The analysis presented in this paper is based on the premise that study of public relations from the perspective of a rhetorical theory yields useful insights about public relations. The first part of the paper develops a rationale for the study of the rhetoric of organizations, especially the rhetoric of corporations, and concludes by juxtaposing…

Recent research studies suggest a relationship between an individual's level of competence in the use of language and of nonlinguistic communication and that person's ability to function competently in society. This document reviews the theories and definitions related to the concept of communicative competence, discusses the cognitive and…

Focusing on current scholarship in the evolving field of political communication, this publication is organized in three sections. Part 1, "Current Perspectives on the Spiral of Silence," features essays by Charles T. Salmon and F. Gerald Kline, Klaus Merten, Carroll J. Glynn and Jack M. McLeod, and a response by the theory's original…

This study compared the relative effectiveness of two communication-skills training models: Ivey's Microcounseling Paradigm and Carkhuff's Systematic Human Relations Training Model. After 107 educational psychology students volunteered to participate in the group that fit their schedules, treatments were randomly assigned. Pretesting and…

Emphasizes that problems in assessing functional communication have their origin in conceptional ambiguity. Contrasts communicative competence with functional communicative effectiveness and proposes the latter as a more appropriate construct for older children and adults. (JMF)

A model of conversational distance violations that claims that these violations mediate communication outcomes such as source credibility, source attraction, and learning was examined in a study involving 136 undergraduate students. The students were tested in small group settings using eight confederates, four rated highly and four lowly in…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 27 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) job satisfaction as related to individual functional dominance and job description functional dominance; (2) familiarity as a variable in anticipated…

The articles in this journal, originally presented at the Speech Communication Association Convention in 1978, reflect the current trends and state of research in the field of speech communication. Based on information selected from publications, theses, dissertations, and convention programs, the 12 articles discuss research in the following…