Supporting Mexican immigrants’ resettlement in the United States: an ethnography of communication approach to building allies’ communication competence

This research explores interactions among Mexican immigrants and their U.S.- and Mexican-born allies at an immigrant support center (ISC) in the U.S. Southwest. I propose that to support Mexican immigrants in resettling, allies who work at this ISC must apply cultural knowledge about competent communication for Mexican speakers to structure their strategic actions (Sprain & Boromisza-Habashi, 2013). Taking an ethnography of communication (EOC) approach, I investigate the means and meanings of communication (Hymes, 1972) for speakers that point to cultural knowledge about competent communication. Data for this study include 7 months of observation, interviews with 37 community and staff members, and public documents collected during fieldwork. Findings reveal five means of communication that are meaningful for speakers at ISC. This research demonstrates the practical utility of the EOC in understanding how cultural expectations for communication may both assist and limit ISC’s efforts to support resettlement.     

Pediatric nurses’ communication of role expectations to parents of hospitalized children

This study examines the role performance of pediatric nurses and parents in relation to hospitalized children. The ambiguity associated with role behaviors for both groups is considered in terms of rules that might be formally adopted to define nurses’ and parents’ roles. Pediatric nurses were interviewed to identify behaviors appropriately performed by parents for their hospitalized children, and formal rules were drafted. These rules were communicated by nurses in writing, orally, or both and were compared to no formal communication for impact on nurses’ job satisfaction, parents’ satisfaction with nursing care, and both nurses’ and parents’ role ambiguity. The formal rules were found to enhance both nurses’ job satisfaction and parents’ satisfaction with the technical‐professional competence component of nursing care. Moreover, both nurses and parents perceived a reduction in role ambiguity as measured by the information that nurses give and the communication of expectations.     

Shareholder communication and issue salience: corporate responses to ‘social’ shareholder activism

This study focuses on corporate engagement when shareholder activists raise concerns about social issues during annual shareholder meetings. Building upon strategic communication, social activism, and management research, the study combines Stakeholder Salience Theory (SST) and Issues Management Theory to explain corporate responses to shareholder activism. The researchers constructed a dataset of 844 shareholder actions in the U.S., all concerning environmental issues from 2006 to 2014. The analyses revealed that the urgency of the shareholder requests was the main driver of saliency. Moreover, shareholder activism strategies that engage corporations in private negotiations appeared to be effective in eliciting positive corporate responses. The findings contribute to applied communication theory and research by advancing SST with an issues management perspective in the context of shareholder activism.     

Critical communication pedagogy as a response to the petroleum industry’s neoliberal communicative practices

Courses: Professional Speaking, Business and Professional Communication, Environmental Communication, or any course covering topics related to neoliberalism and the environment.

Objectives: In this single-class activity, students will first examine the possible environmental effects of fracking near the Bakken Oil Formation in North Dakota. Second, students will evaluate how the petroleum industry obscures the effects of fracking through the use of corporate ventriloquism. Third, students will respond to the petroleum industry’s power by utilizing critical communication pedagogy.     

Couples’ communication problems: The counselor's perspective

Marital and relational counselors bring their normative ideas about couples’ communication to the therapeutic setting and these ideas become a part of the ongoing dialogue between counselors and their clients. Although many therapists emphasize couples’ communication problems as a source of relational difficulty, it is not clear how therapists conceive of, and explain, those problems. The current study addresses this issue by examining counselors’ perceptions of, and attributions for, couples’ communication problems. Interviews with 50 couples’ counselors suggest that communication problems are common among clients. The most frequently noted communication problems involved failing to take the other's perspective when listening, blaming the other for negative occurrences, and criticizing the other. Most of counselors’ attributions for couples’ communication problems referred to stable, unchanging causes and focused on external factors. A content analysis of the attributions further indicated that many counselors felt communication problems were the result of patterns taught to individuals by their family of origin. Finally, when asked to identify the most central problem for dissatisfied partners, only about one‐fourth of the counselors cited issues directly related to communication. The majority noted that communication was usually a manifestation of other, more fundamental, difficulties. Taken together, the findings indicate that counselors tend to focus on individual, rather than interpersonal and relational factors when conceiving and treating the cause of communication problems.     

The relationship of communication apprehension and interaction involvement to perceptions of computer‐mediated communication

This study investigated how the interpersonal traits of communication apprehension (CA) and interaction involvement (II) are related to one's attitudes toward and use of computer‐mediated communication (CMC). Data were collected by administering a self‐report survey to a sample of 133 participants, and results were analyzed with multiple regression. Findings revealed that CA and II failed to predict CMC attitudes. However, each trait predicted communication style during online interaction. Findings are interpreted within the context of current theories of CMC.     

‘Follow us on Twitter’: How public libraries use dialogic communication to engage their publics

Public libraries that practice effective dialogic communication are more likely to build trust with their communities. Applying principles of dialogic communication as a theoretical framework, this study examines how public libraries in Canada and the USA use Twitter to build long-term positive relationships with their publics. Content analysis of 28,788 Twitter messages sent to and from thirteen library @names revealed that libraries tend to employ the ‘dialogic cluster’ principles more often than the ‘technical and design cluster’ ones. However, ‘technical and design cluster’ messages were more likely to be retweeted. The number of followers was found to be positively related to the frequency of trust messages that the Twitter users send to a library @name. The authors discuss communication practices to actively engage publics in dialogic communication on Twitter.     

From Second Class “Citizen” to “Head of the Class”

Abstract

This concept was initially developed by William Wilson, library consultant, PROVIDENCE Associates Inc. It was modified for a presentation at die 1996 Texas State Library Association Convention. It outlines a different way of thinking about funding libraries, an innovative framework that will interest legislators in the plight of their under-funded library services. Wilson and Waters refer to this new structure as a “Library Authority.” The concept would allow the question of funding to go directly to the voters, who are those most concerned with the quality of libraries. This quality is also addressed by Waters, who considers quantity and volume as a faulty line of reasoning for gathering support. “We make little mention of the long-term impact associated with introducing a four-year old to the world of books… or to the economic impact derived from helping a saleswoman locate a new market for her products.” Mr. Waters hopes others will assist in fleshing out this concept for the good of all libraries.     

Self‐report as an approach to measuring communication competence

Approaches to measurement of communication competence are reviewed. The self‐report approach to measurement of communication competence is examined. It is concluded that self‐reports have little validity as indicants of competent communicative performances but may serve as useful measures of self‐perceptions which may function as precursors of communicative choices. The Self‐Perceived Communication Competence scale is suggested as a measure which can he used for such purposes.     

Chinese and non‐Chinese scholars’ contributions to communication research on greater China, 1978–98

This content‐analytical study investigates, over a two‐decade period, the contribution of ethnic and non‐ethnic scholars to communication research on Greater China. Although its findings show a significant increase in research publications on China over the years by both Chinese and non‐Chinese scholars, Chinese scholars are much more productive than non‐Chinese scholars. In addition, mixed ethnicity scholars have published more comparative studies than single ethnicity scholars. Telecommunications and advertising are the two fastest growing areas in communication research on China.     

Communication civility codes: Positive communication through the students’ eyes

Courses: Presentational courses such as Public Speaking, Interviewing, Business and Professional, Persuasion, Interpersonal; any course where civility may be promoted in the classroom.

Objectives: At the end of this single-class activity, students will have an understanding of civility in order to: (1) identify civility and consequences of behaviors, (2) create their own communication civility code for classroom behaviors and presentations, and (3) practice civility throughout the semester.     

Constructing narratives of success in the introductory communication course: Using written self-assessments to understand students’ perceptions of learning

Learning outcomes assessments are an important aspect of course administration. However, these efforts tend to prioritize the perspective of instructors/administrators. This study seeks to understand how students perceive their learning gains after taking the introductory communication course. In qualitatively analyzing a sample of more than 2,500 student self-assessments, we found that students crafted narratives of success that focused on verbal and nonverbal improvements, provided accounts of growth in confidence, and demonstrated mastery of course principles. These findings incorporated student perceptions of learning and closed the assessment loop by highlighting learning outcomes that need to be better emphasized in the introductory course.     

Willingness to communicate,communication apprehension,introversion, and self‐reported communication competence: Finnish and American comparisons

The purpose of this research was to make comparisons between Finnish persons and persons from other populations, particularly those from the United States, on a variety of common measures of communication orientations. The results of the study indicated that differences between Finnish and United States samples do exist, but the differences are primarily restricted to willingness to communicate and introversion. Data relating to communication apprehension and self‐perceived communication competence for the two cultures are remarkably similar. However, these two variables appear to be much less predictive of willingness to communicate for Finns than they are for Americans.     

Goals,obstacles, and strategies in risk communication: A problem‐solving approach to improving communication about risks

Research in the field of risk communication, the study of communication about uncertain physical hazards, has chiefly focused on enhancing understanding of risk concepts or making the development of risk management policy more democratic. For risk communication to be effective, a third focus is also necessary: risk communicators need an understanding of communication as a problem solving process. To facilitate this understanding, this paper offers a framework for analyzing risk communication situations and developing messages to use in those situations. The paper discusses four goals frequently pursued by risk communicators: creating awareness about the existence of important phenomena, enhancing understanding of complicated ideas, developing agreement about policy options, and motivating action. Obstacles to these goals and strategies for achieving them are identified in a diverse set of literatures.     

Knowing when to say “I love you”: An expectancy approach to affectionate communication

While vital for the development and maintenance of healthy interpersonal relationships, the overt communication of affection is fraught with risk. As a result, understanding the nature of affectionate communication is not only a matter of identifying behavioral tendencies, but also of exploring individuals’ normative expectancies for appropriate affectionate behavior. The present study examines the influence of biological sex, dyadic sex composition, and relationship type on people's perceptions of how frequently they engage in affectionate behavior and how appropriate they feel such behavior to be. Predictions regarding the influence of these factors were largely supported; moreover, the congruence between expectations and people's reports of their actual behavior was examined.     

The broadcasters’ duty to editorialize

No matter how many years a person has worked in the broadcasting industry, he can only become acquainted with the organizational structure of a very limited number of stations—and his knowledge of these stations goes rapidly out of date. Although there are basic similarities in most stations—the division into programming, engineering, administrative, and sales for example— it would be unusual to find two stations with exactly the same functions, problems, and personnel. The need to know some of the variations of station organization is particularly acute among those students and others who are planning to find employment for the first time in a particular type or size of station. To assist these individuals, their teachers, and all those interested in broadcast management, the following report on some “typical” and atypical stations was prepared.

Both Lawrence W. Lichty and Joseph M. Ripley earned their Ph.D. degrees at The Ohio State University, and have contributed to the Journal of Broadcasting a number of times in the past. At the time this research was conducted they were Assistant and Associate Professor respectively in the Department of Speech at the University of Wisconsin. As of the fall of 1967, Dr. Lichty will be Associate Professor at Wisconsin and Dr. Ripley will be Chairman of the Department of Radio‐Television‐Film at the University of Kentucky.     

The ecology of academic risk: relationships between communication apprehension,verbal aggression,supportive communication,and students’ academic risk status

Contemporary research exploring at‐risk student populations has generally used the epidemiological model, the constructivist model, or the ecological model to explain processes involved in academic risk. This study applies communication constructs to the ecological model of academic risk, which proposes that academic risk is a function of individual, social, and cultural communication phenomena. A survey of 232 students found that (a) at‐risk students communicated more with friends about school than did regular‐admission students, (b) levels of communication apprehension differed depending on at‐risk status and sex, and (c) levels of verbal aggression differed depending on at‐risk status. These results are discussed in terms of theoretical and applied implications.     

Comparing Advertising Agencies’ Resources to Academic Libraries’ Collections

Abstract

Collection development analysis in academic libraries typically involves collection-centered and user-centered methods. These approaches focus on building collections that help students with their academic needs but may overlook resources that students need experience with when employed. To address this gap, the authors analyzed early-career advertising agency positions to identify a list of information resources that advertising agencies expect employees to use. This list was then compared against the library websites of 158 universities with advertising programs to see how sufficiently libraries are fulfilling these resource needs. The authors found that overall, university libraries only subscribe to a small number of resources used by advertising agencies.     

Puzzled by communication? Playing with puzzle pieces to promote teamwork and theory understanding

Play provides an opportunity for students to learn information and concepts in an active format while facilitating different ways of learning. This puzzle activity is designed to increase student engagement, leverage different learning styles, help students make connections in communication theories, and enhance memory of important communication concepts. As an active learning exercise, play requires students to coordinate behaviors and participate in the learning process differently than through traditional lecture formats. Considering the information on active learning strategies, this activity involves using puzzle pieces labeled with theory components to help students learn each theory term and better understand how the terms work together to form the theory.

Courses: This single-class activity is appropriate for courses across the communication curriculum and is particularly well suited for classes with multi-part concepts and/or theories, including communication theory, organizational communication, interpersonal communication, persuasion, conflict communication, and the public-speaking/basic course, among others.

Objective: As a result of participating in this single-class activity, students will demonstrate understanding of key theoretical terms/concepts and how those concepts work together to inform communication theory. Further, students will work together in teams to bring in outside examples of the theory in action and practice explaining the concepts to their classmates to enhance learning and long-term memory of class concepts.     

‘We need a committee for men's rights’: reactions of male and female viewers to reverse gender discrimination in Korean comedy

This study investigates the ideological implications of Nambowon (‘the Committee for Men's Rights’), one of the most popular sketches in a live comedy series entitled Gag Concert in Korea. The sketch humorously criticizes women who take advantage of men in various situations and always ends with a funny slogan demanding equal rights for men and the end of reverse gender discrimination. We treat Nambowon not as an idiosyncratic text but as part of Korean television programs that portray the rising social status of women as well as gender differences. Previous studies of gender and comedy have typically focused on textual meanings, and relatively little work exists to explain the audience's reception. Thus, we explore why audiences enjoy the show and whether and why there are differences in the reactions of male and female viewers to the portrayal of gender in Nambowon.