This study examines the hypothesis that the lack of parental approval of the child characterizes child-abusing families. As part of a larger study of the coping styles of such families, a variety of verbal and non-verbal behaviors in parent-child interactions was examined. Subjects were 80 mother-child pairs from among four groups of comparable…

This paper argues that context is an important factor to be considered in linguistic analysis. Context is defined as the aggregate of linguistic, situational, social and cultural variables that surround linguistic units such as texts, discourses, utterances, words, morphemes, phonemes, sounds, and distinctive features. A "textual…

Five papers comprising the monograph describe a nonoral communication program which evolved from the clinical experiences of speech pathologists and physical therapists with severely dysarthric, physically handicapped children in a hospital school. Explicated are such aspects of nonoral communication as oral speech dysfunction systems of nonoral…

The rapidly changing language instruction picture prompts the author to discuss the concept of teacher and student motivation. The disappearing foreign language requirement, the notion of relevance, and high attrition rates are related to the current crisis. Suggestions to develop greater motivation, aimed principally at improving communication,…

Readings in this book have been selected to show how creativity and imagination can be the central focus in a literature and language arts curriculum for the elementary grades. Selections are divided into four parts, each with a different emphasis. Part 1 contains three articles which trace the development of imaginative literature and stress the…

During the summer of 1968 a special summer program in sociolinguistics ("Language, Society, and the Child") was held at the University of California, Berkeley. This program grew out of the research on "children's language acquisition in a variety of cultures" which has been underway at that institution for four years. Originally it was planned to…

The study investigated interpersonal space among black and white Midwesterners as perceived through photographs. The stimuli consisted of four sets of photographs showing teacher-student dyads in spacings ranging from 12 to 84 inches. There were four models: white teacher (W), white student (w), black teacher (B), and black student (b). The photos…

The purpose of this research project was to develop clearer definitions of the categories of the Nonverbal Category System, an instrument developed in conjunction with an earlier study of nonverbal behavior of young children as it relates to decision making. A second purpose was to establish whether the instrument could be employed in studying…

As the title suggests, this book specifically attempts to illuminate the communicative habits and expressive life-style of urban black Americans within the community setting. The volume consists of four sections: "Nonverbal Communication,""Vocabulary and Culture,""Expressive Uses of Language," and "Expressive Role B Behavior." Articles in the…

Initial credibility, use and non-use of evidence, and language intensity manipulate belief formation and change. Evidence supports the hypothesis that if a group of subject is exposed to a communicator who carries impressive credentials, uses specific data, and phrases a message in intense, fear-producing terms, the subjects will respond with…

This course in semantics investigates verbal and nonverbal symbols and their denotations, emotional values, and levels of abstraction in an attempt to open channels of communication between the students and those with whom they communicate. Concepts, ideas, and skills included in the course are as follows: (1) that words are tools to help with the…

Three 1970-71 studies concerning the styles of instruction that lead to higher intellectual performance among village American Indian and Eskimo high school students are presented in this final report of observations of teachers and students in several Native boarding schools and/or integrated urban high schools in Alaska. The first study, an…

The "Language from Within" program is a collation of Gestalt strategies based on the principles of confluent education and adapted for use in the foreign language classroom. The underlying principles of confluent education are: awareness of feelings as the source of personal meaning (subject matter is learned only when the student sees…

Describes an instructional method where undergraduate child development students and a class of grade school students prepare and exchange written questions and answers. The questions focused on their educational experiences. Discusses advantages of this method over other interactive techniques. This exercise can be adapted for other courses. (MJP)

Describes a framework for "culturally responsive supervision." An understanding of analogic or iconic metaphors reveals the power of language to shape what are regarded as matters of fact. Kinesics, proxemics, and prosody bring into focus channels of nonverbal communication. The concept of "framing" calls attention to the metamessages of verbal…