Using both normal and delinquent families, this study attempts to assess patterns of inconsistency in three communication channels (verbal, tonal, and facial), with certain controls to strengthen the study's methodological base. When covariance procedures controlled for demographic variables, reliable differences between the two groups were…

In addition to the basic communication skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, the authors suggest five other levels of communication to help teachers expand students' horizons: kinetic and symbolic; mental; extraterrestrial, biological, and technological; imagery; and perceptual. Each level is briefly discussed. (MF)

Outlines a two-year study of the kinesic behavior of four and five-year-olds and concludes that turn-taking in preschoolers' conversations is systematically signalled. (MH)

Reviews the research on the teaching of English to undereducated adults, suggests various factors that might account for the language-based problems of educationally deficit adults, and draws implications for classroom teachers. (JG)

Ten-minute video recordings of the dyadic interactions between seven deaf children (mean age 5.5 years) and their communication partners (either deaf or hearing) were analyzed. Findings are reported in terms of interaction variables (initiation, continuation, ending, and complexity) and communicative modalities (sign, actions, conventional…

States that recent research advanced a causal model explaining the teacher immediacy/student learning relationship by positing the mediational effects of students' state motivation to learn. Argues for an alternative model which posits that affective learning is the central causal mediator. Tests the model with 224 students evaluating their…

Examines from a creolist perspective the claim that American Sign Language (ASL) has creole origins. Applying criteria based on the work of various creole researchers, the article concludes that the evidence for creole origins of ASL does not meet any usual definition of a creole. The article discusses lexical and morhosyntactic similarities…

Investigated the influence of nonverbal behavior in the context of interactive talk during the assessment of an oral proficiency interview test. Participants were Spanish- and Chinese-speaking international teaching assistants. Found interviewees who employed nonverbal behavior considered appropriate by North American evaluators and who negotiated…

This article describes features of the verbal and nonverbal environment of the early childhood classroom. Children's literature is used as a vehicle for understanding: (1) how teachers talk to children; (2) how teachers allow children to talk to each other; and (3) how teachers help children talk to themselves about their learning and…

Presents the results of a study that examined the effects of gender and level of nonverbal cues to the perception of a female actor's sexual intent. Results were based on a videotaped social interaction with a man and the association between the variables and personality traits implicated in faulty sexual-information processing. (CMK)

Part 1 explains a methodology for studying problem-based learning (PBL) in nursing education that combined hermeneutic phenomenology with e-mail sampling and video interviews. Part 2 describes themes identified by 10 tutors related to when and how to intervene in PBL. Part 1 contains 30 references; part 2 contains 41 references. (SK)

The comparative translucency within and across 5 aided augmentative and alternative symbol systems for symbols representing 3 parts of speech (nouns, verbs, and modifiers) was investigated with 50 college undergraduates. Results indicated that translucency varies among systems or sets and among parts of speech. (Author/DB)

Discusses the use of semantic mapping in social studies as a means of conceptually organizing written material. Points out that this process is useful because it gives students an overview of the content prior to reading materials and provides an opportunity for students to develop visual images. Offers four examples. (KO)

Teachers of hearing-impaired students need to be aware of their own and their students' nonverbal communication signals, including posture, gestures and other body movements, facial expressions, eye contact, appearance, and the nonverbal aspects of speech. (Author/DB)

An instrument assessing perception of nonverbal facial affect was developed and administered to 101 adults with and without mental retardation. Rasch analysis uncovered an intergroup difference in the structure of the latent trait of understanding facial affect. This qualitative difference may account for the limited generalization and maintenance…