Claims the American Forensic Association's (AFA) publications and conferences represent its principal commitment to research. Presents a review of the journals and conferences under AFA sponsorship. Reviews the strong commitment to research on the part of the AFA, particularly as it is manifested in the association's journal and in conferences.…

Traces the term "logos" from the ninth to the fourth century B.C. to distinguish between its general meaning and its technical definition within classical rhetoric. Shows that Aristotle's "pistis" of "logos" refers, not to an appeal to logic, but to the argument or speech itself, which reinstates all three proofs of…

Discusses a continuum of language alternation phenomena that spans between the prototypes labeled codeswitching (CS), language mixing (LM), and fused lects (FLs), with CS and FLs representing the polar extremes of the continuum and LM a point in between. (Author/VWL)

Examines how interlocutors' beliefs about each other's goals affect conversational references, comparing pairs who were either informed or noninformed about the goal difference, or misinformed that goals were the same. Finds that misinformed and noninformed pairs overlooked clues that may have signaled the goal discrepancy, made conversational…

Compares the communicative effectiveness of spontaneous monologues and dialogues on nonparticipating addressees overhearing talk. Finds that overhearers were more accurate at following instructions in a referential communication task when listening in on dialogues than when listening in on monologues. Suggests greater number of discourse markers…

States that instruments currently used to assess communication competence reveal the prevalence of social scientific approaches to assessing competence. Suggests addressing communication competence from a perspective outside the behavioral orientation to communication. Contends that shifting the perspective to a narrative approach to interaction…

Shows two experiments at Delft University of Technology support the conclusion that an introduction makes audiences more willing to listen to a speech. States subjects (in experiment 1) viewed videotapes of professional presentations on "Sick Building Syndrome." Indicates audiences respond to exordial techniques in a predictable manner.…

States that many English teachers find themselves responsible for an expanded English curriculum that includes the (new) language arts of speaking and listening. Outlines practical ways teachers can incorporate appropriate instruction into a full curriculum. Offers specific information about the processes of informal speaking, formal speaking,…

Examines research (in communication theory and in cognitive neural sciences) which supports the view that mindful and mindless communicative behavior coexist and operate in complementary fashion during information processing. Argues that current communication pedagogy does not reflect this emerging model and that adaptations in content and…

Contributes to both feminist scholarship and Chinese Studies by coming to grips with the deep, culturally embedded, and politically significant meaning of the names given to Chinese women. Uses the analysis of two names to advance theory that will link and enrich rhetorical, feminist, and intercultural studies and break through the limits of…

Four phoneme-detection studies with native speakers of Dutch and German tested the conclusion from recent research that spoken language processing is inhibited by violation of obligatory assimilation processes in the listeners' native language. (Author/VWL)

Discusses Victor Henry's innovative presentation of some underlying contradictions in the premises on which linguistics is founded, cast in the Kantian form of antinomies. The review argues that no science remains more strongly contested than linguistics, a science whose origins are paradoxical and that contains outdated concepts. (30 references)…

The author's research in England and Scotland suggests that prisoners are considerably more literate than statistics appear to show, they sometimes choose oral rather than written communication due to the nature of the correctional system, and prison is not an environment in which literacy can flourish. (SK)

Extended findings of a study that found that increasing the salience of perceptually important regions of nonsense word and sentence materials aids speech perception in noise by investigating the robustness of these enhancement techniques in improving consonant intelligibility for a range of different speakers and for groups of listeners with…

Describes the academic degree program in Speech Communication at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Notes that it was founded in 1982, encompasses both master's and doctoral education, and is the only program in the Nordic countries to cover a wide range of human interaction. Discusses studying in the program, moving from the program into…