This study investigates the use of oral interpretation in social contexts. The context chosen was a community corrections program which provides education and employment assistance to adults on probation in Denton County, Texas. A solo interpretation script was incorporated into a public awareness presentation about the Denton County Probationer Education and Employment Program. The presentation was presented to a pilot audience to test the effectiveness of combining oral interpretation with public speaking to inform audiences about and elicit support for community corrections. It was determined that integrating an interpretative performance into an informational presentation is an effective method of employing oral interpretation outside the classroom and expanding its rhetorical dimensions.

This study sought to discover how Kuan Han-Ch'ing portrayed the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368 A.D.) and the Confucian view of women by means of the characterization in Kuan's plays. Eight female characters, three male public officials, and three male villains were selected for study. It was discovered that Kuan portrayed the ordinary people of his time with outstanding skill; that the characters selected for study provided ways of life contrary to Confucianism, the prevailing philosophy; that Kuan's characterization satirized the Mongol ruling class; and that Kuan depicted women more favorably than Confucian philosophy would have allowed.

Twenty-one original prose selections were written for use by junior high school students of oral interpretation. A survey of textbook publishers and junior high school teachers revealed a need for material of appropriate length and of suitable reading and interest levels for oral reading in the junior high school classroom. The selections were read and evaluated by a group of junior high students and a junior high teacher of speech. The responses indicate that the selections are effective and usable as an instructional aid in teaching oral interpretation in junior high school.

This study examined gender and self-monitoring as separate and interacting variables predicting judgmental accuracy on the part of observers of facial expressions of emotional categories. The main and interaction effects failed to reach significant levels during the preliminary analysis. However, post hoc analyses demonstrated a significant encoder sex variable. Female encoders of emotion were judged more accurately by both sexes. Additionally, when the stimulus was limited to female enactments of emotional categories, the hypothesized main and interaction effects reached significant F levels. This study utilized 100 observers and 10 encoders of seven emotional categories. Methodological considerations and alternatives are examined at length.