Six hundred sixty-six students were queried at the University of North Texas. The appropriate use of nonverbal behaviors of international and U.S. American TAs was surveyed. An eleven item questionnaire (Teacher Nonverbal Measure) was utilized. These questions were tested by an ANOVA. Data indicated that international TAs are less likely to use appropriate nonverbal behaviors than U.S. American TAs. Thus, it is possible to assume that international TAs are more likely to be perceived as using inappropriate nonverbal behaviors than U.S. American TAs. Also, communication competence was investigated. The Communication Skill Rating Scale was utilized and tested by ANOVA. Results indicate that international TAs are viewed as significantly less competent than U.S. American TAs.

Quantitative studies dominate early adolescence research, a field which also lacks an understanding of communication behaviors between early adolescents. This study uses the qualitative methods of participant observation and informal interviews to observe conversations between girls in a junior high lunch room. Friendship characteristics and group socialization are discussed as they emerged from the field data. First, friendship hierarchies (best friend, close friend, and friend) may be adult-imposed structures. Hierarchies are not prominent in the minds of friends as they relate to each other in daily conversation. Second, friendship groups serve to socialize early adolescent girls.

Studies show that the use of narratives enhances the lecture method of teaching. The model and manual developed in this study focus on the needs of lecturers who require creative guidance in all aspects of creating and using didactic narratives. This study suggests that the subject content of a lecture has a deep structure that can be used to generate the surface structure of a didactic narrative. The model and manual are informed by theories and models from a variety of disciplines that have been adapted for analyzing subject content, transforming subject content structure into a parallel narrative structure, and integrating the narrative into lecture.

The purpose of this project was to determine if oral interpretation in a social context setting can be used as a persuasive means of suicide prevention. A script on suicide was compiled, directed and performed as a solo performance by the writer. The thesis includes the script, a history of suicide prevention, the process of compiling a script for solo interpretation performance, and an overall evaluation of the production. This Author's evaluation was influenced by audience and critic responses.

This study seeks to determine the extent to which Jimmy Swaggart's program for defense in 1988 complies with the expectations of the apologia genre. Three discourse media are examined for evidence of denial, bolstering, differentiation, and transcendence. Swaggart's defense is classified as "justificative" in that it seeks approval of actions. Swaggart's motivating drive force is defined as the need to assure the financial success of his ministry. Swaggart's defense is then compared with the past apologies of Nixon, Truman, and Kennedy. It was determined that certain apologies cannot serve as a reference standard if the contextual factors are not similar. There are some rhetorical resources available to religious figures that are not available to politicians.

In November 1969, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew delivered two speeches attacking two mediums. In the first speech, Agnew initiated charges of erroneous reporting and irresponsible actions on the part of the television networks. In the second speech, Agnew assailed the concentration of power in the hands of a few newspaper companies. In both cases, complaints and support were immediate and substantial. This study employs the Neo-Aristotelian method of criticism to discover: 1) the extent to which Agnew was influenced by his past, and 2) how Agnew's rhetoric exhibited methods of rhetorical polarization. This study concludes that Agnew's past played a dominant role in his rhetoric. Further research in a variety of related areas is suggested.