Use of insights from the speech communication discipline can strengthen college teaching effectiveness, including abandoning the safety of the lectern and listening carefully to student thoughts, teaching without notes, and exemplifying respect, genuineness, and empathy in the teacher-student relationship. (MSE)

This study found that the speech of mothers (n=28) of toddlers slow to acquire expressive language tended to differ only in the frequency of use of lexical contingency devices (specifically expansion and extension of child speech), when compared to mothers of normally speaking toddlers. (Author/DB)

This investigation compared 19 adolescents' perceptions of the nonspeech personality characteristics of voice-disordered and normal-speaking children. Listeners, who rated recorded speech samples, showed a significant tendency to judge the normal speakers more positively than the voice-disordered speakers. Results suggest developmental trends in…

Finds that students were on-task even when they were silent or when there was a lot of noise in the room; reluctance to answer questions of participate in oral interactions were not necessarily the result of a lack of comprehension; and monolingual students were sensitive to the capabilities of the LEP students. (RS)

Describes preliminary results from research on language socialization practices of Black middle-class children and their mothers in Chicago (Illinois). Focus is on personal storytelling as a conduit through which values, beliefs, and identity are transmitted to middle-class Black children. (JB)

Argues that the oral communication needs of the massive influx of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) sojourner students can be met more effectively in exclusive sections than by mainstreaming them into regular sections. Considers the problem of ESL students' noninvolvement because of personal fears, cultural differences, and classroom practices.…

This study evaluated English phrases and sentences in a minimal-pairs syllable-test format, to assess use of acoustic cues in audiovisual perception of speech by persons with severe or profound hearing loss. Of 48 items, 39 were visually confusable; 16 items identified as visually confusable were reliably identifiable when sound was added.…

Reviews college and university catalogs for public relations courses. Finds 578 departments offering such courses. Notes that the majority of such courses are offered in communication departments. Takes issue with the findings of an earlier study. (SR)

This paper describes a voice therapy program for adolescent vocal abusers that utilizes a varying signal-to-noise ratio to deal with varying environmental noises. The 10-session program teaches vocal abusers to maintain an appropriate fundamental frequency and vocal intensity in their speaking voice. (Author/JDD)

This study investigated the semantic and syntactic knowledge of a child (age 12) with severe multiple disabilities who could read, write, and comprehend 2 languages but did not initiate conversation. The study demonstrates that high levels of language comprehension and ability to read and write do not automatically transfer to conversational…

Proposes the use of the tournament debate format to encourage active student involvement in the discussion of philosophical and value-related questions surrounding natural resource management. Suggest modifications to traditional debate formats to aid in the classroom use. (MDH)

A study used the Three-Interval Forced-Choice Test of Speech Pattern Contrast Perception (THRIFT) to examine sensory-level speech-perception performance under the input modalities of hearing alone, speech-reading alone, and the two combined in 44 children (ages 5-10). Within each condition there were significant influences of age on performance…

Compares the ability of English speakers and Portuguese speakers to learn two complex rhythm patterns observed in languages with primary word stress. Subjects were familiarized with one of two rhythms during a discrimination task, followed by a recognition task that tested whether knowledge of the rhythm generalized to novel stimuli.(Author/VWL)

This study investigated the efficacy of an integrated phonological awareness intervention approach with 61 New Zealand children (ages 5-7) with spoken language impairment (SLI) and 30 typically developing children. Children who received the phonological awareness intervention reached levels of performance similar to typically developing children…

Uses results of case study of children using collaborative talk in text-based task to argue there is no clear distinction between what is "off" or "on" task talk. Based on Vygotsky's theory of social basis of thought, (it develops from internalism of speech and functions within various relationships), evidence shows children…