Transmission-interpretation (T-I) has been conceptualized as an important dimension of teacher verbal behavior. This study measured teacher T-I through a Likert scale completed by students. The T-I scale (a copy is appended) correlated 0.83 with the Student Perception of Teacher Style scale, measuring teacher directiveness. (Author/SJL)

When task-related variables are carefully controlled, the referential communication paradigm provides a useful assessment tool for focusing on characteristics of the speaker in a communicative setting. It serves as a useful instructional tool by providing negative listener feedback for inadequate descriptions. (Author)

Verbalizations from 540 subjects experiencing different events were used to establish the validity of the sociality scale. High scorers related more positively and maintained better relationships with others, exhibited more interpersonal skills, and experienced less anxiety than low scorers. (Author)

Describes a procedure used to teach new teachers how to give equal verbal attention to all students in a classroom. (DB)

Investigated the effects of nonverbal warm-up exercises on group effectiveness as compared to a group using verbal warm-up exercises. Results support the hypothesis that nonverbal warm-up exercises add to the effectiveness of the group counseling process. (RC)

As dictation skills are becoming more important in controlling business correspondence costs, the article presents approaches to teaching dictation practice after students have learned letter organization in business communication classes. Approaches include cooperative projects with office procedures and shorthand classes, using dictation…

It was found that the autistic Ss' skills of comprehension and conversation improved significantly with age, and that speech improved somewhat as well, but that maladaptive behaviors other than hyperactivity did not change significantly with age. (Author/DLS)

Argues for a unified communication methodology at interpersonal, mass-media, organizational, and cultural levels. (HOD)

The speech of two mothers to their infants between three and eighteen months was analyzed. Simplicity of speech was about the same at all ages, not showing abrupt change as children began to talk. It is suggested that mothers used a conversational model and changes reflect children's growing conversational ability. (CHK)

Narrates experiences concerning the differences between black cultural norms related to maintaining eye contact during conversations and white majority norms. Discusses several psychological studies of norms regulating the use of eyes during communication. The educational implications for differences in communication norms are discussed,…

Describes a study conducted at the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) that investigated problem-solving behavior in statistics by documenting differences between successful and unsuccessful students. Two methodological approaches are described: one required students to identify key structural features of common problems, and the second…

Claims that writing systems that constitute a species of graphic systems, such as pictures and charts, are distinctive in that they bear a direct relation to speech. Argues that writing serves as a model for various properties of speech including sentences, words, and phonemes. Concludes that literacy contributes to conceptual structure of…

Analyzed toddlers' verbal speech concurrent with nonverbal behavior. Fourteen dyads of unfamiliar peers were observed at 16, 20, 24, and 32 months of age. Found that six types of speech increased in frequency only after the peer partners had shown a marked increase in their readiness to imitate each others' nonverbal actions. (MOK)

Investigates the 10% to 20% null subject stage in 3-year-olds in Germany and shows that this stage, though long, is not final. Findings indicate that children in this phase use structures found neither in the state of early null subjects nor in adult German, namely, postverbal referential null subjects. Further study is proposed. (94 references)…

Examines features of television news, drawing on a series of interviews conducted during the production of an Open University television program. Examines the visual and verbal conventions of news and attempts to highlight how and why news can appear convincing. Those interviewed included British Broadcasting Corporation news practitioners,…