A study identified the academic needs of Australian vocational educators who are developing their own and others' communication competence in response to the imperative for vocational educators to provide a wide range of programs in communication for the workplace. Subjects, over 100 vocational educators enrolled in the University of Technology,…

A pilot study investigated the relationships of career indecision, communication anxiety, and attrition of university students. Ten honors students from a college of arts and sciences were invited to a 3-day intensive focus on career decision making. The honors students reported satisfaction with the 3-day program. Information from these students…

A study examined the impact of high school sophomore students' mastery of public speaking skills through sociodrama. Student attitudes toward role-play was also surveyed to provide more background information on sociodrama's impact upon student learning. A class of 26 students in southern Cook County, Illinois, prepared role-play characterizations…

A study investigated non-native instructors' communication behaviors as perceived by their students. Subjects, 81 undergraduate students on 2 campuses of a state university in the northern United States, responded to a questionnaire. The results of qualitative and quantitative analyses indicated that U.S. students' feeling about non-native…

A study investigated whether gender differences in proscribed language behavior, attitudes, and beliefs would emerge from an anonymous self-report questionnaire. A total of 87 men and 87 women enrolled in 6 sections of a required sophomore course at a regional southeastern university voluntarily completed the questionnaire which was designed to…

Focusing on the federal government's efforts to educate the public to the dangers of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a study examined "America Responds to AIDS" public service announcements (PSA's) through a traditional rhetorical analysis (PSA characters, plot, pace, tone, and message design). Forty-four English-language…

Several quasi-experimental and experimental studies of learning outcomes associated with Oral Communication across the Curriculum (OCXC) activities have been conducted at Radford University, Virginia. Two such studies assessing the effectiveness of OCXC in non-speech courses highlight the difficulties involved in conducting research into…

These proceedings contain the following seven papers: "An Examination of Community Pluralism, News Framing, Source Use and Conflict of an Environmental Issue" (Cynthia-Lou Coleman and others); "The Effectiveness of 'How' Graphics and Text in Conveying Basic News Story Information" (Jeffrey L. Griffin and Robert L. Stevenson);…

Faced with a smaller pool of qualified high school graduates, American colleges and universities have been forced to adopt aggressive marketing and recruitment processes. One of the most often applied communication techniques is the production and distribution of image or recruitment videotapes, or video brochures. A study applied a content…

The current legal standing of homosexual parents seeking custody of their children remains precarious. Courts determine custody and visitation on the basis of the "best interests of the child." Current judicial rulings reflect a bias against awarding custody or granting visitation rights to homosexual parents, favoring the heterosexual…

A study focused on graduate teaching assistants' (GTAs') perceptions of aspects of teaching and teaching style. Subjects, 120 of 197 randomly selected GTAs in 20 academic departments in a midwestern university, completed two survey instruments. Results indicated that GTAs perceive that students learn more from the lecture method and that…

A study examined natural dialogue between high school disciplinarians (principals, deans, assistant principals) and students in disciplinary situations. Four disciplinarians (two men and two women--two assistant principals, one principal, and one dean) representing three schools in central Illinois audiotaped as few or as many complete dialogues…

The recent success of the United States antismoking movement has produced a marked decline in the U.S. smoking population. A study employed Jurgen Habermas' communicative competency theory to examine United States smoking controversy discourse and identify the most successful appeals of the antismoking movement. Analysis revealed that primary…

A study explored the relation between students' participation in class discussions and strategies used by instructors to overcome communication apprehension. The study to examined the impact of an interactional teaching style and specific structural exercises on students' perceptions of their classroom participation. Fifty-six undergraduate…

A study examined the relationship among attitudes toward women in general, attitudes toward women as managers, and perceptions of the communication competencies of women managers. Subjects, 178 employees from various types of organizations, completed the Positive Regard Scale (PRS), the Women as Managers Scale (WAMS), and the Communication…