Over the last 2 decades, the nations that once comprised the Soviet Union have begun to play an increasingly important role in the global economy. As a result, today's technical and professional communicators could find themselves interacting with co-workers, colleagues, and clients in these nations. Being successful in such contexts, however,…

Semiotics is the scientific study of signs and sign functions. While semiotics has most often focused on human phenomena, it has been suggested that the field should be broadened to include elements of the system of signs from the entire continuum of living reality. Such an approach is to make explanatory in a relatively "universal" way…

Although social science research methods have been successfully applied to the phenomenon of deception, these efforts have universally been limited to laboratory study. In order to broaden the generalizability of deception research, the present study assessed the verbal and nonverbal correlates of naturally-occurring, high-motivation deceptive…

Discusses how the mindless use of language (not being aware of the language choices made when speaking and listening) limits perspective and thus options, resulting in mindless action. Maintains that awareness of how language constructs the worlds allows for alternative and more adaptive constructions. (SR)

States that metaphors/analogies can be helpful when people have to learn to use something. Examines computer software manual material language. Finds that expressions suggesting that computers have an affective relationship to the user or communicate their intentions through human language appear to be perceived as anthropomorphistic and might…

This paper brings together ideas from feminist epistemology and critical theory to initiate a conversation on repressed or distorted communication. It argues that current feminist epistemological studies of women's ways of knowing, making sense, and solving problems can and should inform attempts to empower democratic dialogues and restructure the…

A study developed an analytical tool for the critiquing of FCC legal arguments in the dimensions of purpose and quality. The supposition of the study was that law is an inherently rhetorical activity. The model elaborated was a situational matrix created out of the classical typologies of rhetorical occasions and oratory: the forensic,…

This 1995 issue of the "Carolinas Speech Communication Annual" contains the following articles: "Contrast and Complement in Presidential Campaign Communication: Adjusting the Vice Presidential Role in the Clinton-Gore Campaign" (Rob L. Wiley); "Film Critic as Rhetor: Crafting a Fitting Response to Racial Images in 'Places…

Confirms a model of language intensity effects based on information processing theory, in which attitude change was a multiplicative function of message discrepancy, perceived credibility, and message strength, adjusted for counterarguing, with trustworthiness as the salient source perception variable. (SR)

Describes the author's research that explores the role of language, particularly texts, in the engineering design process. Notes that results of this case study support a new "mediated" model of engineering design as an inventional activity in which designers use talk, written language, and other symbolic representations as tools to think about…

A study explored the affective impact of interpersonal influence messages. Thirty-nine students enrolled in an undergraduate communication course listened to a tape-recording of 15 directives and rated each directive on explicitness or dominance. Results indicated that the set of stimuli tapped nearly the full range of both continua, and that the…

A corporate employee newsletter offers an ideal opportunity to discover how literacy functions as a means of assimilating individuals into a social structure. Underlying the corporate newsletter's assimilative function are the assumptions: (1) that in reading, employees rely on attitudes toward types of texts evolved within society as a whole; and…

This paper reviews the theory of linguistic relativity, tracing the historical roots, as well as contemporary formulations of the notion that languages shape thought and percetpion in different ways. Implications are then considered for intercultural communication and communication research. A bibliography is appended. (AA)

Argues that the speech communication scholar can contribute to the general study of communicative development, particularly to the investigation of strategic communication. Argues for attention to message strategies, but within the framework of the underlying cognitive and cultural structures through which they are created. (JMF)

This paper argues that while organizational research includes a diverse array of naturalistic approaches, a gap exists in the organizational literature that can only be filled by the ethnography of communication (EC). The paper proposes that, instead of using speech to do qualitative research, speech itself should be studied as the topic of…