Immediacy,humor, power distance,and classroom communication apprehension in Chinese college classrooms

This study investigates classroom communication apprehension in Chinese college classrooms in reference to perceived instructor verbal and nonverbal immediacy and humor orientation, and student individual-level power distance. Results of Pearson correlation indicate that both student individual-level power distance and student perceptions of instructor humor orientation are correlated positively and significantly with classroom communication apprehension, but multiple regression analyses suggest that student individual-level power distance is the only effective predictor of classroom communication apprehension. Perceived instructor verbal and nonverbal immediacy are not associated significantly with classroom communication apprehension. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are addressed.     

Advisee‐advisor communication: An exploratory study examining interpersonal communication variables in the graduate advisee‐advisor relationship

The objective of this study was to investigate graduate students' perceptions of their graduate advisors' communication (competence, credibility, and nonverbal immediacy), and how these perceptions impact advisees' perceptions of learning, effectiveness of the advisee‐advisor relationship, and advisors' degrees of mentoring. Advisee perceptions of her or his advisor's competence and caring/goodwill accounted for 43% of the variance in advisee cognitive learning. Advisee perceptions of her or his advisor's caring/ goodwill accounted for 39% of the variance in advisee perceptions of the effectiveness of the advisee‐advisor relationship. Lastly, this study noted that the linear combination of advisee perceptions of advisor credibility and communication competence accounted for 55% of the variance in an advisee's perception of the amount of mentoring an advisee received from her or his graduate advisor.     

Reduction in public speaking state anxiety during performance as a function of sensitization processes

Recently, scholars have suggested that biological factors, such as temperament, influence human social behavior, particularly in the formation of traits, such as communication apprehension. Despite progress in this area, the relationship between temperament and states, such as speech anxiety, remains unclear. Theories of temperament predict that the rate at which subjects habituate to stress varies inversely with the degree to which they are sensitized during initial confrontation with stress‐producing stimuli. The inverse relationship between habituation and sensitization, in the context of public speaking state anxiety, is examined in this report. In two separate studies, using both physiological and psychological measures of state anxiety, the inverse relationship between sensitization and habituation was confirmed. Specifically, sensitization accounted for 69.1% and 50.3% of the variance in physiological and psychological habituation, respectively.     

Does Our Humor Affect Us?: An Examination of a Dyad's Humor Orientation

In this article, researchers explain how individuals' similarities in humor orientation influence dyadic cohesion and satisfaction. The researchers in this study investigated the impact of communication appropriateness as a mediating variable in relationships. Relational partners (n = 151 dyads) completed measures of both self and other regarding humor orientation, cohesion, and satisfaction. A couple's humor orientation was positively correlated with both dyadic satisfaction and cohesion. Communication appropriateness was a mediating factor in both the relationship between a couple's humor orientation and dyadic cohesion, and humor orientation and satisfaction. The overall dyadic humor orientation was more important than a couple's humor discrepancy, or either partner's scores.     

The Contribution of Visual Sensitivity,Phonological Processing,and Nonverbal IQ to Children's Reading

It has been suggested that the differences observed for dyslexic readers compared to normal readers on tasks measuring visual sensitivity may simply be the result of differences between the two groups in general cognitive ability and/or attentional engagement. One common way to accommodate this proposal is to match normal and dyslexic readers on IQ. However, an explicit test of this suggestion is to take normal and dyslexic readers who differ on IQ—where IQ would be expected to explain reading ability—and determine if visual sensitivity can still account for reading skill, even when IQ is taken into account. In this study we explored the relative contributions of nonverbal IQ, visual sensitivity as measured by sensitivity to the frequency doubling illusion, and phonological and irregular word reading to reading ability. Visual sensitivity explained a significant amount of variance in reading ability, over and above nonverbal IQ, accounting for 6% of the unique variance in reading ability. Moreover, visual sensitivity was related primarily to irregular word reading rather than to nonsense word decoding. This study demonstrates that low-level visual sensitivity plays an intrinsic role in reading aptitude, even when IQ differences between normal and dyslexic readers are contrived to maximize the contribution of IQ to reading skill. These results challenge the suggestion that impaired visual sensitivity may be epiphenomenal to poor reading skills.     

Rapid naming speed and Chinese character recognition

We examined the relationship between rapid naming speed (RAN) and Chinese character recognition accuracy and fluency. Sixty-three grade 2 and 54 grade 4 Taiwanese children were administered four RAN tasks (colors, digits, Zhu-Yin-Fu-Hao, characters), and two character recognition tasks. RAN tasks accounted for more reading variance in grade 4 than in grade 2, and graphological RAN tasks accounted for more reading variance than RAN Colors. After controlling for age, nonverbal intelligence, phonological sensitivity, short-term memory, and orthographic processing, RAN tasks were significant predictors of character recognition fluency in grade 2, and of both accuracy and fluency in grade 4.     

The Function of Parental Communication Patterns: Reflection-Enhancing and Reflection-Discouraging Approaches

This study explored patterns and effects of communication apprehension and classroom apprehension in Nigerian classrooms. Significant correlation was found between student communication apprehension and student classroom apprehension. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences in classroom apprehension by class type, but no significant differences in communication apprehension by choice of occupation. Perceptions of academic performance were negatively associated with classroom apprehension scores.     

The effects of nonverbal involvement and communication apprehension on state anxiety,interpersonal attraction,and speech duration

This experiment raised the question: will communication apprehension (CA) mediate the effect of nonverbal involvement cues (NVI) on state anxiety, interpersonal attraction and speech duration in information gathering interviews? Subjects, high and low in CA, responded to the questions of three trained interviewers from whom they received either high or low levels of NVI behaviors (i.e. head nods, eye contact, body orientation, etc.). CA did not function as a mediating variable. Rather, main effects were obtained for CA on state anxiety and speech duration and for NVI on interpersonal attraction and speech duration.     

Reading, arithmetic, and task orientation—How are they related?

A sample of 60 children in Grade 3 was followed over one year. In the first year, an extensive battery of assessments was used including aspects of reading, arithmetic, and working memory. Teachers rated the children on 7-point scales on various motivational dimensions summarized to a total score tentatively called task orientation. In the follow-up assessment one year later, the testing and teacher ratings were repeated. The cross-sectional correlations between reading, arithmetic, and task orientation were all high (about +.70). The high correlation between reading and arithmetic decreased significantly when task orientation was partialed out, and it was further reduced when working memory as assessed by backward digit span was added to the controlling factors. Also, teacher ratings of cognitive ability and language development accounted for some of the common variance between reading and arithmetic. The correlation between task orientation and school achievement cannot be causally interpreted in cross-sectional designs. Some support for a “causal” hypothesis, however, was obtained in crosslagged correlation analyses indicating that task orientation in Grade 3 may have a causal impact on the level of performance in reading, and in arithmetic in Grade 4. Most likely, however, there is also a reciprocal relationship.     

《老友记》会话幽默的关联理论阐释

《老友记》是风靡全球的美国著名情景喜剧,它以其独特的美式幽默语言深受中国英语学习者的喜爱。正确理解英语幽默是多数英语学习者的难题。以关联理论为框架研究会话幽默,对幽默理解的认知过程有极强的阐释作用,从而有助于提高英语学习者理解幽默的能力。     

The influence of intercultural communication apprehension and socio‐communicative orientation on uncertainty reduction during initial cross‐cultural interaction

This study is an investigation of the influence of intercultural communication apprehension, socio‐communicative orientation, and uncertainty during initial cross‐cultural communication. Prior to interacting with unknown partners from another culture, participants completed measures of intercultural communication apprehension and socio‐communicative orientation. After interacting with their partners, participants completed measures of uncertainty. As predicted, intercultural communication apprehension was positively associated with uncertainty. Also as predicted intercultural communication apprehension was negatively correlated with socio‐communicative orientation. A third hypothesis, which was partially supported, posited that socio‐communicative orientation would be negatively correlated with uncertainty.     

Genetic and Environmental Links Between Natural Language Use and Cognitive Ability in Toddlers

Although the phenotypic correlation between language and nonverbal cognitive ability is well‐documented, studies examining the etiology of the covariance between these abilities are scant, particularly in very young children. The goal of this study was to address this gap in the literature by examining the genetic and environmental links between language use, assessed through conversational language samples, and nonverbal cognition in a sample of 3‐year‐old twins (N = 281 pairs). Significant genetic and nonshared environmental influences were found for nonverbal cognitive ability and language measures, including mean length of utterance and number of different words, as well as significant genetic covariance between cognitive ability and both language measures.     

A Beginning Reading Vocabulary

Abstract

Two ability tests (verbal and nonverbal), six achievement tests, and seven scales of the Self Observation Scales (a measure of self- concept) were completed by 225 sixth graders in two West Virginia rural counties. Self concept (measured by the SOS) was shown to add significantly to the prediction equation for achievement over and above the contribution of nonverbal intelligence. The SOS accounted for 22 percent of the variance in reading achievement, and combined with nonverbal intelligence to account for 34 percent of the variance in reading achievement.     

幽默的会话含义分析

本文从会话含义、礼貌原则、言语行为理论和前提对幽默进行了语用分析, 旨在分析幽默的会话含义, 从而提高我们对幽默的理解能力。     

When enough is too much: Communication apprehension and employee information experiences

This study examines the relationships between supervisor communication apprehension, employee communication apprehension, and employees' reports of information received from their supervisor. Results indicated that supervisor communication apprehension was negatively related to employees' reports of information received. Employee communication apprehension and employees' reports of information received from supervisors were not significantly related. Supervisor communication apprehension was negatively related to the information load reported by employees. Finally, a positive relationship was identified between employee communication apprehension and the information load reported by employees.     

对EFL环境下大学生英语交际意愿的实证研究

调查了EFL环境下大学生英语交际意愿的现状,并探讨英语交际意愿和英语交际自我效能、英语交际焦虑的关系。结果显示：受试的英语交际意愿水平较低,且交际意愿随着交流人数、交际对象和交际场景的变化而发生改变。同时,受试的英语交际自我效能和交际意愿之间呈中度正相关,英语交际焦虑和交际意愿之间呈中度负相关。据此,作者提出一些有针对性的教学改进措施,以激发大学生的英语交际意愿。     

幽默话语的语用成因分析

幽默在人们日常交际中起着重要的作用。文章试从指示语、预设、会话含义、合作原则及关联理论等语用学的基本理论来分析幽默语言现象的成因,旨在探求语用规则和幽默之间的关系。     

Adult sons' satisfaction with their relationships with fathers and person‐group (father) communication apprehension

The present study was designed to explore the empirical relationship between adult sons' communication apprehension regarding their fathers and satisfaction with those relationships. Results indicated that (1) apprehension and satisfaction were negatively correlated, (2) a descending nonlinear function best described the relationship, (3) both frequency and intensity of apprehension experiences contributed to the prediction of satisfaction, and (4) father communication apprehension was empirically distinct from general dyadic communication apprehension. These results were initially derived from the responses of a screening sample and were subsequently cross‐validated. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Communicative adaptability: A measure of social communicative competence

The purpose of this research was to reassess the validity and increase the variance accounted for by the Communicative Adaptability Scale (CAS). Previous research produced two factors, social confirmation and social experience, accounting for 28% of the variance. The present study tested the inclusion of four additional dimensions: social composure, articulation, wit, and appropriate disclosure. The Communicative Adaptability Scale was administered to adult and student populations. The relationships among the dimensions of the CAS, self‐esteem, and communication apprehension were investigated. This project indicated a stable factor structure and consistent results across samples.     

从合作原则的角度看英语幽默的产生

幽默是一种艺术化的语言。美国著名语言哲学家Grice提出的合作原则合理地解释了英语幽默话语的产生机制。他认为,人们的正常交流时为了达到特定的目的,说话人和听话人之间存在一种双方都该遵守的原则,这种原则为会话的合作原则。Grice的合作原则是人们正常交流的前提。但在日常生活中人们总是有意或者无意地违反这些准则,从而产生了特殊的效果。英语幽默便通过这种途径产生。