By exploring the relationship between competition theory and forensic speech contests, three benefits can be clearly identified: (1) students learn communication theory, (2) students who most accurately follow what is taught are awarded, and (3) students modify speeches by studying judges' comments, imitating winners, and utilizing selective…

To assess the attitudes of Alabama public school speech-language pathologists toward various aspects of their employment, an attitudes assessment instrument was completed by 272 practicing public school clinicians. The first section of the instrument contained items pertaining to the respondents' years of experience, tenure status, and degree…

Because a review of literature revealed that no valid instrument for measuring a person's willingness to communicate existed, a willingness to communicate (WTC) instrument was developed. The basis of this construct is the assumption that willingness to communicate is a personality-based, trait-like predisposition which is fairly consistent across…

Intended primarily for use by Unicef colleagues working in program communication and training, this handbook gives a general overview of the "building blocks" needed for putting together the communication component of a development program. To do this, the handbook uses as an illustrative example the development of a communication…

Noting that the concept of convention as a rule procedure in a formal analysis of interpersonal communication applies to the mass communication practice known as the "convention" or annual professional meeting of an academic discipline, this paper illustrates the ideological consequence of this eidetic connection. The paper characterizes…

Developmental studies have primarily focused on what takes place within the confines of a given interpersonal system (first order development). What has been neglected is second order development, the interpersonal communication that alters the system itself. From this particular developmental perspective, a model can be used that illustrates and…

To obtain feedback regarding listening instruction at the universities, colleges, and junior colleges in the state of Texas, this study surveyed 100 schools listed in the 1982 Speech Communication Directory. Department chairpersons of each school received a listening checklist and, as a follow-up procedure, registrars of the schools were sent a…

Extensive longitudinal data were gathered on a child's entry into the symbolically mediated modal world by examining changes in the semantics and pragmatics of her uses of modal auxiliary verbs. The data are 53 transcripts of natural conversations between a girl, Nina, and her mother recorded periodically from her 23rd month to her 39th month. The…

A study tested two hypotheses concerning credibility (an auditor's attitude toward a source) and arousal (attention level of an auditor): (1) the effect on learning of credibility will interact with the effect of the vigilance level of auditors, and (2) under conditions of low arousal, auditors will learn significantly more from a message if it is…

Perspectives on and methods in second language teaching have changed rapidly during the past 10 years. So also have the role and function of the language laboratory and the laboratory instructor. One area of concern, listening, has been somewhat neglected; generally it has been taught toward the end of increasing speaking proficiency. A review of…

A study was conducted to test the empirical merit of R. M. Chisholm's and T. D. Feehan's proposed typology of deception: (1) commission versus omission (lies of commission are those where the liar contributes causally to the receiver's believing the lie, perhaps by telling the falsehood; lies of omission would occur if the liar could have…

Competency-based education can be a viable tool for demonstrating accountability in speech communication instruction. The objectives of speech communication instruction tend to be based more upon the content than upon the everyday communication needs of the students. Rather than continue the approach of basing instruction on assumptions of what…

A study examined the relative prestige of university speech communication departments based on the published output of their graduates. All issues of nine major speech communication journals were examined for the period 1971 to 1981. Approximately 200 institutions were represented in the 3,771 entries in the data base; 90 percent of the authors…

Recognizing that each student is different in terms of communication apprehension and needed skills, the confidence model attempts to provide instruction in anxiety reduction and skill development, combining the features of both the behavior therapy and the rhetoritherapy theories of communication apprehension. The rational emotive therapy used in…

Recently there has been a renewed international interest in direct oral proficiency measures such as the oral interview. There has also been a growing awareness among some language testing specialists that all proficiency tests must be subjected to construct validation. It seems that the high face validity of oral interviews tends to cloud and…