The following report gives account of a case study conducted at a school in Santiago, Chile in 2007. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with an emphasis on developing metacognitive skills and critical thinking in high-school students. The vehicle used to trigger and develop such…

This article examines the online discourse that took place in representative threads from two classes, seeking to document indicators that students did or did not engage in co-construction of knowledge. Stahl's (2006) social theory of computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is used along with discourse analysis methods to examine these…

Reaching an employee whose job performance is deteriorating due to substance abuse, personal concerns or emotional problems, is one of the most difficult and most avoided tasks presented supervisors, coworkers and/or union stewards. Yet, when such problems do exist and do effect job performance, (and perhaps the work and safety of coworkers) clear…

This paper reports the results of a research project investigating the use that Distance Education (DE) students at university make of the learning materials that are supplied to them. The research is based on a survey of 998 DE students enrolled in ten undergraduate subjects spread across all five Faculties at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in…

This research review integrates the major concerns of the research on power and compliance-gaining strategies and influence strategies in interpersonal and organizational relationships. The review: (1) identifies theories of social power; (2) identifies limited models of social influence; (3) delineates various conceptualizations of interpersonal…

The increase in the incidence and mortality rates of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) for Americans in the United States suggests that health communicators need to reach sexually active Americans with prevention information. If successful interpersonal communication skills can be cultivated,…

In Japan, absolute social status and power relationships among people are clearer than in the United States. The Japanese language supports this social system with the use of a special polite language ("keigo"), structural use of which is the same as polite language in English. The differences lie in the degrees of familiarity used and…

This guide provides moderators with a sense of what deliberation means, their roles, the dialogue format, and principles and skills they need to keep in mind as they interact with the participants. The purpose of a deliberative dialogue is to bring community members together to discuss a relevant and important issue. The question addressed in this…

"Child Care Health Connections" is a bimonthly newsletter published by the California Childcare Health Program (CCHP), a community-based program of the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, Department of Family Health Care Nursing. The goals of this newsletter are to promote and support a healthy and safe environment…

"Picture Exchange Communication System" (PECS) training was implemented with 5 nonspeaking adults with mental retardation who were not currently using any type of functional communication system. A modified ABAB, single-subject design was used to assess the effectiveness of PECS in enhancing the functional communication skills of these…

Communicating why and how school leaders are effective in their work will go a long way toward increasing awareness of the profession and highlighting academic successes in our schools. Research shows school leadership and school performance are closely linked. According to a report by the Wallace Foundation, leadership is second only to teaching…

This paper reports the effects of communication strategy instruction on second language performance (communicative success, speech rate, message abandonment) and on the use of communication strategies (paraphrase). Two classes of adult immigrants, enrolled in a full-time intermediate proficiency ESL program at a post-secondary institution in…

The article describes the process and the findings of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) conducted with young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 2003, with an aim to develop a communication strategy for the prevention of HIV/AIDS in BiH. The study was initiated and funded as part of a global UNICEF initiative bearing the same name and…

Acceptance of claims made in scientific research articles depends on the "stance" authors take and their resources for "appraisal" (Martin and White, http://www.grammatics.com/appraisal). "Stance" has been defined as "the ways authors project themselves into their texts to communicate their relationship to subject matter and the readers",…

Clear verbal communication is a key skill for the modern scientist. In this article we describe two model science courses, one given to a small class and the other to a large class, in which verbal communication is emphasized as a key learning objective. Both courses use a form of problem-based learning (PBL) with an end point that involves…