Research on the role of nonverbal communication skills in teacher training is assessed. Nonverbal behaviors communicate teacher expectations and attitudes, regulate classroom interactions, and promote students' understanding of verbal material by structuring or illustrating content. Direct versus indirect teaching, games, and improvisation are…

Observation of 485 Black and White students demonstrates that ethnicity and self-monitoring have independent influences upon uncertainty reduction in initial interactions, while the effects of gender and dyadic composition are interactive in nature. Many of the relationships between interaction variables posited by Berger and Calabrese are…

Interpersonal relationships should be an important part of learning-disabled students' curricula and should focus on appropriate classroom behavior, the impact of poor language skills on socialization, resistance to change, establishing degrees of value and priorities, cause-effect relationships in human interaction, planning/organizational…

Defines interpersonal communication and suggests classroom activities for students in business communication courses to help them (1) assess their own interpersonal skills; (2) observe and interpret nonverbal cues; (3) listen and speak effectively; and (4) provide and interpret feedback. (JC)

Demonstrates that young autistic children suffer from deficits in social understanding and symbolic representations of other individuals. Data suggest that the core deficit appears to lie at the intersection of representational abilities and social experiences. (RWB)

Addressing methodological limitations, Study One compared parent-child interactions of normal and language-delayed children; Study Two investigated whether mothers adjust the length of their utterances to the child's ability to comprehend or to produce language; Study Three probed interactional variables associated with variations in the…

The article describes different types of teacher expectations and expectation effects, particularly on minority students. Evidence for the existence of expectation effects is reviewed. Descriptions of behaviors associated with teacher expectations are summarized and recommendations are made for enhancing the learning environment for all students.…

Explores the ability of 5 children aged 1 month to 30 months to initiate and maintain topics of conversation. The data demonstrate that at the beginning of development children simply attract attention to themselves as the topic of conversation and that later, as their interests broaden, their topic repertoire expands. (Author/SED)

Investigates the relative influence of speech and pointing gesture information in the interpretation of referential acts among children averaging three and five years of age and adults. (HOD)

Nonverbal messages provide information to students about the instructor's preferences for interpersonal support, genuineness, and power, and have a direct impact on students' motivation to learn and attitudes toward content. (Author/MSE)

The onset and development of preschoolers' awareness of sex role stereotypes, gender labeling, gender identity, and sex-typed toy preference were explored in 26-, 31-, and 36-month-old children. Family characteristics that affect early sex role development also were investigated. (Author/RH)

Reviews literature on teachers' nonverbal behavior in the classroom. Focuses on nonverbal expression of teacher expectation, nonverbal expression of attitudes toward certain students, students' perceptions of teachers' nonverbal messages, and the effects of teachers' nonverbal behavior on student attitudes and performance. (CB)

Examined oset and acquisition of language comprehension and production in a language delayed child through analysis of a daily diary. In addition to confirming that the gap between comprehension and production was greater than that found in normal children, data from these observations can also be used to add to a general understanding of the…

A computer-aided system for recording and analyzing the behavior of a dance teacher was developed. This article explains how the system was used to research and design a catalog of dance teacher behavior, presents a detailed four-dimensional dance teacher behavior profile, and discusses implications for teacher education. (Author/PP)

Describes code shifting study in communicative behavior of hearing child interacting with deaf child and mother, both of whom signed. Hearing child knew signing, but did not sign at home. Although communication change occurred, code shifting was influenced more by motivational variables and by hearing child's own flexibility with language than by…