Discusses the four areas involved in communicative competence (knowledge of mechanical rules, meaningful rules, appropriacy, and nonlinguistic conventions) and to what extent it is possible or desirable to teach communicative competence to nonnative speakers of English. (CFM)

A comparison of nonverbal with verbal clinical group interventions suggested that some traditional self-report devices show less differentiation between these two interventions than do measures of group cohesion. A strong, replicable manipulation tested these findings, which were consistent with previous research. (Author/BEF)

Identifies and categorizes student perceptions of sexism. Respondents described critical incidents involving sexism and supplied words and phrases, nonverbal behaviors, and media representations which they interpreted as sexist. Hypothesizes about the ways sex of respondent and sex of target affected the number and type of responses. (JMF)

Discusses pedagogical and technical aspects of making films of native speakers of French conversing with the aid of gestures. (AM)

In this study, using recruiter ratings of 338 on-campus interviews, correlation of seven variables with the discriminant function indicated that appropriateness of content, fluency of speech, and composure made the greatest contributions toward a favorable employment decision. Implications for job-interview training are discussed. (Author/SJL)

Deals with a study conducted in Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia to determine whether Latin Americans have similar distance and contact orientations regardless of sex and nationality. Concludes that the differences in behavior between the Central and South Americans are significant enough to warrant further research. (MH)

Argues for a unified communication methodology at interpersonal, mass-media, organizational, and cultural levels. (HOD)

Narrates experiences concerning the differences between black cultural norms related to maintaining eye contact during conversations and white majority norms. Discusses several psychological studies of norms regulating the use of eyes during communication. The educational implications for differences in communication norms are discussed,…

Compared comprehension of novel communicative signs to assist 2.5- and 3-year-old humans, chimpanzees, and orangutans find hidden objects during a hiding-finding game. Found that children at both ages performed above chance with all signs. No ape performed above chance for any signs not known before the experiment despite three times as many…

The case study of an older woman with Alzheimer's disease shows that while her command of words and syntax had deteriorated, her ability to use other forms of communication had not. Her alternative forms of communication included use of gesture, facial expression, posture, and tone of voice. (MSE)

This investigation with 122 college students, including 45 deaf students, found that neither deaf nor hearing students demonstrated a statistically significant advantage in accuracy or recall of nonverbal information about people in photographs. Deaf subjects, however, were more than twice as likely as hearing subjects to base their judgments upon…

Analyzed toddlers' verbal speech concurrent with nonverbal behavior. Fourteen dyads of unfamiliar peers were observed at 16, 20, 24, and 32 months of age. Found that six types of speech increased in frequency only after the peer partners had shown a marked increase in their readiness to imitate each others' nonverbal actions. (MOK)

Shows that 17 kindergarten children receiving sign language instruction tested significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than 17 kindergartners receiving no such instruction. The study's findings confirm that simultaneously presenting words visually, kinesthetically, and orally offers an advantage to young learners. (23…

A study investigated the effectiveness of an 8-week social skills intervention targeting nonverbal communication for eight adolescents with Asperger syndrome. Although minimal nonverbal communication skills development was apparent, some social relationships were developed and the ability of some participants to read the nonverbal communication of…

Camp administrators concerned with generating a desirable camp culture should begin by defining the camp's mission and clarifying the details of that vision for staff. The components of a camp culture are discussed: signs and symbols, ritual and tradition, habitual modes of communication, and the director's leadership. These components should be…