Ten esophageal speakers and ten normal speakers produced repetitions of the disyllable /mama/ using five different conditions of syllable stress. Nine normal listeners judged both relative and absolute syllable stress. Reliable judgments were made of the syllable stress, and speakers were able to effect systematic changes in listener perceptions…

The turn exchange behaviors of 5 specifically language-impaired (SLI) children, aged 8 to 13, were examined in adult-child interaction. Results indicated qualitative differences from those of normal language children in terms of turn errors, interruptions, interactive attention, responsiveness, and turn switch times, as well as variability related…

Examines how speaking/writing relationships help and hinder communication. Suggests ways to make business communication students aware of differences between speaking and writing. Identifies research needed to further understanding of these relationships in business communication. (PD)

Examines two tournaments for "individual events," sponsored by national associations. Provides information to help students and coaches decide which tournament will best meet the needs of their forensics programs. ("Individual events" include public speaking--persuasive, expository, after-dinner--interpretation, rhetorical…

Many students entering law school are surprised to find that the debating activities there (moot court, mock trial work, and trial advocacy courses) bear little resemblance to the debating they did at the undergraduate level. Those who teach, whether speech communication or prelaw, have an obligation to communicate to students the differences…

Free speech of subjects with somatization and paranoia was analyzed to identify and compare self-concept dimensions reflected in their lexical choices. The somatization disorder group conveyed a sense of negativism, distress, and preoccupation with an uncertain self-identity. The paranoid patients portrayed an artificially positive, grandiose…

Ten head-injured adults were compared to normal adults on a narrative picture description task. Subjects were similar in amount of pertinent content expressed, narrative length, and rate of speech, but were significantly slower in rate of information imparted as they required lengthier and slower verbal outputs to convey essential information.…

To investigate the speech of black college students for nonfluencies--linguistic elements breaking the flow of words or ideas--and to ascertain if students' attendance of a largely black or largely white university influenced their use of nonfluencies, 21 black students at a predominantly black university and 25 black students at a predominantly…

Twelve learning-disabled children, aged 8-11, were compared with normal peers on various discourse errors. No significant quantitative differences were found in the total number of discourse errors between the disabled and normal groups, but the errors were qualitatively different. Male subjects made significantly more errors than female subjects.…

This study compared the spoken and written English errors of 20 severely hearing-impaired postsecondary students with intelligible speech but poor English language. Writing samples exhibited a greater number of function word errors than did speech samples; there were no significant differences in content and structure errors. Implications for…