Black English, the particular variation of the English language used by many American Negroes, is frequently condemned as inferior to standard English by arbiters of language usage, but many Negroes find the structures and style of black English satisfactory for their communication needs. Black English is the result of a complex, developmental…

This thesis describes the design and evaluation of the "Composition for Personal Growth" program developed by Sidney B. Simon, Robert C. Hawley, and David D. Britton. In developing the program, the designers sought to remedy what they considered to be the four major faults of many traditional composition programs: lack of meaningful…

Despite its title, this is not a book on rhetoric in any narrow sense, but rather concerns its general ambience and also some of its quite specific manifestations. The 13 studies that comprise the book move chronologically from the Renaissance up to the present time. Chapter 2 shows the continuity of verbal expression during the English…

Departing from Baconian science which focuses on explanation of the occurrence of events, Chomsky's linguistics involves a different orientation--namely the explanation of form to account for linguistic behavior. The "knowledge" upon which linguistic judgements are based involves the premise of innate mechanisms. The assumption that speakers and…

In this study of the organizational patterns of 46 United States presidential inaugural addresses there were four research questions, relating to the overall pattern of the speeches and the internal structure of ideas and topics. Key findings indicate that: (1) 25 of the 46 speeches have three easily discernible parts--introduction, body,…

Media, specifically documentary films on television, profoundly affect both social structure and man's psychological percepts. The clash of views depicted is between "print man" (using U.S. Representative Harley Staggers as an example) and "electronic man" (portrayed as Frank Stanton of CBS) centering on Stagger's objections to…

The humanistic approach to the teaching of speech is vital, especially in light of current trends in interpersonal communication. Four interrelated classroom goals should be pursued: (1) the establishment of a climate of trust, (2) the encouragement of open expression of emotions, (3) concentration upon the persuasive expression of interpersonal…

This bibliography is a compilation of (1) readings used in courses in communications in several major universities in the United States and (2) items recommended by the faculty of the School of Communications at the University of Texas at Austin. This work is an expanded version of the one appearing in the "Journal of Communication"…

This paper reports on the effects of four forms of kinesic communication and three forms of verbal communication on leadership perception in a small group setting. Forty-eight college age discussants were observed in groups of four during twelve 30-minute sessions. Permitted only visual input, eleven previously trained observers recorded four…

The language a child learns from and attends to is the speech of significant persons in his world, addressed to each other and to him. As the child gradually participates in this social interaction he learns communicative competence, i.e., the nonconscious, tacit knowledge that underlies speech behavior--knowledge of both the language and the…

Reported were the development and testing of a therapy program for stutterers which aimed at involving parents in the treatment process. The experimental therapy program was developed and applied to a group of 13 parent child dyads whose interaction patterns were analyzed in an attempt to identify factors pertinent to the child's stuttering.…

Four studies report on the performance of fifth-grade child dyads and adult dyads on three problem-solving tasks, extending previous research on the structural properties of the communications and on factors influencing the accuracy of the communications. Aspects of performance investigated are: (1) relative participation of dyad members in the…

The syntactic properties of the child's language are studied. Within the framework of transformational grammar, the rules of syntax can be divided into three types: base- or phrase-structure rules, transformational rules, and morphological rules. Each of these rules is discussed. It is stated that the one process that appears to characterize each…

The early communication network existing between a mother and her 12-week-old infant was explored. Over 50 infants of both sexes from a variety of social classes were seen in their homes, and a wide variety of maternal and infant behaviors were studied. Of special interest was the vocalization-in-communication data. The results indicate a lawful,…

This study explored the relationship between maternal sensitivity and the development of mother-infant vocal interaction. Two characteristics of mother and infant vocalizations were assessed at six and nine months in a home feeding situation: (1) the degree of mutual responsiveness, and (2) the affective quality of vocalization. These assessments…