During face-to-face conversation, transitions between speaker turns are incredibly fast. These fast turn exchanges seem to involve next speakers predicting upcoming semantic information, such that next turn planning can begin before a current turn is complete. Given that face-to-face conversation also involves the use of communicative bodily…

Background: Theoretically, reductions of self-esteem among people who stutter (PWS) are often explained by individual negative cognitions or emotions of the PWS or their conversation partners. We propose that the flow of a conversation can be seen as a representation of the relationship between speakers, and that by disrupting this flow, a stutter…

Interruptions are common in joint activities like conversations. Typically, interrupted participants suspend the activity, address the interruption, and then reinstate the activity. In conversation, people jointly commit to interact and to talk about a topic, establishing these commitments sequentially. When a commitment is suspended, face is…

This dissertation investigates how distributional information in the speech stream can assist infants in the initial stages of acquisition of their native language phonology. An exploratory statistical analysis derives this information from the adult speech data in the corpus of conversations between adults and young children in Russian. Because…

Background: The talk of persons with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) often features distinctive forms of repetition (echophenomena). Although often characterized as meaningless or inappropriate, there is evidence that such practices can sometimes have communicative functions. Aims: To investigate the interactional organization of repetition…

Indicates that (1) males with low interpersonal orientation (IO) were least vocally active and expressive and least consistent in their speech performances, and (2) high IO males and low IO females tended to demonstrate greater speech convergence than either low IO males or high IO females. (JD)

A study was conducted to describe the speech patterns of four adolescent girls. All four subjects were in the same eighth grade class and knew each other. Approximately 19 hours of observational data and 9 hours of interview data were collected. The descriptive framework of D. Hymes (1972), which focuses specifically on settings, participants,…

Critiques recent research on the social evaluation of assertive speech. Proposes an alternative theoretical framework, based on speech act theory. Assertiveness is viewed as a style of conversation occurring in complex interpersonal contexts. (Author/BJV)

Presents a model of relational influence attempts (RIAs) in dating and marital couples' conversations. Provides insight into the role that tacit relational knowledge plays in shaping conversation. Links conversation analysis with relationship analysis. Supports the claim that knowledge of relational pragmatics is required to effectively evaluate…

Although inconsistent, research findings indicate that men and women self-disclose differently in terms of depth and frequency and interpret disclosures differently during varying stages of their relationships. A review of the literature concerning communication within stable, enduring relationships reveals that, overall, there are no apparent sex…

Recognizing the lack of research delineating what personality traits might predispose a person to poor listening, this paper contrasts two lines of research assessing how the cognitive and affective characteristics of speakers impact on their recall of conversation. The first section of the paper considers the theoretical perspective arguing that…

A survey of 75 school administrators was made to determine what they judge to be the specific oral communication skills most vital to teacher success. The emphasis administrators place on oral communication means that it should figure prominently in teacher education. Of all communication factors, listening is considered most important. (SLD)

Sexual harassment is widespread on college campuses across the United States and is a subject that merits sensitive and sensible discussion. Once they acknowledge the problem, speech communication professionals can become better informed about sexual harassment and ways of dealing with it, and commit themselves to responsible communicative action.…

The presentation described in this booklet provides the teacher with knowledge needed to help children achieve positive emotional and intellectual growth. It explains how to engage children in talk/dialogue that will help them make profitable choices; choose healthy emotions; overcome anger, anxiety and worry; learn to control their thoughts; and…

To derive a descriptive profile of communication role patterns and to determine whether these patterns were gender dependent, a Gender Communication Scale was developed by selecting scale items from other instruments that best discriminated reports of role behavior. The scale was then administered to 91 male and 148 female undergraduate students.…