Examines the relationship between identification and communication using organizational identification (OI) as a theoretical framework for studying communication networks among incoming graduate students in three university departments of communication. Concludes that, irrespective of initial OI, stronger initial multiplexity predicts the growth…

Reports on the application of the concept of social network to the process of language usage among Yoruba-speaking city dwellers in Ile-Ife, Southwestern Nigeria. The study focuses on phonetic/phonological variation within common spoken Yoruba. (41 references) (GLR)

Examines the speech of women from a deprived inner-city area to test the assumption that women use fewer slang or swear words than do men and aim for more standard speech. These women's frequent use of strong expletives refutes theories proffered for the correctness of the language of women. (14 references) (JL)

Examines transcribed excerpts from a casual discussion according to sentence-level, textual/situational, and cultural structure. A brief comparison is made with a more formal written text to provide an additional background against which to illuminate the casual spoken discourse structure. (20 references)

Offers both the questionnaire and the subject calling card from the 1991 Boise State University (BSU) alumni outcomes assessment survey, as a general model for assessing communication alumni. Makes suggestions regarding the design of an effective survey instrument based on the BSU experience. (SR)

Recommends a standardized vocabulary for general assessment approaches, methods, and instruments in speech communication by redefining the terms "atomistic,""analytic,""holistic," and "general impression." Discusses the theoretical underpinnings of communication products and performances, including application of theory to assessment. (SR)

Asks how teachers can communicate in such a way as to compel students to think critically about the content and the inherent social relations and underlying ideology of a course. Views the classroom as a dramatic, hence rhetorical, environment. Draws on Brechtian theory to suggest three communication principles for inciting critical thinking:…

Examines student perceptions of instructor compliance-gaining behavior. Finds differences among perceptions at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester and that greater affective and cognitive learning was associated with less use of antisocial compliance-gaining techniques and more use of prosocial techniques. (SR)

Argues that the requirement to nurture and sustain academic freedom in the classroom creates obligations for the teacher, and that these obligations form the ethical framework within which the educational enterprise is to be undertaken. (KEH)

Presents data from a longitudinal investigation concerning the development of language and communicative skills in infants suffering from focal brain injury in the pre- or perinatal period. Phonological analyses of babbling and first words are focused upon, as well as parental reports of the use of gestures for communicative purposes, word…

Investigates significant predictors of article publication for female and male mass communication faculty, and examines predictors of book publication by gender. Finds that traditional reasons for explaining females' alleged lower level of productivity fail to gain support for mass communication faculty in the late 1980s. (SR)

Provides a rationale for the use of popular television in the classroom. Offers examples and applications from the syndicated television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation." (SR)

Develops a method for measuring individual scholarly productivity of active researchers in the field of mass communications between the years 1924 and 1990. Provides data concerning active researchers and the number of articles published. (HB)

Discusses the role of a "basic course director" who oversees the consistency among multiple sections of the same course. Surveys communications departments at representative midwestern universities concerning the methods and functions of such a director of introductory courses. (HB)

Compiles some of the theories and research on collaboration from disciplines such as small group management, composition, scientific and technical communication, computer science, speech communication, and rhetoric. Presents annotations of 32 books and journal articles published between 1985 and 1993. (RS)