Conversational style often overrides what is said, affecting who gets heard and what gets done. Women's linguistic styles often make them seem less competent and self-assured than they are. Better understanding of speech styles will make managers better listeners and communicators. (SK)

Discusses how the use of body language in Chinese fiction strikes most Westerners as unusual, if not strange. Considers that, although this may be the result of differences in gestures or different conventions in fiction, it is a problem for translators, who handle the differences by various strategies, e.g., omission or expansion. (NKA)

Notes that the practice of borrowing kinship terms to address people outside the extended Chinese families, heavily reflected in modern Chinese fiction, causes much difficulty for the English translator. Reviews common translation approaches to such culture-related problems and possible distortions resulting from such practices. (NKA)

Evaluates recent literature regarding schools' parental involvement efforts, chronicling programs describing diverse rationales and benefits for parent participation and presenting a taxonomy for classifying underlying reasons for low parent-school involvement. School-parent communications are the key to any intervention effort. Parent-involvement…

Relationship between curriculum and supervision is fragile; its negotiation can proceed from the exercise of legal-rational authority and procedural correctness, or through mutual reflection and reconstruction. The former leads to estrangement, the latter to rapprochement. Conversation, not confrontation, will mark the academy and the schools if…

Using transcriptions of audio- and videotaped conferences from local schools and individual settings, this article examines the claim that face-threatening acts committed during supervisor-teacher interactions, particularly the postobservation instructional conference, determine the politeness levels of both supervisor and teacher. The case study…

Four years ago, a very small group of teachers at a Stockton, California, high school recognized that the school must make some dramatic changes in curriculum, governance, and educational philosophies. This article shares pitfalls and surprises encountered in teachers' struggle to create a climate for change and implement their new vision. (seven…

The first part of the article describes how a teacher utilized an abbreviated life-space crisis intervention (LSCI) with a 12-year-old developmentally delayed female. The second part of the article comments on how the intervention helps to highlight concepts concerning LSCI that have been minimized or neglected in the literature. (MKA)

Describes how elementary-school students with emotional and behavioral disorders worked in groups of four to complete design tasks. A chart shows progress in specific communication skills made by each student. (SK)

Clarifies the nature and definition of explanatory journalism. Distinguishes journalistic explanation from news analysis, interpretation, and investigation. Reveals, by using rhetorical analysis, that explanatory journalism within the journalistic profession is both praised and prized, evaded and reviled. Aims to set a clearer foundation for…

Interviews with employees after videoconferencing facilities were introduced in a multinational corporation revealed that only 10% of 60 trainees felt they needed more training in their use; however, only 9 actually used the facilities for meetings. Concerns about the quality of communication in unstructured meetings and newly established…

Despite emphasis in policy on participation of disabled children, we still know relatively little about how to obtain the views of disabled children with significant communication impairment and their views are often overlooked in planning and service provision. This article describes how the views of children who do not use speech were accessed…

Communication is the exchange of information, ideas and/or feelings from one person to another. The goal of communication is understanding. Without understanding, there is no communication. The communication process consists of verbal and nonverbal communication and listening. The spoken word is self-explanatory. Communication problems between…

Chronic pain is a prevalent, under-diagnosed problem in the learning disability population. This is in part due to communication problems, unrecognized pain behaviours and the effects of medication. As a consequence, chronic pain often goes untreated and causes ongoing distress. This paper initially describes the main research that has been…

Schools have found religion when it comes to solutions designed to deliver critical information to the campus community in a timely fashion. And the vendor community is now offering a multitude of routes to the Promised Land. The question is: Will the "right" technology solution solve all the mass communication problems? Those who have weathered…