To analyze the process involved in maintaining conversational coherency, the study described in this paper used a construct called a "context space" that grouped utterances referring to a single issue or episode. The paper defines the types of context spaces, parses individual conversations to identify the underlying model or structure,…

A study was conducted to determine if a difference existed in the discrimination scores of normal hearing subjects when listening to pre-recorded male and female talkers. The talkers were, three females and three males, all native Southern Californians, to control dialectical differences. The listeners were eight females and eight males, aged 18…

Based upon research conducted during the past decade that identifies speech features of form, topic, content, and use of language as male- or female-associated, this paper examines the rhetoric of Sojourner Truth in reference to these features. It classifies her directness, originality, and action as male-associated and her modesty, emotionalism,…

The occurrence of Black English Venacular (BEV) dialect features in the writing of 42 inner-city college students was studied using such sociolinguistic methods as variable rule analysis, computer programs, and implicational scales. A comparison of the patterns found in the subjects' writing with those found in spoken BEV revealed that sometimes,…

Sacks's description-by-categorization theory was tested in a study to determine how contextual information influences the interpretation of verbal messages. The technique of enjambed conversation (a transcription of a conversation void of punctuation and speaker designation) was used to produce two verbal messages, one "more related" the…

A survey was conducted to gauge the communicative needs of students outside the field of speech communication. Respondents were 120 chairpeople from academic programs in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. These chairpersons perceived a great need for training in communication skills, but did not perceive speech communication courses as…

This study investigates why researchers have trouble determining when learners acquire inverted and statement forms of yes/no questions. Researchers have difficulty designing studies on this subject because this area of language is not fully rule-governed or systematic. The choice of the form may be based on two speakers' foreknowledge of each…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: communication and perceptions of organizational climate; perceptions of communications between federal and local educational agencies; intraorganizational conflict…

Dynamics of discussion in the classroom are analyzed based on data from 64 classrooms in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Among the discourse problems considered are the separation of answers from questions, the relationship between the presupposition of an utterance and the speaker/hearer assumptions, and the relationship between utterance form and…

A course on women in public speaking, developed at the University of Cincinnati, focuses on the rhetoric of selected women who have been involved in various movements and causes in the United States in the twentieth century. Women studied include educator Mary McLeod Bethune, Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, Helen…

The ability of young children to communicate at the time they produce their first words was studied, with particular reference to the question of whether children are able to modify their requests depending on the adult's response. The subjects were four children ranging in age from 15 to 18 months; the data were their requests of adults coded…

This volume of the French Basic Course contains ten situations from daily life, each divided into five sub-situations. The material for each situation consists of cartoons and lists of selected words. The purpose of the volume is to provide a vehicle for reviewing the grammar and vocabulary of lessons 1-85 of the Basic Course and adding new words…

The purpose of this outline of a 4-6 weeks unit is to assist pupils (K-2) in adapting to a new or changing environment. Its goals are to: 1) help each student acquire a better self-image and realization of his or her worth as an individual; 2) create an environment that promotes a feeling of personal security for each child, free from anxiety and…

THE AUTHOR'S PROGRAM, COLLEGE ORIENTATION PROGRAM FOR ALASKAN NATIVES (COPAN), WAS DEVELOPED TO PROVIDE A SMOOTH TRANSITION FOR NATIVE ALASKAN STUDENTS INTO THE AREA OF WESTERN CULTURE, IN COLLEGE. THE FINE ARTS WERE UTILIZED AS A COMMUNICATION BRIDGE BETWEEN THE ESKIMO AND WESTERN CULTURES. THE MEDIA OF THE DANCE AND DRAMA WERE THE BASES FOR…

DRAMATIC INTERACTION, THE PRIMARY VEHICLE FOR DEVELOPING THOUGHT AND LANGUAGE, IS AN OFTEN UNEXPLOITED METHOD OF ENCOURAGING STUDENTS TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS. STUDENTS CAN LEARN ABOUT LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND COMPOSITION IN A COHERENT FASHION BY WRITING PLAYS, SHORT STORIES, AND POEMS, OR BY ACTING, INTERPRETING, AND CREATING DRAMA. THE…