The concept of clarity in spoken English as presented in the literature of speech education is examined. Two premises form the basis of the argument: (1) that clarity is a norm and (2) that this norm can be derived from the various types of speech education manual. (Contains 47 references.) (LB)

Key concepts of Barthes' textual analysis are used to examine the links among speech (teaching), writing (research), listening (learning), and reading (study), and to portray the encounters of pairs of these as illustrating issues in educational research. An example of annotated "oral writing" or "writing of teaching" is…

The author clarifies the distinction between a sound conceptual article and a literature review, outlines the creative process as it applies to written work, and provides "trade secrets" for novice writers on how to enhance their literary creativity and how to confront and solve writing problems. (Author/SR)

Uses conversation analysis to examine how doctors' and patients' practices of gaze and body orientation organize interaction such that doctors routinely initiate the sequence wherein patients disclose their chief complaint. Finds doctors use gaze/body orientation to communicate they are preparing but not yet ready to deal with complaints--while…

Explores beliefs about the vocal style that 40 young, 40 middle-aged, and 40 older adults would use in addressing two older targets--one fitting a negative and one a positive stereotype. Reveals a greater tendency to use patronizing talk with the negative than with the positive. Finds the context and age of the communicator also affected messages.…

Outlines an agenda for a dialogue that focuses on the relation between acquired language proficiencies (verbal abilities) and non-verbal abilities. Shows the relevance of this to language testing, framing the problem within a general theory of signs and deriving certain testable hypotheses concerning it. (Author/VWL)

Investigates the relationship between undergraduate students' communication tendencies for sending and receiving verbally aggressive messages with their opinions and feelings about a verbally aggressive television show. Shows that verbally aggressive subjects tended to watch more television weekly, did not report being hurt by receiving verbally…

This study analyzed the quality and quantity of intentional communication in four toddlers with Down Syndrome (DS) and eight subjects matched for either chronological or developmental age. Analysis of Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale scores indicated that DS subjects expressed different communicative functions and used different…

This study compared judgments of social appropriateness to videotaped scenes by children and adolescents with (n=19) and without (n=19) autism. The non-autism group detected inappropriate behaviors significantly more often than the autism group for verbal but not nonverbal scenes. Groups also differed in the reasons given for their judgments in…

Examines the relationship between verbal and visual semiotic cues by analyzing how semiotic cues position speakers interactionally and communicate implicit evaluative messages in one television news story. (Author/VWL)

Describes verbal protocols as a useful tool for evaluating computer hardware and software, especially if informed by activity theory. Such protocols cannot, however, stand alone in a thorough evaluation design. (Author/SLD)

Loss of hearing seriously affects individual development. Especially, a profound loss of hearing has effects in the evolution of a child's verbal language. Keeping in mind the level of the loss of hearing, a specific educational and recovering methodology has been adopted: on one hand, the stimulation of the hearing potential and the achieving of…

Purpose: This study investigated whether child care providers could learn to facilitate peer interactions by using verbal support strategies (e.g., prompts, invitations, or suggestions to interact) during naturalistic play activities. Method: Seventeen caregivers were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, stratified by center so…

Background: The incidence of children dually diagnosed with Down syndrome and autism is estimated to be as high as 11%. There is a paucity of research investigating linguistic treatment interventions for such children. This single-subject experiment examined a programme designed to increase the language production and verbal behaviour of a…

The author argues that the field of behavior intervention has two subject matters that are distinct in several ways. Each is derived from, and contributes to, the foundation science and epistemology associated with behavior selection. The differences that the author wants to describe occurred to him as he sought to identify which of two Spanish…