A study examined the lyrics of the lovesongs of the musical partnership Eurythmics (David Stewart and Annie Lennox), a popular music group. The method used was based on the James Chesbro study, which classified lyrics using a critical paradigm that combined Northrop Frye's hierarchy of communications systems (Ironic, Mimetic, Leader-centered,…

Furthering research on the explanations for gender differences in nonverbal expression, a study investigated the types of posed smiles depicted in sorority and fraternity photographs, and related them to whether or not the subject held a leadership position in that organization. Five sororities and five fraternities at a large eastern university…

To explore the quality of the basic course in speech communication it is useful to examine the role of graduate teaching assistants (GTA) and undergraduate teaching assistants (UTA). The first goal was to search the literature for information concerning the use (or lack thereof) of GTAs and UTAs and to explore the potential benefits and drawbacks…

To investigate the effects of mutual perceived understanding on the communicators, 86 undergraduate students in a speech communication course were asked to use a 382 item checklist to identify those feelings and sensations that described their own experiences of intense communication. Analysis of subjects' responses showed that 63 items were…

Business writers often use--or may be taught to use--strategies for verbal interaction analogous to those they use in conversation. Unfortunately, much current composition theory discounts analogies between verbal interaction in speaking and writing and therefore disallows applying the results of linguistic investigations of spoken language use to…

The growth in the popularity and importance of disadvantage arguments in debate has been, in some measure, due to the growing belief that debate should be viewed from a policy-making perspective. And, with the focus of contemporary debate shifting to the consequences of policy actions, there has been a concurrent increase in the sophistication of…

Like other types of dispute resolution, mediation brings the parties in conflict together to solve their problems. It provides a fresh perspective by introducing a third party who is entirely neutral and is skilled in helping parties solve their problems. With the increasing dissatisfaction with the formal justice system, mediation has been…

Intended to assist debaters and coaches who will be debating the 1983-84 national high school debate topic, this booklet combines discussion of general debate theory, and information specific to the topic: "What changes are most needed in the procedures used in the United States justice system?" The eight chapters of the booklet contain…

A study was conducted to describe male and female participation and success in both debate and individual events national competition and to identify areas of gender-based inequity. Data from three 1984 national tournaments (National Debate Tournament, American Forensic Association's National Individual Events Tournament, and the National Forensic…

Dominant sensory metaphors play a major role in speech, and this dominance further manifests itself in other behaviors involving particular sensory modes. Communicators use one of the five senses as dominant metaphor in their speech: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, oflactory, or gustatory. Interpersonal attending, which teaches the importance not…

As a step toward the study of invention, an investigation dealt not with public arguments or the results of invention, but with arguments that may have occurred to the rhetor but were discarded. To avoid problems of self-presentation and retrospection, thinking aloud and reconstructive protocols were avoided in favor of providing 37 college…

Monetary support is essential to the survival of speech interpretation programs in the 1980s, and the community is one viable alternative to dwindling academic channels of support. Two strategies have proved vital to securing community support for the interpretation program at an Indiana university: (1) networking, maintaining a group of faculty…

This course description summarizes a course that was designed for individuals, both interviewers and interviewees, who desire the skills and techniques necessary to serve effectively in their respective roles. The course was prepared especially for students wishing to gain: (1) an understanding of the interviewing process; (2) the prerequisite to…

A study tested a delivery skills method of instruction for reducing public speaking anxiety. Subjects were 59 male and 71 female undergraduates (ranging in age from 17-49) enrolled in a basic public speaking course at a midwestern university during the 1986-87 academic year. The Personal Report of Public Speaking Apprehension (PRPSA) which…

A study examined procedures used to test the oral communication skills of students between the ages of 15 and 18 in the United Kingdom, with special attention given to strategies which might be of value to adopt in the United States. Subjects were 4 pairs of students tested from a randomly selected sample of 112 schools. Twenty-two assessors were…