Background: Communication problems stemming from Alzheimer's disease (AD) often result in misunderstandings that can be linked with problem behaviours and increased caregiver stress. Moreover, these communication breakdowns also can result either from caregivers' use of ineffective communication strategies, which paradoxically are…

The widespread use of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) in the higher education sector in recent years highlights the importance of forging successful relationships with employers, business, industry and government. This article reports on a large ethnographic study conducted by Victoria University into host organisations' perceptions of WIL.…

Virtual schooling is an increasing trend for secondary education. Research of the communication practices in virtual schools has provided a myriad of suggestions for virtual school policies. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the activities and processes involved in the daily rituals of virtual school teachers and learners…

This is an article in a series illustrating the way scholars in communication have pursued translating their research into practice. The translational nature of communication accommodation theory and examples of its application are the focus of this contribution.

Purpose: To examine the extent to which sentences retain their levels of spoken intelligibility relative to other sentences in a set (the "sentence effect") across different types of signal distortion. Method: The Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) sentences were rendered difficult to understand through the addition of broadband noise. These…

Research on graphic symbol learning suggests that symbols with a greater visual resemblance to their referents (greater iconicity) are more easily learned. The iconicity hypothesis has not yet been explored within the intervention protocol of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Within the PECS protocol, participants do not point to a…

Speculates about mindfulness on the context of practical applications, by everyday communicators, of whatever modifications to communication can be suggested by research. Reviews tact strategies as a brief example. (SR)

Examines Exxon's communication efforts in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster. Identifies communication practices that damaged the corporation's credibility, antagonized the public, and contributed to the public perception of its corporate arrogance. Notes that the Valdez spill makes a good case for classroom study. (PRA)

Purpose: This study provides preliminary reference data for speech and articulatory rates of school-age children in conversational and narrative speaking contexts. Method: Participants included 36 typically developing children in 3 groups of 12 participants at ages 7, 9, and 11 years. Conversational and narrative speech rates were measured in…

Content analysis of 461 phone calls between complaining consumers and customer service representatives showed that both groups performed distinct communication roles; communication evolves from discussion of performance to attribution to equity issues; and communication is not standardized across service representatives. Implications for training…

Extends prior research on communication barriers to the tax practitioner-IRS agent relationship. Provides survey responses from 98 tax practitioners pinpointing serious behavioral and personality barriers, inflexible thinking, technical competence, and close-minded attitudes of IRS agents. Suggests that the Internal Revenue Service might use…

Investigates causes of ambiguities in the discourse resulting in the decision to launch the space shuttle "Challenger." Maintains that the source of that ambiguity was: (1) a social context with great pressure to launch; and (2) inappropriate conversational politeness strategies used to cope with that pressure. Discusses the lessons of…

This bibiliography on communication apprehension was compiled from computer searches of the ERIC, Psychological Abstracts, and Dissertation Abstracts data bases, as well as from general readings in the subject area. The more than 1,000 citations are arranged alphabetically by author within the following categories: articles in books,…

Surveys relevant literature, including Kohut, Rochlin, Kernberg, and others. Offers a theoretical formulation on the rhetorical implications of unhealthy narcissism, particularly misjudgments of audience and occasion and misshaped messages. (MS)

Compared the linguistic complexity of juror instructions in the "federal standard instructions" and the "Texas pattern special issues." Found that the latter contained significantly fewer nominalizations, technical legal terms, and embeddings. Discusses implications of these findings on comprehension. (PD)