-receiver communication model. Offers several designs, each highlighting a particular aspect of the communication process. Discusses the effects of environment and feedback on the message. (JMF)

Investigated was the communication interaction between 46 educable mentally retarded (EMR) adolescents and their mothers. (CL)

Since language is the predominant instrument by which information is transmitted between doctor and patient, an understanding of the uses and functions of language in medicine is crucial to effective medical care. This paper describes a framework for the study of language as a tool in medicine. (LBH)