This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 13 titles deal with the following topics: the development of strategies and materials for teaching speech communication to students in a remedial pilot program; the treatment of ethics in selected speech communication textbooks;…

A study of 25 male college students (14 Native Americans, 11 Anglo Americans) assessed the role of culturally-differing communications behavior in the dropout rate of Native American students (while the students want an education, they also wish to retain their cultural identity, and equate class participation with assimilation into non-Indian…

Nonverbal teacher behavior is recognized as an important factor in establishing a positive social climate in the classroom. A feedback and analysis instrument is presented focusing on specific nonverbal teacher behaviors. These behaviors--facial expressions, gestures, body movements, and idiosyncratic characteristics--are categorized as either…

This handbook, aimed at helping the new teacher in a ghetto elementary school, exposes the problems facing ghetto teachers and presents detailed practical ways in which successful teachers have dealt with them. Their solutions, which can be as specific as organizing a neat bulletin board to help create a secure atmosphere, are presented in the…

This report reviews 3 demonstration studies in which the Topic Classification System of classroom interaction analysis (a system of analyzing teacher objectives and student performance) was applied to 3 samples of classroom behaviors to determine the range and limitations of the system. In the introduction the system is discussed with reference to…

Suggestions for communicating and therefore teaching college students effectively are put forth. Emphasis is on lively interactions between students and teachers, with additional focus on the instructor's need to understand student needs both in the classroom and after graduation. Specific methods are illustrated with classroom examples for…

This handbook is intended as a guide to the American teacher in helping Vietnamese students make the cultural and academic transition to the American classroom. Part one of the handbook suggests approaches to specific problems arising from cultural and linguistic differences, including forms of address, coeducation, work habits, contact with…

This paper deals with the phenomenon of code switching among bilinguals. Whereas previous studies of code switching have, however, concentrated on instances in which code alternation can be correlated with a change in social occasion, this paper uses examples from the speech of Mexican-American and Afro-American bilinguals to focus on those…

This study sought to determine whether an in-service program would produce changes in teacher attitudes and in teacher-student verbal interaction in the classroom and whether the amount and direction of this change could be significantly measured. During an 8-week in-service program, an experimental group of 10 English and 10 mathematics teachers…

Part I of this book attempts to provide students with an understanding of the "academic enterprise" as a whole, and specifically the structures, people, money, myths and practices which create that peculiar enterprise known as freshman English, an experience through which the majority of college students must pass. Part II offers students a…

Spontaneity and personal freedom are seen as the fundamental requisites to creative teaching. Unseen pressures leading to increasing conformity in classroom procedures and methods are revealed and constrasted with unique examples of teaching Thoreau, Kafka, and Donne. Teachers are urged to rely upon their own creative impulses. (RL)

Based on Ballack and Davitz's study, "Language of the Classroom: Meanings Communicated in High School Teaching," this study investigated the distinguishing characteristics of the reacting moves used by teachers and pupils. During four consecutive class sessions, 15 New York City high school social studies classes were tape-recorded. Restrictions…

This report presents a chronological review (1893 to 1963) of formal and informal classroom observational studies which, in examining the use of recitation as a pedagogical method, show that teachers talk during the majority of classroom time, asking or reacting to factual questions posed to students. Included is a brief discussion of Arno…

This study investigated the relationship between teacher behavior and pupil reflective dialogue in the classroom assuming that social problems provide a natural springboard for inquiry through classroom discussion. It was hypothesized that different teacher strategies promote different types of class interaction. Discussion styles were to be…

Communication between students and teachers is a basic requirement for learning to take place in a classroom. Like words and phrases, behaviors carry specific meanings which may vary across cultures. When teachers are not aware of cultural differences, when they assume that a behavior has a particular meaning while students assume it has another,…