As yet there is no comprehensive, systematic, demonstrably effective program for maximizing empathetic communication behaviors. What is needed are theories, concepts, and methods that would provide for such learning. One avenue of approach is to search for models and metaphors that would allow for an encompassing comprehension of empathy and…

The primary purpose of this study was to describe the linguistic behavior exhibited by a female subject (age 2 years, 4 months) during naturally occurring social interaction with children of different ages. Verbal and nonverbal behavior were studied; of additional interest were variables influencing the emergence of linguistic behavior. Data were…

To examine the effects of hearing impairment on the family, questionnaires were completed by 358 mothers and 184 fathers of hearing impaired children enrolled in special education. Questionnaires measured three areas: (1) family stress; (2) communication with the hearing-impaired child; and (3) relationships with professionals and others outside…

The purpose of this volume is to demonstrate that the fields of linguistics, dialectology, language education, and early reading would be well served by a word book of the Black English vernacular. Chapters are devoted to discussion of the social significance of a lexicon of Black English vernacular, the terminology of sex and lovemaking, religion…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the verbal interactions of children assigned to multiage classrooms. Specifically, the study investigated whether children of a particular age group interact with other children across age groups and the types of interactions each age group display. It also investigated student-to-teacher interactions and…

This study examines the effects of different kinds of verbal instructions given by teachers on the performance of young children, investigating whether task performance is significantly affected by small changes in verbal content or in the sequence of components of an instruction. Kindergarten children (48 boys and 52 girls) were randomly assigned…

Two experiments investigating the efficiency of communication between 5th grade children from differing socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds are described. In each experiment, 40 same-sex pairs, half male and half female, were formed into dyadic groupings by combining lower- and middle-SES children into the four possible speaker-listener combinations.…

One hundred twenty college freshmen in the lowest 20% of their classes participated in a study of the relationships between scores on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and the Cooperative English Test and varying levels of standing on ACT English and Social Studies and SAT Verbal Tests, by race and gender, controlling for high school grade-point…

The verbal interaction of 31 middle class early adolescent boys and their parents was analyzed in order to provide information concerning adolescent autonomy. The boys were independently and reliably classified on the basis of age, physical maturity, and intellectual level. The taped interactions were coded for interruptions, talking times,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the communication behavior of Asian American women who held nontraditional, male-dominated jobs. Two hundred and eighty seven Asian American women of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Philippino descent in both traditional and nontraditional occupations were interviewed in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.…

The interactional teaching patterns of 36 fathers and mothers with their 6-year-old sons and daughters were studied. Parents were asked to play (in parent-child dyads) with their child on a jigsaw puzzle and to teach the child to remember 25 picture cards that could be divided into conceptual categories. It was found that parents' instructional…

This first of nine related reports describes the procedures used in a study which gathered data on 80 presearch interviews in seven medical libraries. The study was conducted (1) to identify verbal and nonverbal behaviors that facilitate, maintain, or impede information exchange in interviews between search intermediaries and library users…

This paper defines contrastive phonetics and discusses phonetic work in the Jyvaskyla Contrastive Project, the background theory of contrastive analysis, and expansion of the framework of contrastive phonetics. Contrastive phonetics is defined as a method which is used to compare the similarities and differences in the chain of speech…

This booklet for parents provides a brief explanation of how babies and young children learn to communicate with others (through actions and words) and suggests specific ways parents can help their children learn to communicate effectively. (RH)

A course in communications skills for the biomedical sciences is a component unique to the New Mexico State University MARC Honors Undergraduate Program. The program seeks to identify and assist minority students who show evidence of having clear potential to perform at a high level in the biomedical sciences and who show a determination to enter…