Outlines the nature of the Toulmin approach, reviews relevant research, and reports on two experiments that tested whether developing a persuasive argument by adding combinations of Toulmin's elements produced significant effects on attitude change. (PD)

Analyzes 10 theoretical approaches to Black language studies. Divides these into two categories: those that deny the existence of a separate Black language and those that recognize a distinct form of communication. Examines the relationship between language and politics and Black scholars' self-determination as cultural factors influencing…

These two experiments focus on nonverbal behaviors that might have meaning in defining the relationship between partners and on the broader relational connotations produced by a reticent person's verbal and nonverbal communication style. (PD)

Reporting validity information, this study concludes that the CCAI is a valid and reliable instrument tapping a variety of situations in which students communicate. The method of operationalizing the construct--observation of communication behavior--is clearly superior to self-report methods. (PD)

Examines how speaking/writing relationships help and hinder communication. Suggests ways to make business communication students aware of differences between speaking and writing. Identifies research needed to further understanding of these relationships in business communication. (PD)

Results indicate that (1) Puerto Rican college students are much less apprehensive about communication in their native language than are U.S. students; and (2) apprehension in a first language is a much better predictor of apprehension in a second language than is self-perceived competence in that second language. (PD)

Results suggest that (1) schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic families use language differently when they communicate and (2) computer analysis of conversation may be a promising diagnostic tool. (PD)

This review encompasses the present status, development, and background of conversation theory (CT) and of a protolanguage, Lp, which is its formal dual. Included are discussions of CT methodology, results obtained using CT and related methods, present epistemological status of CT and of Lp, and ongoing theoretical and empirical research. (MBR)

Demonstrates through a case study and a participant observation study that siblings interact about television in such a way that the form and content of their talk creates a learning context. Concludes that, despite concerns about "zombie" viewers, children are not passive, unresponsive recipients of television. (PD)

Three levels of metacommunication knowledge and five factors that influence the understanding of speaker meaning in oral language were identified in pilot interviews with children and adolescents. (HOD)

Explores the relationship between arguing and verbal aggression and the benefits accruing from argumentativeness. Found that students who are highly argumentative are not easily provoked to using verbal aggression in an argument, supporting the view that verbal aggression often stems from a lack of skill in arguing. (PD)

Discusses assignments in discourse analysis and students' recurring methodological errors. (PD)

This summary of a study describing the communications of school administrators and teachers and the degree of congruency between principals' and teachers' instructional intentions and students' and teachers' perceptions of classroom events concludes by proposing Rensis Likert's overlapping work groups as a more effective organizational pattern for…

Reviews P. Brown and S. Levinson's theory of politeness and related compliance-gaining research. Conducts a study to test the above theory using the variables of gender, relationship intimacy, and power. Concludes that more polite tactics are used by females, persons in close relationships, and less powerful persons. (PD)

This book discusses two major approaches to social science research: quantitative research, which involves converting observations to numbers and analyzing them statistically; and qualitative research, which looks at participants' opinions, behaviors, and experiences from their own points of view and in a more subjective way. In the book,…