Differences in the attitudes, social organization, thought patterns, interpersonal distance, time sense, nonverbal communication, and human factors of different cultures can pose communication problems. Since Saudi Arabians generally do not score well on tests of English as a second language, reading at only about the fourth grade level, technical…

The current growth of interest in intercultural communication skills may be poorly directed. Unlike TESOL programs, bilingual and intercultural communication programs are designed to promote knowledge and experience in more than one language culture. Bilingual education's transformation into a program directed not at promoting true bilingualism,…

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…

Education and training of management personnel in developing nations have been patterned after the American system. Unfortunately, efforts at transplanting such knowledge has neglected the cultural nuances unique to the various nations, resulting in incomplete success. Intercultural communication barriers can be posed by such cultural features as…

The Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Olympics is a project serving a twofold purpose for augmented communicators in the Broward County Public School System in Florida. While allowing young augmented communicators to build competencies in using AAC devices, the Olympics provide a meaningful extracurricular experience to students…

Various computer applications in linguistics, primarily speech synthesis and machine translation, are reviewed. Although the computer proves useful for statistics, dictionary building and programmed instruction, the promulgation of a world auxiliary language is considered a more human and practical solution to the international communication…

Author suggests specific things that the research community can do to improve their relationship with the "users"-decision makers who finance the research or decide whether schools are going to use the research findings. The need for improved communication networks is stressed. (AM)

The problem of change in the character of the United States Supreme Court between 1969 and 1975 is examined, in this paper, in the context of group decision making and organizational communication. Based on information from "The Brethren," a behind-the-scenes account of the Supreme Court justices by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, the…

A free response self-evaluation instrument to determine the existence of communication apprehension or anxiety has been used at Pennsylvania State University and Mansfield State College in Pennsylvania as part of their programs to identify reticent and communication apprehensive students. The instrument is administered as an assignment on the…

A study compared the communication apprehension of basic studies (underprepared) and nonbasic studies college students in four contexts: (1) group, (2) interpersonal, (3) meetings, and (4) public communication. Subjects were 238 male and 209 female undergraduate students enrolled in the required basic communication course at the University of…