Describes the history of Pennsylvania State University's "Speech Communication Teacher Workshop Program," an in-service program for classroom teachers that has provided hundreds of workshops and credit courses in communication content and methods. Provides a perspective on the relationship between communication and instruction. (SR)

The turn exchange behaviors of 5 specifically language-impaired (SLI) children, aged 8 to 13, were examined in adult-child interaction. Results indicated qualitative differences from those of normal language children in terms of turn errors, interruptions, interactive attention, responsiveness, and turn switch times, as well as variability related…

Argues that an individual's activities prior to and during an interpersonal influence attempt may be explained by his or her goals. Examines primary and secondary goals, their relationships to one another, and how they shape the interpersonal influence process in terms of planning, effort, directness, positivity, and logic. (SR)

Examines how the 1988 Presidential Debates provide a resource for effective instruction in public argument. Provides several examples of effective (and ineffective) argumentative speaking taken from the debates. (MM)

Explores cross-cultural attitudinal differences toward rhetorical sensitivity style. Finds that French subjects preferred a direct rhetorical sensitivity style; Japanese subjects expressed a moderate orientation towards the use of rhetorical sensitivity style; and United States subjects preferred an indirect rhetorical sensitivity style of…

Provides communications tips for trainers who are not native English speakers: speak slowly and distinctly; memorize unusual pronunciation sounds; avoid emphasizing the wrong syllables. Suggests that the best way to become a better speaker is to practice. (JOW)

Focuses on language awareness as the ability to view a language objectively. The implications of certain ideas on language awareness for syllabus design and course planning are highlighted and some inadequacies of direct approaches to language teaching are discussed. (15 references) (Author/CK)

Argues that communications scholarship has had no significant impact on public policy. Argues that classical political economy offers an intellectual tradition with which the field ought to connect, and shows how certain problems can be approached in an integrated manner. Criticizes the field's failure to recognize multiple versions of critical…

Argues that two features of Roman declamatory exercises merit scrutiny by contemporary scholars and teachers of composition: the contextual nature of the fully developed declamatory case, and the insistence that orators explore the opposing positions that surround an actual argument. (RS)

Presents arguments against A. Fernald's (1987, 1989) universality of prosodic modifications in speech addressed to infants and supports the cultural account of prosodic modifications to infants and children. Data are presented to defend N. Bernstein-Ratner and C. Pye (1984) conclusions on Quiche mothers and are used to reinterpret the universal…

Investigates the management of expertise in advice-giving in the calls to a radio advice line. Analyzes how the expert's talk handles the tension between the personal and public dimensions of advice-giving in such a public forum. (HB)

Characterizes English imperatives in terms of hypotheticality, nonpast, second-person nature, and, in particular, "speaker commitment," which refers to the degree of directive force applied by the speaker toward the addressee carrying out the action. Imperatives, which can be commands or conditions, are ambiguous with respect to speaker…

Lexical statistics and a production experiment gauge the extent to which the linguistic notion of morphological productivity is relevant for psycholinguistic theories of speech production in languages such as Dutch. Lexical statistics show that new Dutch words are created often enough to make such theories of speech production theoretically…

Reports on two studies that looked at the spontaneous face-to-face interaction of three-month-old infants with their mothers. Facial and manual actions, gaze direction, and vocalizations were coded. Results showed a correlation between index-finger extensions and syllabic sounds, suggesting a strong connection between speech and the pointing…

Examined the development of grammatical morphemes, such as determiners, complementizers, and inflections, in the grammar of one child with specific language impairment four times between ages three and six. Results were consistent with an interpretation of a slowly developing grammar with elements from functional categories especially late in…