Research indicates that about 40% of the population fear public speaking. There is a wide variety of possible causes for this unwillingness to communicate: a lack of skills, social introversion, alienation, lack of fluency in English, and communication apprehension. Despite the fact that evidence indicates everyone may have some difficulty with…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 10 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the development of an instrument to assess the communication needs of the community college; (2) the development of a kindergarten through twelfth grade interdisciplinary approach to…

Acknowledging that one of the most difficult challenges postsecondary educators must face is the maintenance of adequate student enrollment, this paper describes the creation of a speech communication laboratory as one component of a university-wide effort to maximize student retention. The paper first discusses several suggestions researchers…