Asking questions in class can be a routine effort for some students, but many find this particular act to be an extraordinary task. Research demonstrates that at least 15 to 20% of all students suffer from debilitating apprehension when speaking. The number who experience moderate nervousness may be even higher. As a result of not asking…

The subject of the attached case study is Sara, a 17-year-old high school honors student who communicates using a DynaVox 3100, which she accesses via single-switch visual scanning. A team of education and engineering specialists at DynaVox Systems LLC collaborated with Sara to identify and maximize her use of device features and accessories that…

Times of great change in school districts require strategic communication with internal and external stakeholders including the use of school public relations tools and techniques. This book provides theoretical and practical advice and guidance to district-based change leaders and school public relations specialists on how they can support their…

In a study of the effects of complainers' sex, age, perceived situational seriousness, and social class on the use of conversational strategies in their complaining behavior, 465 subjects of varying age, sex, and social class were observed and tape recorded in spontaneous conversation by 25 field workers. The field workers also filled out a…

This report is a summary of discussions that took place at the "Get Heard" Regional Rural Youth Dialogue on Employment, Education and Communication, held in Castlegar, British Columbia, on November 19, 2005. The "Get Heard" Regional Rural Youth Dialogue was organized in partnership with the BC Rural Network (BCRN). This Network…

Does parent involvement in school affect student achievement? Synthesis of data collected from schools that have been involved in the National Network of Partnership Schools appeared to indicate that regardless of the student's socioeconomic and/or ethnic background, when parents are involved at home and in school, there is a positive effect on…

Recent studies have pointed to the importance of second language learners' use of repetition for conversational participation and language learning. This study researched the significance of repetition, varying in type and complexity, for second language learning children's verbal participation in play as well as their academic language skills and…

This study examines current patterns of oral communication strategy (OCS) use, to what degree these strategies can be explicitly taught, and the extent to which strategy use can lead to improvements in oral communication ability. In a 12-week English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course based on a communicative approach, 62 female learners were…

In this article, I examine a historical information graphic--Charles Booth's maps of London poverty (1889-1902)--to analyze the cultural basis of ideas of transparency and clarity in information graphics. I argue that Booth's maps derive their rhetorical power from contemporary visual culture as much as from their scientific authority. The visual…

In this article, the authors reflect upon their professional "journey through oracy" by offering a review of literature on "talk"--an exploration of the various ways in which "talk" has been explored by theorists and researchers in the last century. By interweaving into this review a collection of reflections on their own published work, the…

As a newly appointed joint hire in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences and the College of Education, Department of Middle/Secondary Education, my charge was to bridge the communication gap between these two departments and colleges. To meet this challenge, I developed four collaborative projects between the Natural…

Internal Audit Services conducted an Early Implementation Review of the Understanding the Early Years (UEY) Initiative in 2006-07. This review is intended to provide assurance to senior management that program delivery has been established appropriately in order to meet its objectives and highlight any areas that require focused management…

A study examined organizational culture change to determine the effectiveness of a communication based intervention program to increase productivity and motivation. The cultural change was measured through a triangulation approach combining questionnaires, interview data and direct observation. Pre- and post-intervention data were obtained in the…

The ideas and activities in this curriculum guide seek to develop students' communication skills through participation in real world activities as opposed to classroom simulation. The lessons were pilot tested on a fifth and sixth grade class, but can be adapted for use in grades four through eight. Following an introductory section, the course of…

The study examined the attitudes Mexican American parents had about the best and worst ways for school personnel to communicate with them about typical school situations. Bilingual interviewers questioned 130 Mexican American parents in the East Los Angeles area to gather data relating to 3 sets of variables which were then correlated and…