Reports on a study of virtual cross-functional teams located in a small southern United States town and a northern United States city. Discusses how team members responded to the demands of the team arrangement, how they communicated both remotely and face-to-face, how they adjusted to cultural distinctions, and how their learning was situated in…

Compares demand for speech preparation skills and trait public speaking apprehension as predictors of state anxiety experienced immediately before a graded classroom performance. Finds that public speaking apprehension significantly predicted anticipatory anxiety, while no significant effect was observed for planning skills. Examines findings…

Tests the Multidimensional Model for teaching students to self-manage communication apprehension by self-selecting treatment techniques. Finds significantly greater reduction in communication apprehension level when teaching the Multidimensional Model than when only using traditional skills training. (SR)

Argues that Internet Relay Chat (IRC) research needs to systematically address links between interaction structures, technological mediation and the instantiation and development of interpersonal relationships. Finds that openings that occur directly following user's entries into public IRC channels are often ambiguous, can disrupt relationship…

Interactional features of an online graduate course conference were analyzed using the Transcript Analysis Tool (TAT) and structural elements using social network theory. Intensity and persistence of participation were unequal. The TAT showed the proportions of five modes of interaction (questions, statements, reflections, engaging comments, and…

Suggests the fundamental challenge for refining theories of communication and uncertainty is to abandon the assumption that uncertainty will produce anxiety. Outlines and extends a theory of uncertainty management and reviews current theory and research. Concludes that people want to reduce uncertainty because it is threatening, but uncertainty…

Explores the nature and structure of computer-mediated communication among preservice teachers. Analyzes two extensive student-initiated dialogues on a listserv using Burbules' (1993) dimensions of pedagogical dialogue and his criteria for educationally beneficial and detrimental forms. Notes that findings support the conclusion that the Read-L…

Examines the extent to which news media use predicts the public's ability to correctly estimate crime rates. Finds that the public seriously overestimates the extent of the crime problem, and the news media do little to help the public understand the extent of the problem. (SG)

Argues that value-expressive attitudes and social-adjustive attitudes are based in a person's values. Indicates formation of these attitudes among the undergraduate student subjects depended more on the match between the value-content of the persuasive messages and the extent to which the message recipients hold those values than their level of…

In order to help frame a current theoretical impasse, in this essay we forward the figure of the zombie in Western cinema as an allegory for the reception of the concept of ideology by communication scholars. After noting parallels between (a) an early academic caricature of ideology and the laboring zombie, and (b) the subject of ideological…

Different speakers may pronounce the same sounds very differently, yet listeners have little difficulty perceiving speech accurately. Recent research suggests that listeners adjust their preexisting phonemic categories to accommodate speakers' pronunciations ("perceptual learning"). In some cases, these adjustments appear to reflect general…

A study examined the types of communication technologies being used by United States-based corporations with operations in Mexico to determine the challenges these companies face when communicating across the border. A total of 703 U.S. corporations doing business with Mexico (culled from lists in two professional directories) were chosen for the…

The current study examined whether 11-month-old and 12-month-old French infants were able to recognize familiar words in a situation yielding no extra-linguistic cues, before they made identified attempts at producing such words. A head-turn preference paradigm was used to compare infants' interest for familiar words against rare words. Lists of…

An interactional model of communication can be based on Erving Goffman's concept of the "interaction order" and the conversation analytic focus on meaning. Three sets of related ideas provide the intellectual foundations for this approach: actions are designed for recipients; talk is multi-functional; and self presentation is semiotic.…

A literature review investigated the still nebulous area of email's implications for literacy learning by reviewing the existing literature across disciplines on the interests and concerns of literacy researchers and educators about email and the major issues and areas of concerns which are and will be relevant for literacy researchers. The…