Described a program designed to improve each student's ability to discriminate sounds, increase listening skills, improve the use of oral English and indirectly to improve reading abilities (vocabulary and comprehension). (Author/RK)

The current development of a communication theory known as coordinated management of meaning is presented in this report. The communication process is modeled as an open system; human actors constitute component subsystems with the ability to organize their cognitions into constitutive and regulative rules. The conjoining of individuals' rule sets…

This article analyzes the rhetorical message of Garner Ted Armstrong, leader of the World Church of God, and attempts to explain his church's financial success and audience appeal in terms of this broadcast message. Each message is specifically organized to deceive the audience through the following strategy: (1) gain attention by using shock…

This review of the research into the agenda-setting function of mass communications posits a structure of the agenda-setting process in order to (1) organize the existing research literature in a coherent fashion and (2) identify the gaps in our existing knowledge of the agenda-setting function of the press. Major sections of the paper discuss the…

In the attempt to examine motivations for the interpersonal diffusion of news events, two sets of data were collected. First, 82 college students completed an open-ended survey regarding their reasons for passing on news events; second, another 200 college students were given the list of reasons previously compiled and were asked to rate their…

The identifiably different rhetorical behaviors of Patrick Henry and James Madison, as expressed in their Virginia debates, reflect each man's philosophical view of human nature and the role of reason in human behavior. Patrick Henry, expressing the pessimism of Calvinistic tradition, believed that people are intrinsically evil with a dominant…

An exploratory study using interviews of 150 postpartum patients was conducted to determine their perceptions of the touching they received during labor. Answers to the interview questions were analyzed in terms of overall perceptions, positive experiences, and negative experiences, and selected demographic variables were examined for differences…

Traditional conceptions of the scope of rhetoric urge that critics attend to certain mechanisms which describe the case study: the perspective of the speaker; orality; the specific situation; civil, ingratiating, and rational strategies; and the speaker's ability to satisfy his or her own ends. Contemporary rhetoricians offer a broader base for…

This paper discusses the type of marking rule normally used in the production and interpretation of message forms for which semantic marking is possible. The structure and use of such rules is illustrated through a recent study of the semantics of personal address among the Balangingi' Samal, a Muslim group of the southern Philippines. The rule…

This paper describes the use of British union, or parliamentary, debating in a college public-communication course. This debating format, practiced at British universities and used in the British House of Commons, promotes interaction between speaker and audience, emphasizing the effective methods of persuasive discourse that evoke audience…

This paper discusses informal, semiformal, and formal speaking and writing, three language levels that differ from one another in organization, preparation, intent, tone, and audience. By demonstrating the essential unity of writing, speaking, reading, and listening, speech communication teachers can develop students' abilities in all the language…

Outlines basic goals, techniques, and materials for a college level course in Russian language stylistics. The use of literature readings, composition writing, stylistics levels of both spoken and written language, and synonym equivalence are discussed. (Text is in Russian.) (DH)

Discusses the teaching of French as a second language to Tunisian students. The emphasis is on practicing "in action" and "in situations" so that the language is taught as a means of communication and not as an end in itself. (Text is in French.) (AM)

Describes ways to vary instructional activities in the French language classroom so as to emphasize the communicative function of language. (Text is in French.) (AM)