Investigated changes that occurred in sixth- and seventh-grade teacher and student discourse when teachers endeavored to implement extended teacher wait-time in a sequence of seven lessons related to probabilistic reasoning. Results indicated that teacher wait-time increased from an average of 1.9 to 4.4 seconds during the lesson sequence. (JN)

A system for evaluating language teaching uses a specially designed assessment form to give supervisors,' peers,' and students' views of the teacher's performance. The instrument provides both subjective and objective information, is designed for use in secondary and higher education, and evaluates verbal and nonverbal behavior. (MSE)

Hypothesizes that the amount of verbal interaction with caregivers would be a salient index of center quality, in that it would be a particularly important determinant of language skill. Three sets of measures were used to assess quality of the day care environment: children's language development, family background, and home…

Used a lexical statistics program to analyze conflict and nonconflict discussions of two different groups of college students. Found preliminary evidence for a pattern of greater redundancy and less vocabulary diversity for the discussion groups in conflict. (PD)

Motivating variables in the verbal interaction between mother and young child, which may influence the acquisition of the child's verbal skills, were investigated. Previous hypotheses were surveyed and data on verbal interactions of 29 mother-child pairs were presented. (Author/MS)

This case study investigated factors that increased verbal interaction for students in group work in a ninth grade, content-based, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) class. Out of 11 tasks assigned to the students during the semester, four language-based and four genre-based tasks were analyzed. At the end of the study, the nature of verbal…

This study, part of the National Data Base on Faculty Involvement in Governance project at the University of Alabama, attempted to profile the role orientations of faculty governance unit leaders, and to determine if those orientations differed under conditions of communication apprehension (how a unit leader interacts with others) or were…

Argyle and Kendon's model of social skills provided the framework for examining the relationship between verbal and nonverbal aspects of the performance of 77 female student teachers at a British physical education college. (Author/RM)

Reports the study of ritual verbal insults among Black men and among gay men. Gives examples of these insults and explains the situations in which such insulting takes place. (PMJ)

Verbal interactions of 46 special education teachers in specific language and learning disability (SLD) classrooms, educable mentally retarded (EMR) classrooms, and trainable mentally retarded (TMR) classrooms were described and compared. The teachers varied, by classroom type, in their use of direct or indirect teaching styles, but the former…

Presents the Verbal Interaction Analysis System (VIAS), a computer-based system designed to analyze verbal interactions, and describes application of the VIAS in analyzing family/professional interactions during the Individualized Family Service Plan process. The results of a pilot test of the VIAS found high interobserver reliability. (Author/CR)

Discussion of the evaluation of courseware focuses on a study conducted to evaluate the Health and Fitness Assessment (HAFA) program, which was designed to elicit problem solving skills to assess health and fitness parameters and develop exercise prescriptions. Protocol analysis is described and the analysis of interpretive statements is…

Examines the connection between the classroom as an organizational and social system and the learning outcomes of a class of students. Makes hypotheses concerning lateral communication. Finds that interaction among students is particularly valuable in heterogenous classrooms in which many children have difficulty understanding the teacher's…

Reports on a study of the extent and distribution of several forms of aggression and violence in schools in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany). Includes responses from 2,382 persons in a representative sample. Finds a slight increase in violence during the past three years but a high frequency of verbal aggression. (CFR)

Studies the attitudes and achievements of immigrants from the Soviet Union studying at the tertiary level at Haifa University in Israel. A series of questionnaires probing the students' language use and attitudes were administered in order to provide a general description of their linguistic profile in first, second, and third languages. (15…