Introduces and comments on articles in this symposium issue. Contends that speech teachers have methods to overcome communication problems. Challenges them to sort their methods out, test and phrase them in clear language, document assertions from their own classroom investigations, and eventually build a theory to help people improve their…

Communication apprehension (CA) refers to a family of related terms: (a) reticence, (b) shyness, (c) unwillingness to communicate; and (d) stage fright. One pervasive but not totally substantiated assumption in current literature is the relationship between the level of communication apprehension and the level of communication skill demonstrated…

Accepting a definition of culture as "the total accumulation of an identifiable group's beliefs, norms, activities, institutions, and communication patterns," this paper, in an extensive literature review, conjectures that the environment has a far-reaching impact on the performance of the foreign student in the United States. The paper…

This paper reviews the existing body of research on the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and nonverbal behavior. The strengths and limitations of three different approaches are considered. Contextual approaches are studies of CA and nonverbal behavior in which the primary focus is on communicative context (public speaking,…

This essay is a propositional analysis of the literature on the interrelationship of communicator style and gender as evidenced in the organizational setting. Pavitt's (1989) notion of the prototype is extended to the realm of organizational communication in developing five propositions: (1) the prototype of the effective manager is more likely to…

Examined the role of parent/home and school variables in predicting the apprehension of college students. Home and school, when taken together, accounted for significantly more of the apprehension than either one did individually, although school effects were stronger than home effects. (PD)

The argument for renewed theoretical development in the study of family communication has several implications. One is that researchers should concentrate on family communication as such rather than expanding generalizations from family communication to other groups and institutions; this requires grappling more specifically with the explication…

Examines models and treatment approaches for communication apprehension: (1) conditioned anxiety--systematic desensitization; (2) negative cognitive appraisal--cognitive modification; and (3) skills deficit--skills training. Provides direction for future treatment research. (PD)

Recent studies have investigated the transition of relationships from a more intimate to a less intimate state--the depenetration process. Various phases of interpersonal conflict in the dissolution of marital dyads have been described, and factors indicating that a marriage might be "in trouble" have been identified. Processes that are…

During the past 15 years, most studies dealing with communication and conflict in organizational settings have used a bargaining context while integrating assumptions from game theory, information processing, developmental approaches, and systems theory into their research designs. These studies also reflect four communication topic areas,…

Designed as a forum for the exchange of ideas concerning international and intercultural communication, this annual volume covers a wide variety of topics. Its seven articles discuss intercultural contact and attitude change, the survival stage of intercultural communication, interpersonal perceptions in a simulation game of intercultural contact,…

To evaluate the ethical role of researchers in developmental communication, this paper first reviews current thinking on development theories, suggesting that world recession, as well as skyrocketing national debts and internal conflicts in Third World nations underscore (1) the relationship between Third World development and global stability,…