Study examined speech complexity among 22 sets of parents and their school-age children during two time periods approximately one year apart. Parents and children were videotaped while completing a block design task and their conversations were transcribed. Speech patterns were found to differ at the two times. (Author/BN)

The study examined the communicative competence of 30 learning disabled and 30 non-learning disabled children (ages 9 to 13) in both referential and semistructured dyadic communication tasks. The use of both instructional strategies influenced the quality of subjects' verbal communicative interactions. (Author/DB)

Describes a study of teacher-student interaction based on observed verbal behaviors of teachers at Medgar Evers College (New York). Reveals that teachers rated highly by their peers and students responded to student verbal contributions with criterion-based praise, used student ideas in class, and offered encouragement after effort. (DMM)

Provides new examples of doublespeak (use of language with the intent to obscure or deceive) from the Canadian Sampler and suggests that language arts teachers and teachers of writing can help reduce instances of doublespeak by teaching students to see through doublespeak and to write clearly. (JC)

Two aspects of verbal ability are required for performance of verbal tasks: verbal comprehension (given the most attention); and verbal fluency (slighted by researchers). An information processing approach to how words are generated was used in two studies of 104 third and 61 sixth graders to clarify the relationships between verbal fluency and…

Twenty language-impaired and 20 unimpaired children, aged 9-11, generated and retold stories and answered comprehension questions. The stories produced by language-disordered children contained fewer complete story episodes, fewer main and subordinate clauses per complete episode, and a lower frequency of use of story grammar components than those…

Two male stroke victims (ages 63 and 67) whose verbal disorders impaired social interactions and suggested the need for nursing home placement were treated by teaching spouses to reinforce positive and ignore undesired verbal responses. Problem behaviors were reduced sufficiently to permit continued home care, and alternative positive behaviors…

Investigates nature and functions of teachers' verbal communication by presenting empirical evidence that relates teacher talk and routines to classroom management and learning. Demonstrates how routines of a teacher of four mentally retarded students vary as a function of (1) the social configuration of the classroom, (2) the structure of the…

Investigates the effects of social class (middle vs. lower) on verbal and nonverbal maternal controls, maternal sensitivity, and child compliance. Suggests current conceptualizations of lower class mother-child interaction need to be reconsidered since no social class differences were revealed in the experiments. (HOD)

Reviews the research literature on the abilities of infants to categorize visual information on dot patterns; schematic faces; hue; and orientation. (HOD)

Defines Neurolinguistic Programming (NCP) and discusses specific dimensions of the model that have applications for classroom teaching. Describes five representational systems individuals use to process information and gives examples of effective and ineffective teacher-student communication for each system. (MCF)

Investigated student teacher interactions during video tapes of free play periods with disabled and normal preschoolers enrolled in two preschool programs. Findings suggest that teacher education programs could help adults to overcome stereotypic actions toward special needs children. (Author/DST)

Examines the conversational behavior of eight-year-old Hawaiian boys and girls of either Caucasian or Japanese descent in same ethnic and same-gender pairs or in mixed-ethnic and/or mixed-gender pairs. Results suggest that temporal speech patterns are stable characteristics of children's vocal behavior, and that these conversational rhythms vary…

Explains the keywords journal project, an assignment designed to immerse students in the study of their own language in a way that will connect their personal investigations with more formal study of language as a variable in the communication process. (EL)

Reports results of a study analyzing interaction between 21 mothers and fathers and their young mentally disabled children, including short-term stability of features of communication and comparison of dyads involving mothers and fathers. Implications are outlined for interventions to help parents teach their young mentally disabled children.…