Universal and culture-specific aspects of caregiver contributions to children's emerging play activities during the one-word period were studied in research designed to meet criteria for ecological validity. The sample included seven Mexican caregiver/child pairs in a major urban setting and eight pairs in a rural setting. All caregivers came from…

A student's fear of giving oral reports and the instructor's objection to using too much class time on oral reports are often seen as the major barriers that prevent an oral communication unit from being included in a business or management communications course. One approach to easing both concerns is the use of videotaping as a self-discovery…

The seven articles in this journal issue focus on the relationship between theory and practice in human communication. Topics discussed in the articles are (1) a speech theory of human communication, (2) first principles for an "act" based theory of communication, (3) the uses of a theory of communication, (4) communication pragmatism,…

Focusing on the difficulties primary teachers often encounter when trying to get their students to listen, this article presents two exercises that have proved effective in improving students' listening skills. The first exercise, "The Echoing Fishbowl," provides children with attentive listening experience by putting them in a situation in which,…

This paper introduces and explains what was being done in biocybernetic communication research at the Myer Pollack Communication Research Laboratory in Montreal (Canada) from 1967 to 1984. It also lists persons and researchers directly involved in the activities and projects of the laboratory. The paper concludes with brief descriptions of five…

During the summer of 1984, 30 speech communication professors and their spouses visited Shanghai, Beijing, Moscow, and Leningrad, spending three or four days in each city. In each of the four communist cities, they met with professors and administrators for long briefings and discussions about communication. One of the first things the Americans…

The importance of effective communication skills between lawyers and clients is equalled only by the imperative need for sustained instruction in the development of communicative skills for the lawyer. Especially important are the nonverbal communication skills in "reading the client." The subtleties of intonation, posture, gesture, and eye…

Designed as a teacher and therapist training tool, this booklet demonstrates how to make several types or kinds of puppets, and how to use them in a variety of classroom situations. The first section includes instructions for the following hand puppets: simple cloth, paper mache, knitted finger, paper bag, and Muppet types. The second section…

Since the American Forensic Association has sanctioned recording individual events competition, it might be in the interest of competition to combine oral interpretation and radio/television broadcast competition into simultaneous competition. Voice development is a goal shared by oral interpretation and broadcasting, so oral interpretation…

The purpose of the three papers that make up this document is to explore and redefine the role of debate judges. The first paper, by Leslie Phillips, begins with the assertion that the debate judge is first and foremost an educator, notes that judging is one of the forces that shape and direct competitive forensics, and goes on to consider…

The style of high school debate should emphasize information processing above all other skills. Debate, as an intellectual educational activity with a basis in scholarship, is not an end in itself but a means to the acquisition and refinement of useful skills that deal with reflective thinking and critical decision making, on both personal and…

Debate is structured argumentation consisting of four elements: a resolution or proposition; an affirmative position, speaker, or team supporting the proposition; a negative position, speaker, or team responsible for attacking the proposition; and a judge or group of judges who determines which position has better achieved its purpose. Debate as a…

While presenting a critical look at selected aspects of relationship change research and theory, this essay argues that researchers need to investigate a broader range of relationship types, develop a more comprehensive conceptualization of relationship change, and develop more appropriate research methods. The first section deals with the need to…

In a fifty-minute period, a class of speech students can be given an object lesson in listening skills. Materials needed are an article that can be read aloud in ten minutes, enough copies for class distribution, and a carefully composed list of ten to twelve questions. When the students arrive for the first class, the teacher reads the article…

In the last few years a variety of questions have arisen in the school context concerning the legal rights of persons seeking to record conversations. Guidance concerning the law governing these situations is based on the following conclusions: (1) neither the common law nor any federal law generally prohibits the tape recording of conversations…