In this article, the authors present parent-educator conversations, which were selected to illustrate common communication patterns and provide links to some of the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children's recommended practices for communicating and collaborating with parents. Using conversation analysis, researchers…

A review of communication models and research reveals four areas of communications skill: listening, empathy, non-verbal communication, and expressive abilities. Models of listening behavior suggest that, rather than being a passive activity, listening involves sorting stimuli and encoding messages, analyzing listener needs, and assessing speaker…

Examines research from several fields and evaluates techniques for managing discomfort when making presentations. (Written for business communication teachers and presentation-skills trainers in business.) (PD)

Uses the following four approaches to review interpersonal communication research conducted by speech communication scholars: (1) dialog, (2) cohesion, (3) message process, and (4) rhetoric. Helps to clarify why different approaches are used in teaching interpersonal communication courses. (PD)

Developed as part of a program designed to examine why so few graduates of doctoral programs demonstrate their scholarship through the media of books and refereed publications, the four papers in this series address the question of publication. The first paper explains why one should publish, explores differences between graduate term papers and…

This annotated bibliography lists books, articles, and other related sources dealing with the areas of speech communication education and critical thinking. Besides works dealing specifically with the area of speech communications, a majority of the sources focus primarily on the general topic of critical thinking, its value to secondary and…

Twenty years of research in interpersonal communication have provided teachers with a basis for identifying the competencies that should be taught in introductory interpersonal communication courses, including empathy, social composure, and conflict management. However, other issues such as "performance vs. knowledge," the affective dimension, and…

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)

To bring educational research into focus with tested classroom practice, this booklet provides an introduction to small group discussion. The theory and research section discusses the importance of small group discussion, characteristics of small group discussions, group attraction based on Maslow's hierarchy of basic human needs, group decision…

Divided into two sections, this report describes research on the range and degree of assessment of students' communication skills in colleges and universities and includes the following findings: (1) of the 384 respondents from college speech communication departments, 45 reported using large-scale, uniform testing of students; (2) these…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet presents a holistic view of learning focused on the development of oral communication. The first section of the booklet provides a rationale for increasing oral communication skills instruction, and discusses the…

Debate paradigms, which at one time established standards to help judges evaluate arguments and rules to guide debaters' argument choice and strategy selection, no longer offer consistent guidance for either judges or debaters. An increased emphasis on creativity and flexibility has led to a general unwillingness to use a rigid debate format. The…

A study related the communication responsiveness of instructors to the affective and cognitive outcomes of students in basic speech communication courses. Specifically, the study investigated both the instructors' overall responsiveness and their responsiveness as climate makers. The communication responsiveness of instructors was measured by the…

Intended for researchers and teachers of the small group process, decision making, and negotiation, this paper offers a review and critique of J. Habermas's theory of universal pragmatics. The first section of this paper retraces Habermas's theory, which seeks to free social action from false consciousness (that is, political ideologies) that…

Written and developed to assist speech and language clinicians in the ongoing process of providing support for classroom teachers in their efforts to enhance the oral language of their students, this manual provides a rationale and intervention activities for improving oral language in the classroom. The manual first discusses research supporting…