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Teachers play a key role in communicating with parents to support student learning. One of the more challenging aspects of this role for teachers is having a difficult conversation with a parent about their child. Difficult conversations, when needed, are best accomplished face-to-face incorporating effective communication skills to promote a positive and productive interaction. This article reviews a number of key practical communication skills that teachers can use when communicating with parents including use of clear vocabulary, active listening, I-messages, questioning strategies, paraphrasing and summarizing, leveled information, as well as attention to nonverbal messages. Strategies to support both planned and unplanned difficult conversations are discussed. Barriers to having difficult conversations between teachers and parents are outlined as well as new directions for research. Effective communication skills are integral for teachers to hold difficult, yet productive, conversations with parents to promote partnerships and to support student success.

Purpose: According to the interpersonal synergy model of spoken dialogue, interlocutors modify their communicative behaviors to meet the contextual demands of a given conversation. Although a growing body of research supports this postulation for linguistic behaviors (e.g., semantics, syntax), little is understood about how this model applies to speech behaviors (e.g., speech rate, pitch). The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that interlocutors adjust their speech behaviors across different conversational tasks with different conversational goals. Method: In this study, 28 participants each engaged in two different types of conversations (i.e., relational and informational) with two partners (i.e., Partner 1 and Partner 2), yielding a total of 112 conversations. We compared six acoustic measures of participant speech behavior across conversational task and partner. Results: Linear mixed-effects models demonstrated significant differences between speech feature measures in informational and relational conversations. Furthermore, these findings were generally robust across conversations with different partners. Conclusions: Results suggest that contextual demands influence speech behaviors. These findings provide empirical support for the interpersonal synergy model and highlight important considerations for assessing speech behaviors in individuals with communication disorders.

Shared language comprises a precondition to authentic relationships, including career counselling. Drawing on constructivist theory, this article highlights career counsellors' charge to be sensitive to the unique meanings that clients ascribe to common career-oriented terminology, such as "working with people," "success," or "challenging work." A brief written qualitative tool, the Work Aspects Exercise, can provide the career and employment counsellor with quick access to the client's unique usage of these terms and facilitate authentic interaction. Findings from public employment service clientele in Israel are presented, along with sample client profiles and suggestions for interpreting client texts. Career guidance practitioners will find a supportive tool with high face validity that can stimulate self-exploration.

Aided conversations differ from spoken ones in their transitions between turns and symbols because seeking and choosing symbols takes more time than speaking words naturally. This study adopted the concepts and principles of conversation analysis (CA) to analyze the transitions between symbols during the construction of aided turns. The data was from the spontaneous conversations at home between mothers and four males (sons) who used speech-output technologies. The analyses compared the durations of transitions between turns and symbols and frequency of mothers' talk during the transitions. The mothers most often remained silent during the symbol-transitions, but when they talked, their speech was inspired by the current context and was not coincidental. When the mothers spoke during the symbol-transitions, their sons either continued or paused constructing their turn. Despite the effect on the progress of conversations, the participants did not orient to these expanded aided turns as challenging. The expansions manifested (a) in parallel (b) side by side with the aided turn, and (c) as a part of the ongoing aided turn. Analyzing the structural characteristics of aided conversations deepens our understanding of theoretical concepts, offers strategies to guide aided communicators and their partners, and helps to develop augmentative and alternative communication technologies that promote interactive communication.

The importance and the impact of communication in every domain that deals with human resources is undeniable. Yet, as far as the authors' knowledge concerns, the research has been mostly developed in the human resources field. In the project management field, the research developed is still scarce. Yet, some authors emphasise the role of the project managers' communication with teams, and the importance of the project management teams on the success of projects. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the influence of the communication styles and leadership of the project managers on the motivation of the teams and the success of projects. Literature was reviewed and exploratory research was developed using a qualitative methodology (content analysis of eight semi-structured interviews). A conceptual framework was developed. The results suggest that communication style and leadership are related and impact the teams' motivation and the projects' success.

The purpose of the current study is to determine Turkish as a foreign language learners' tendency to use communication strategies. Quantitative and qualitative research models were used together in the study. The survey method was used in the qualitative part and the phenomenological method was used in the quantitative part of the study. The study group of the study is comprised of 77 participants from 13 different nationalities with Turkish language proficiency levels of A2, B2 and C1. Quantitative data were collected by using the "Oral Communication Strategies Inventory" and qualitative data were collected by using a semi-structured interview form. Descriptive analysis was performed on both the quantitative and qualitative data. The results of the study revealed a strong correlation between the level of competence and the tendency to use strategies. Participants with low language proficiency levels tend to use strategies including the behavior of moving away from the verbal boundaries of the target language. On the other hand, those with a high level of language proficiency tend to use strategies that include the effort to stay within the boundaries of the target language. In the qualitative dimension of the study, 10 different communication strategies were determined based on the episodic memories and experiences of the participants. These are strategies mostly used in compensatory functions.

English communication skills are now considered a passport-like requirement for students seeking a secure profession with a higher wage. Additionally, English proficiency is considered one of the variables affecting the success of foreign businesses investing in Vietnam and Vietnamese businesses looking to collaborate internationally to develop their brands into new markets abroad. The integration of various linguistic skills demonstrates the value of speaking. The main objective of this study was to investigate the frequency and importance of using direct speaking strategies by non-English-majored students at Dong Nai Technology University. The study involved 90 second-year undergraduate students at Dong Nai Technology University in Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province. At the time of the study, the participants were 18-19 and had already attained elementary level. This research uses questionnaires and interviews using the SPSS application to analyze the main points relating to the research questions. According to research, direct speaking strategies significantly affect the English speaking skills of Dong Nai Technology University students. At the same time, the difficulties and orientations when learning speaking skills using direct speaking strategies were revealed in the study's conclusion. To maximize direct speaking strategies and advance the field of study, recommendations have been made for non-English-majored students.

The present study explores communication strategies used by Iranian advanced EFL learners to overcome communication problems. This study aims to explore EFL learners' awareness of communication strategies. To this end, 17 advanced EFL learners who were willing to participate in the study were selected through snowball sampling. Their awareness of communication strategies was then explored through open-ended interviews and analyzed in line with the coding schemes of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1991). Iterative data collection and analysis yielded four main categories including explicit, reciprocal, implicit, and reduction strategies. Each of these strategies covers some subcategories. To visualize the findings and explore the degree to which the abstracted strategies reflect the participants' perspective, the transcribed data, along with the emerged strategies were fed to MAXQDA. This study can contribute to effective oral communication by elaborating on the notion of communication strategies and reaching communicative goals. The findings have implications for language learners, language teachers, and materials developers.

Research has established important links between student sense of belonging in the classroom and levels of academic engagement, motivation, and persistence (e.g., Jang et al., 2016; Reeve, 2012) yet more work is needed to identify specific teacher communication tactics and strategies that can foster sense of belonging and increased engagement. Using a conceptual framework centered on organizational identification, we surveyed 172 undergraduates and found that instructor interpersonal skills--specifically face support during student feedback--significantly correlated with increased class identification and sense of belonging. These results hold important implications for promoting student engagement, motivation, and persistence, particularly for underrepresented students.

In Chinese culture the concept of 'face' refers to the "dignity" or "prestige" of an individual that must be protected or saved, particularly in inter-cultural communication. This study aimed to examine how addressers inevitably save their own face in inter-cultural communication and what different strategies of 'face' saving have a bearing on their linguistic behaviors. A mixed method research design, in two stages was conducted wherein a questionnaire was utilized in the first stage (quantitative) and a semi-structured interview in the second stage (qualitative). The questionnaire examined the situations of saving the addresser's face while the interview examined the strategies of saving addresser's face. The sample comprised 120 business persons for the quantitative phase, and 15 randomly selected from the 120 respondents for the interview. The findings show that when addressers' face is hurt or threatened, such as when they report their mistakes and are refused, they will apply face saving strategies including apology, admitting, finding excuses and justification, and pretending nothing severe and showing they can handle the problem. It was also found that Chinese businesspersons can protect self-face when they report their mistakes and poor performance to their superiors, peers, and subordinates in intercultural communication. These findings can guide people from other countries to better understand Chinese businesspersons' communication processes and their smooth and effective intercultural communication.

Drawing on Conversation Analysis, this paper investigates how an English native speaker interviewer utilizes clarification requests as a form of recipient design during an interview to resolve problems of non-understanding. This data is contrasted with interviews between English language learners at a private university in Taiwan. The findings reveal that learners resolve these problems of misunderstanding through ignoring requests for clarification. It is argued that this represents a lost opportunity to further participation in L2 discourse and hence a forsaken opportunity for L2 language learning. This data illustrates that discourse markers and displays of epistemic status (Heritage, 2012) aid in achieving intersubjectivity and displaying alignment between speakers, furthering language use and participation. This paper investigates how understanding the way in which clarification requests are formulated in interviews between native speakers of English can be utilized to teach EFL learners how to negotiate clarification requests during spoken interaction. This paper adopts the position that pedagogy can be informed by findings generated through Conversation Analytic methods when comparing examples of authentic usage and L2 learner data and that particular discourse patterns should be taught to EFL students through CA-informed classroom tasks and teaching materials related to clarification requests.

By deepening students' discussion skills, schools can play a key role in bridging communication divides in our society. As the nation has become increasingly politically polarized, how can educators teach constructive dialogue in the classroom? The authors--education experts and researchers--offer seven strategies for helping students engage in civic discourse, even and especially when their views are widely opposed.

This study examines the frequency and the functions of code switching in informal conversations among Jordanian pilots, who have created their own jargon. It also explores the most frequent English expressions that the pilots switch to in their informal Arabic discourse. The conversations of eight Jordanian pilots aged between thirty and fifty-five were tape-recorded in three separate informal natural settings. The data were used for the purpose of finding out what the pragmatic and communicative functions are that the pilots' code switching serves, and to investigate the most frequent expressions used in their conversations. The results showed that eight main conversational functions can be identified in their code-switching routines, namely: to compensate for the lack of exact equivalents in Arabic, to avoid interruption to the communication when not knowing the Arabic equivalent, to replace long and technical terminology in Arabic with acronyms in English (acronyms are not common in Arabic), to use aviation titles and ranks, to quote/ directly report phrases of speakers, to say the numbers, to refer to names of companies, places, documents, and organizations, and to insert some English formulaic expressions. The findings also showed that the most frequent terms and expressions used in code switching amongst Jordanian pilots are more related to the aviation register than to common-core vocabulary.

Research on leadership is historically biased, with little consideration for different experiences of leaders of color. In this study, we applied the integrated race and leadership framework (Ospina & Foldy, 2009) and utilized a case study approach focused on the context of institutional communication to analyze the experiences of six Black community college presidents. The study was guided by the overarching question of how racial identity guided what and how presidents communicated. Our findings indicate that these presidents of color viewed their communication through a social justice lens, while also recognizing their responsibility to the institution. Five themes were identified that highlight the strategies and approaches these presidents take when communicating to their campus, including: (1) a consciousness of who is listening; (2) a sense of racial battle fatigue; (3) a focus on local impact; (4) connection and support from the community; and (5) the skill of racial and social adaptation.

Pharmacists are increasingly expected to communicate skillfully, yet few Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curricula include theoretically-derived or evidence-based communication training. The 12 Fundamentals of Highly Effective Communicators is a pedagogical tool that we developed to teach principles of communication to two consecutive cohorts of PharmD students in their second year (P2). Students were asked to reflect on which of the 12 Fundamentals they found most helpful in their pharmacy training and practice. The most frequently selected Fundamental was "There is no 'one size fits all' message that will work in EVERY situation." Students provided specific examples of how they perceived that these Fundamentals could help them have effective and appropriate interactions with patients and colleagues.

To be proficient in communicating with patients, physicians need specified knowledge, skills and attitudes. Until now, medical educators have mostly focused on undergraduate students' communication knowledge and skills in training and assessment. Attitudes towards communication with patients have been researched less frequently, but it is plausible that they also influence physicians' behaviours in many ways. The present study investigates the communication-focused attitudes of senior medical students and their development through the clinical elective year using an innovative approach based on Q-methodology. We conducted a Q-methodology study using statements from the Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Form. A total of 47 final-year medical students documented their attitudes towards communication by sorting these statements in regard to their importance into a normal distribution grid in medical interviews. Our innovative approach included three time points during the elective year at which these statements were sorted, with only a slight decrease of participants. We applied a Q-factor analysis and found three attitude profiles that were structurally stable over time. Attitude profile #1 focused on providing information and fostering shared decision making; profile #2 focused on the patients' concerns and emotions while meeting the patients' demands for sufficient information. Finally, the focus of attitude profile #3 was on using appropriate conversation techniques to structure communication and gather sufficient information. Overall, the respondents assigned increasing importance to building good relationships and making shared decisions with patients over time. Statements about structuring conversations and communication techniques were evaluated as less important by the end of the clinical elective year.

In a context in which opportunities for oral interaction are limited (English as a foreign language courses at a Saudi tertiary institution), we carried out an action research project evaluating the introduction of computer-mediated spoken language tasks with a group of intermediate learners. Although the students were confronted with multiple challenges ranging from unfamiliarity with educational technology, through recurrent bandwidth issues, to their own limited linguistic repertoires, they showed themselves able to participate in discussion with increasing facility and levels of responsibility for conversation management. In this paper, we focus on the communication strategies (CS) which they deployed to achieve this. While CSs were not the subject of explicit instruction, the students showed themselves able to draw on their repertoires and on the strategies implicitly modelled by their instructor over the six weeks of speaking activities using the SpeakApps platform. We examine what these strategies were: change in CSs over time; CS use in different conversational configurations (teacher-led group discussion; student-led group discussion and peer-peer pair discussion); impacts of the audio-only nature of discussion on CS choice. The paper points to promising directions for future practice and research.

Relational maintenance is a universal aspect of human relationships. As such, our family and interpersonal communication texts often include relational maintenance as a key point of discussion. Communication scholars also continue to demonstrate how understanding and incorporating positive relational maintenance behaviors is beneficial to our relationships. Given the importance of relational maintenance in family and interpersonal courses and relationships, I developed this activity for instructors to engage their students effectively in not only understanding concepts related to relational maintenance, but also analyzing and applying relational maintenance strategies in their day-to-day lives. Courses: Family communication, interpersonal communication. Objectives: This activity will enable students to (1) identify relational maintenance strategies as communicative behaviors in family and interpersonal relationships, (2) apply relational maintenance strategies in personal experiences, and (3) illustrate personal experiences as exemplars of relational maintenance strategies in family and interpersonal relationships.

Parents of children who are newly identified as deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) face many decisions surrounding communication and intervention, including where to receive early intervention (EI) services. This study explored the experiences and perspectives of parents of DHH children enrolled in a center-based, family-centered EI program focused on developing listening and spoken language in California. Seventeen families participated in biannual focus groups following a semi-structured interview protocol that focused on parental decision-making and experiences receiving center-based services. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to code transcripts of the focus groups. The data coalesced around three main themes: (a) a variety of influences on technology and communication decisions, (b) the value of center-based services, and (c) a sense of empowerment and drive for advocacy. Caregivers particularly valued connections to other families of DHH children and the expertise of center-based EI providers as they navigated the first few years following identification.

Uncertain language can be used to express genuine uncertainty but can also be used to manage face (e.g., by softening bad news). These conflicting motivations can create ambiguity in health communication. In this preregistered two-part experiment, participants assumed the position of a health specialist and wrote a letter communicating either a certain or an uncertain medical diagnosis. This was addressed to either a patient (high face threat) or the patient's family doctor (low face threat). Letters written under high face threat contained more words and more dispreferred markers (e.g., sorry, unfortunately) than those written under low face threat. The number of explicit hedges (e.g., possibly, maybe) did not differ as a function of face threat. Time taken to write the letters was elevated only in the condition where face threat was high and the diagnosis was uncertain, suggesting that the joint pressures of communicating uncertain information in a tactful way increased the task demands. Our data demonstrate that participants spontaneously produced dispreferred markers (but not explicit hedges) to manage face and that face management is more taxing under uncertainty. Ratings from a second set of participants indicate that face management strategies did not affect the perceived meaning or manner of the message. For open materials, data, and code, see https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ZU2AN.

Research shows that conversations and daily interaction among teachers and children is crucial for their development. Observing children and interpreting their thinking processes is a significant factor in intentionally planning curriculum that emerges from children's thinking, assists them in making connections, and extends their learning. This article presents findings of a single case design study investigating the effects of the observation and interpretation processes in a Cycle of Inquiry System (COI) (Broderick and Hong in Early Childh Res Pract 13:1-14, 2011) intervention on preschool teachers' productive conversations with children. The intervention for each teacher consisted of pre and post interviews, a 1-day COI training, use of COI observation and interpretation forms, and coaching meetings with the researcher. The participants were 4 preschool teachers in Northeast Tennessee. Teachers were videotaped in their classrooms working with children during the free play time and coded for productive and non-productive conversation strategies for determining the baseline and changes during the intervention. All the teachers show an increase in productive conversation strategies to differing degrees. The non-overlapping pairs analysis for all participants is represented by a large value. The findings indicate the benefit of training teachers to observe and interpret the meaning of children's conversations to intentionally plan for productive conversations that impact learning.

This meta-analysis examined communication outcomes in single-case design studies of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions and their relationship to participant characteristics. Variables addressed included chronological age, pre-intervention communication mode, productive repertoire, and pre-intervention imitation skills. Investigators identified 114 single-case design studies that implemented AAC interventions with school-aged individuals with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability. Two complementary effect size indices, Tau(AB) and the log response ratio, were applied to synthesize findings. Both indices showed positive effects on average, but also exhibited a high degree of heterogeneity. Moderator analyses detected few differences in effectiveness when comparing across diagnoses, age, the number and type of communication modes, participant's productive repertoires, and imitation skills to intervention. A PRISMA-compliant abstract is available: https://bit.ly/30BzbLv.

Few studies have investigated how individuals with partially intelligible speech choose to communicate, including how, when, and why they might use a speech-generating device (SGD). This study aimed to add to the literature by exploring how this group of individuals use different communication strategies. Qualitative interviews were carried out with 10 participants with partially intelligible speech with the aim of investigating participants' perceptions of modes of communication and communication strategies. Transcripts were analyzed using Framework Analysis to investigate the role of SGDs alongside other communication strategies. Factors that influence why, when, and how a person chooses to communicate were identified and these were interpreted as an explanatory model of communication with partially intelligible speech. Participants described how they made the decision whether to attempt to communicate at all and then which communication method to use. Decision-making was influenced by the importance of the message, how much time is available, past experience, and the communication partner. Each communication attempt adds to an individuals' experience of communicating and influences subsequent decisions. This study suggests that individuals with partially intelligible speech are at risk of reduced communication environments and networks and that current SGDs may not be designed in a way that recognizes their particular needs.

We investigated how teachers could be encouraged to develop and enact inclusive practices in their communication with children who have speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN). This research was conducted in Saudi Arabia, where official policy and legislation state that inclusive education is to be supported. The present exploratory, qualitative study investigated the perceptions of 11 elementary school children with SLCN, in addition to 12 parents and 14 teachers. Data were secured through semi-structured interviews during which we explored the ways teachers engaged in inclusive practices for improved adult-child communication. Two themes were identified from a content analysis of interviews: (1) exclusionary adult-child communication approaches and (2) recommendations for improvement of inclusive aspects of classrooms. The results suggested several implications for learners with SLCN as well as for schools at the local and international levels. The current research was the first study of its type to investigate the perceptions of learners with SLCN and their parents and teachers in Saudi Arabia.

Purpose: Families and professionals often consider augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) a "last resort" for persons with communication challenges; however, speaking autistic adults have reported that they would have benefited from access to AAC as children. This tutorial discusses the history of this "last resort" practice and its perpetuation within the medical model of disability. The tutorial focuses on communication access, choice, and agency for autistic students. Method: We provide a brief overview of the AAC community and their preferred terminology, review the history of traditional approaches to research on AAC and autism, and then examine the relationship between disability models and ableism to views of spoken language as a priority of intervention. Studies on this topic are rare, and resisting ableism requires acknowledging and honoring disabled people's experiences and expertise. Therefore, we promote autistic expertise within the framework of evidence-based practice and discuss the experiences of autistic people and spoken language. Finally, we consider the role of the speech-language pathologist (SLP) in assessment and offer autistic-based strategies and recommendations for communication support. Conclusions: Speaking autistic students who could benefit from AAC may not have access to AAC due to the prioritization of spoken language and lack of awareness of the benefit of AAC. We recommend that SLPs and school-based professionals support and facilitate access, communicative choice, and agency by implementing multimodal communication strategies to include AAC use for autistic students regardless of their spoken language status. Promoting all types of communication and ensuring opportunities for communication across multiple modalities are paramount to a child's agency and self-determination, as is normalization of AAC.

Code-switching is related to the shift between the first and second languages done by the speakers in conversational contexts. Based on the theories of code-switching, second language learners frequently apply their first language when communicating with others to deliver the messages clearly, maintain group solidarity, and avoid unintended misunderstandings. This paper investigated some factors influencing the use of code-switching in foreign/second language learning processes. Data were collected through a classroom survey and interviews with 12 English Education Master's Program students of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. Qualitative content analysis was applied to obtain clearer interpretations. The results showed the lecturers and students utilized code-switching more sensibly in the second language classroom context. Further, code-switching will be better to be implemented in informal social interactions rather than foreign/second language classroom settings since it will hamper EFL learners' success in attaining more fruitful target language competencies.

Social media has become an important platform where users share, comment, discuss, communicate, interact, and play games. Aside from using social media for personal, social, and business purposes, the use of social media has gained attention, particularly for collaborative learning in the educational sector. This paper examines the role of social media in computing education based on the use of WhatsApp social media group. Additionally, the study explores how social media usage by students influences their perceived learning outcomes. Given these aims, the study formulated four research hypotheses and tested using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling. With the participants of three hundred and thirteen (n=313) students, the study found a positive relationship between social media usage for computing education and perceived learning outcomes. In addition, the study found a linear relationship between communication in- group and perceived learning outcomes. Finally, the study revealed that social media positively relates to tie strength, and that tie strength influences in-group communication.

This study investigates the initial encounters of 30 Thai senior citizens and the four Thai musician-celebrity coaches in the blind auditions of "The Voice Senior Thailand season 1". The analysis was drawn from studies on compliments, politeness, and face work. The analysis found that both overt-oriented and covert-oriented compliments were used extensively when the coaches evaluated the senior contestants' vocal performances. The use of such compliments exhibits the shift from a distant relationship to a closer one. The prominent use of covert-oriented compliments as face-maintenance and face-enhancing strategies and as distance-minimization or imposition-mitigation strategies (Blum-Kulka, 2005) suggests rapport management between the four coaches and the senior contestants. Such interconnectedness of the multidirectional functions of compliments in Thai as well as face and politeness found in this study could exemplify how both younger and older generations of Thai people interact to form and shape a closer relationship in their first encounters in contemporary Thai language. This study could shed some lights on cross-cultural studies of complimenting behaviors and politeness in similar contexts or in other contexts related to younger and older generations in aging societies (e.g., workplace contexts or senior-education settings).

This study aimed to investigate the dynamic patterns of two concepts of silence explicated as a communication strategy and impediment in a task-based instruction. A novel approach, Retrodictive Qualitative Modeling (RQM) tied in a Dynamic System Theory (DST), was utilized to identify learners' archetypes, to highlight the dynamic patterns underlying their silence, and to unveil the factors affecting the two concepts as dynamic signatures. Of eighteen learners of English department, we took three participants relying on their salient archetypes. Those participants were nominated based on the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) encompassing three lecturers. Furthermore, a stimulated recall interview was carried out on the three participants to get overarching factors affecting their silence. The results revealed twofold: (1) the participants' dynamic patterns of classroom trajectory explicating the variability of elements underlying the learners' silence vary across the learners' archetypes, (2) signature dynamics modeled manifest and distinguish the two concepts of silence. The implication of this study entails the EFL lecturers to have a background knowledge in distinguishing the two concepts of silence that encompass dynamic and fluctuative signature dynamics of motivation, cognition, English proficiency, positive and negative emotions interacting with the classroom contexts. Likewise, further study might provide more overarching factors underlying those two concepts of silence to provide a finer-grained result delineating such concepts.

The use of multimodal approaches to articulate young children's perspectives are evident in a wide range of recent research. This paper explores the creation of multimodal map-texts as a strategy to engage with young children and articulate their perspectives. It describes the development of a flexible map-based approach that was used in home, early years and community settings with children aged 4 to 5 years in England. Illustrative examples are included in which children represented and shared their views on the image-based texts they encountered within their everyday lives through the creation of a multimodal map-text. In this approach to research, children are viewed as competent message creators whose engagements encompass a range of modes and media. Consideration was given to young children's multimodal meaning-making practices throughout the act of mapping, as well as the resulting text. Taking this approach revealed knowledge, perspectives and contextual information which may otherwise have been overlooked. The paper concludes by identifying the contribution that children's map-texts can make when building a picture of young children's experiences, and appraises the advantages and limitations of map-making as a strategy for engaging with young children in research.

To create genuine feedback channels for their work, school leaders have to develop attitudes and structures to encourage conversation. School leaders benefit from feedback--but they are often the last to receive it. Educational consultant Jenn David-Lang argues that opening these channels for communication starts with developing the necessary structures and attitudes feedback requires.

Due to their work engaging with diverse people representing varied institutions and community settings and addressing diverse issues and topics, community engagement professionals (CEPs) must serve as boundary spanners (Child & Faulkner, 1998; Janke, 2009) across differences. Quite often, interpersonal, organizational, cultural, and other differences lead to tensions and conflict. Though CEPs enter into positions and situations in which conflict exists, or is likely to exist, few have been professionally prepared to manage interpersonal conflict. Drawing on a competence-based approach to communicating about interpersonal conflict (Cupach, Canary, & Spitzberg, 2010), this essay suggests key communication capacities, including motivation, knowledge, and skills to manage conflict, even positively transforming conflict in ways that build understanding and relationships. Conflict management is not about learning a single model or a specific script to "end all conflicts." Instead, conflict management involves developing competency with constructive practices through intentional, sustained effort.

Communicating with students is one of the most important responsibilities for faculty in an online course. It can also be a puzzling process. Having a "communication plan" and understanding effective email strategies, along with proper timing and frequency of communicating with students, are all important pieces of this puzzle. We propose using "touchpoints" in designing a communication plan. This article provides a blueprint of touchpoints as well as best practices for more effective emails for connecting with online students. The blueprint identifies key student touchpoints and provides actionable communication interactions for each touchpoint. These improved strategies can increase instructor-student engagement, student learning, and student satisfaction.

The communicative relationships between scientists and audiences they address beyond their specialized fields have become increasingly strained. These fractures result not simply from an ill-informed lay public, but from deeper trepidation about the ethos of science. This forum offers three distinct, yet intertwined, interdisciplinary perspectives on how communication centers can enhance science communication. Part I engages with science communication from the administrative perspective of the communication center director. This section highlights how the synergies between communication centers and the sciences can entrench a center's role as an indispensable resource for preparing scientists to address audiences of nonspecialists. The author offers fruitful suggestions for communication centers encouraging scientific communicators to engage with their publics rather than dictate recommendations and report findings to them. Part II voices the views of a scientist who distills the ways commonly taught communication skills apply to scientific communication. The author explains--and the section embodies--some of the specific communicative practices that best serve scientists as they attempt to relate to diverse audiences. The section concludes by stressing the importance of storytelling that enables scientists to offer compelling accounts of their research and rationales for its support. Invoking the perspective of science and technology studies, in Part III, the author reflects on how to bridge epistemological divides that often lead to confrontational relationships between scientists and non-scientists. Working with both scientific communicators and lay audiences in joint endeavors, communication centers can develop mutual respect and restore trust in the institution of science.

This study was aimed at discovering the levels of English-Arabic code-mixing in Islamic boarding school students' daily conversation. This study departs from code-mixing theory in sociolinguistics. Qualitative approach was utilized as the research design. The data were in the form of word, phrase, and clause taken from utterances obtained by recording the conversations of students. From the data analysis taken from 20 situations, there were 98 utterances of code mixing, which were used by students in their conversation at Islamic boarding school covering intra- and extra-sentential code -- mixing. The dominant occurrence is in word level totalling to 65 occurrences (66.4%), followed by clause level 13 occurrences (13.2%), phrase level 10 occurrences (10.2%), and sentence level 10 occurrences (10.2%). Therefore, the code -- mixing did exist in students' conversation. Even though the appearance of the code -- mixing in students' conversation was not really high but this needs to be re-examined the correct use of the code -- mixing in orther to avoid the misunderstanding and miscommunication among the students and with teachers.

Silence as a communicative act in face-to-face spontaneous interaction has been under-investigated in linguistic politeness research in Thailand. With the recent increase in the influx of foreign students gaining admission into Thai universities yearly, the result is that such universities will be a coexistence of cultures. This study therefore aims to investigate the situational face-threat contexts where Thai students use silence as a politeness strategy. This aim is guided by the main research question of what different situational face-threat contexts could lead to the use of silence by Thai students in their foreign-peer interactions in a Thai multicultural university context. Twenty students' interactions were sampled using micro-socio-ethnographic technique, with data from observation, interview, and questionnaire. The main findings revealed that: uncertainty of language proficiency, expected hurting words from interlocutor, and unexpected negative change in hearer's mood, amongst others, were the main circumstances where Thai students use silence as a face-saving politeness strategy. The findings imply better intercultural awareness in multicultural university contexts.

Background: Cognitive-communication difficulties are often associated with dementia and can impact a person's ability to participate in meaningful conversations. This can create challenges to families, reflecting the reality that people living with dementia rarely have just one regular conversation partner, but interact with multiple family members. To date, there is limited evidence of the impact of changes in communication patterns in families. A family systems approach, with foundations in psychology, can be used to explore the impact of communication difficulties on multiple different family members, including the person living with dementia and potential coping strategies used by individuals, together with the family as a whole. Methods & Procedures: A systematic review of primary qualitative research was conducted to identify and examine research exploring communication and interaction within families living with dementia. Studies were identified through a comprehensive search of major databases and the full-text articles were subject to a quality appraisal. We conducted a thematic analysis on the literature identified to consider the role of families in supporting communication for people with dementia. Outcomes & Results: The searches identified 814 possible articles for screening against the eligibility criteria. Nine articles were included in the final review. Three major themes emerged from the analysis of the included studies: (1) 'identities changing' reflected how interactions within the family systems impacted on identities; (2) 'loss' reflected the grief experienced by families due to changes in communication; and (3) 'developing communication strategies' highlighted strategies and approaches that families affected by dementia may use organically to engage in meaningful interactions and maintain connection. Only one study explicitly used a family systems approach to understand how families manage the changes in interaction resulting from dementia. Conclusions & Implications: The findings may usefully inform the clinical practice of speech and language therapists in terms of communication strategies and coping mechanisms that may be advised to facilitate connection in families living with dementia. Further research using a family systems approach to exploring communication in dementia may help to support the implementation of family-centred practice as recommended in policy.

This study sought to identify what messages are important to share regarding innovations of new turfgrass cultivars, and to determine the current, preferred, and emerging channels of communication as perceived by Extension/Outreach and Communications professionals in ANR for sending information. This study utilized a focus group consisting of turfgrass extension professionals, an interview with communication professionals, and individual semi-structured interviews. From the twelve questions presented through these methods, seven predominant themes emerged. Effectively communicating about turfgrass involves: (1) conveying long-term benefits of the innovations, (2) considering the sender and receiver of turfgrass information, (3) considering the traditional communication channels used for turfgrass, (4) emerging or sought channels for communicating with clientele about turfgrass, (5) barriers to adopting communication channels for disseminating turfgrass information, (6) factors that influence use of communication channels for turfgrass, and (7) who should be disseminating the identified messages. Respondents indicated that though Twitter was the preferred channel of social media communication for those in the turfgrass industry, interpersonal communication and factsheets were still being requested predominately by their clientele. Respondents recommended working with organizations such as city and county municipalities, as well as residential home builder groups, that are likely to adopt innovations, influence behavior change, and create and institute policies, will be essential for dissemination of information. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions associated with it, researchers are depending on emerging communications channels for dissemination of information more so than traditional methods utilized in the past such as field days.

Background: Unaided communication behaviours may provide communication support for persons with severe cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), as these individuals often experience severe communication difficulties, regardless of the aetiology. Though often subtle, these behaviours are present during all stages of recovery, and therefore communication partners need to know not only which unaided strategies are used as communication attempts, but also what their function is (i.e., what the person aims to achieve with the communication). Aim: To identify the unaided communication behaviours that adults with severe CVA and little or no functional speech use to communicate, and to determine the communication functions addressed by these behaviours. Methods & Procedures: The study used a scoping review methodology and included articles on communication partners of persons with CVA published between 1986 and 2020. Initially the searches yielded 732 studies from which 211 duplicates were identified. The remaining studies (n = 531) were then screened on title, abstract and full-text level resulting in a final inclusion of 18 studies. Of the 18 studies, five were qualitative and 13 consisted of quantitative methodologies. Main contribution: The subtle communication behaviours used by persons with CVA (and resultant severe communication difficulties) are often misinterpreted or overlooked by their partners. If partners are trained to recognise such subtle or unaided communication behaviours, they can provide adequate support to access a range of communication functions. The unaided communication behaviours, which include 13 primary behaviours ranging from non-linguistic to linguistic, were utilised to convey 31 communication functions classified into four main communication categories. Conclusions & Implications: Although unaided communication behaviours often appear as limiting, they can be utilised to communicate various communication functions. The findings of this review support the training of partners to identify these behaviours and improve person-partner communication.

Background: Major neurocognitive disorder (MND) alters cognition, memory and language, and consequently affects communication. Speech-language therapy (SLT) may alleviate communication difficulties. Aims: This pilot study explored the effects of intensive SLT emphasizing memory, language, and discourse impairment and complementary communication strategies, called Aid for Communication--For Persons Who Live with MND (AID-COMp). Methods & Procedures: We employed a mixed design using quantitative and qualitative methods with four dyads, including a person living with MND (PwMND) and a family carer. The design included a control period, and we tested participants before (T1) and after 2 months without therapy (T2). AID-COMp was then provided intensively three times per week for 10 sessions and participants were tested again (T3). Participants were also involved in an individual qualitative interview after therapy ended, probing their experience and possible effects on their lives. AID-COMp included: (1) spaced retrieval to teach the use of a memory book; (2) semantic and phonological therapy for lexical access; (3) discourse treatment based on the analysis of the macrostructure and microstructure of stories in pictures and texts; and (4) PACE therapy for generalization. Carers were not included in treatment, did not attend sessions and were only involved in the evaluations. Measures included language, communication, cognitive and well-being tests. Paired t-tests (one-tailed) compared scores for the control period, that is, T1 versus T2. We compared scores after therapy (T3) with those at T2. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed qualitatively. Outcomes & Results: For the control period, only text comprehension scores significantly decreased in PwMND. After therapy, improvements occurred on the Boston Naming Test (BNT), the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and the well-being measure for the PwMND. Carer scores were unchanged after therapy except for their perception of the PwMND's communication which improved. Qualitative findings comprised three themes: (1) understanding therapy; (2) recovering abilities and relationships; and (3) naming further needs. Conclusions & Implications: We hypothesize that AID-COMp addressed the underlying impairments associated with MND and provided various tools to PwMND for composing effectively with them. Indeed, AID-COMp appears to provoke some degree of improvement of language skills, cognition and emotional well-being. These improvements may lead to more confidence in conversation and the recovery of relationships between the PwMND and their entourage. It is also possible that improvements acted positively on one another. These preliminary findings warrant further controlled studies with more participants, including a qualitative exploration of participant experiences.

When people interact to establish shared symbols for novel objects or concepts, they often rely on multiple communicative modalities as well as on alignment (i.e., cross-participant repetition of communicative behavior). Yet these interactional resources have rarely been studied together, so little is known about if and how people combine multiple modalities in alignment to achieve joint reference. To investigate this, we systematically track the emergence of lexical and gestural alignment in a referential communication task with novel objects. Quantitative analyses reveal that people frequently use a combination of lexical and gestural alignment, and that such multimodal alignment tends to emerge earlier compared to unimodal alignment. Qualitative analyses of the interactional contexts in which alignment emerges reveal how people flexibly deploy lexical and gestural alignment in line with modality affordances and communicative needs.

As the main symptom in palliative care, pain requires careful assessment. Repeating patient answers is one recommended communication technique for helping convey to patients that they have been heard, and to encourage them to say more. We examined 23 episodes where experienced doctors repeat patients' answers with mirrored rhythm and downward-final intonation, captured in pain assessments video-recorded in 37 consultations in a large UK hospice. Using conversation analysis, our aim was to determine whether or not the repeats invite additional talk, and if so, how they do so. Our findings reveal lexical and prosodic features of doctors' repeated pain answers that signal completion of the sequence. At the same time, because the patient has greater epistemic access to their own pain, a repeat can also invite confirmation or disconfirmation. The patients in our data sometimes--but not always--respond to the repeat with confirmation or further talk. We conclude that repeating patient answers with mirrored rhythm and downward-final intonation provides a no-obligation opportunity for patient-led confirmation, disconfirmation, or expansion of pain descriptions, particularly when the pain matter is new, revised, or has been problematic to report.

Apology is an inevitable part of human communication as an act of face-saving strategy. It is necessarily uttered if an offence is made. This research is an attempt to reveal the apology strategies used as well as to analyse the influence of social distance and relative power to the realization of apology strategies, as seen in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2." In total, there are 125 data found and those are classified according the apology strategy employed. The result shows that the majority of the speakers employ indirect apology strategy "Explanation or Account of Cause" to apologize. Furthermore, this research also found that social distance and relative power are taken into account during the apology process and they affect the linguistic realization of apology strategies in the movies.

An exploration of pronunciation tutorials designed for speakers of English as an additional language (EAL) in a university context in Australia suggests that developing abilities to speak clearly involves more than just focusing on the sounds that are uttered. Students' comments and observations collected during pronunciation tutorials highlight factors that are important for understanding how these speakers successfully manage their spoken interactions. This article reports on what these students say about their experiences and strategies for communicating clearly and effectively at university and while in their professional placements. Implications for the ways that pronunciation tutorials are run include the need to focus not only on the sounds that the speakers make, but also to provide opportunities for them to develop awareness of themselves as speakers and to develop their understanding of the speaking contexts and the associated pragmatic language skills that are required for becoming clearer and more confident speakers.

The article explores the emerging contradiction between the need of taking into account the individual characteristics of students and the lack of such opportunities during the preparation for the lesson. It consists in finding a point for the crystallization of the processes of working with children, taking into account their features and the integral process, which management will solve a whole range of problems. Within the framework of the study of the hindered communicative interaction, the levels of severity of communication barriers were diagnosed. The study of barriers was carried out with the help of a three-stage evaluation system: individual (self-assessment), group assessment, expert evaluation (of a teacher/an educator), based on three evaluations, a final indicator of the level of communication barriers. According to the levels of expression, the level of the need for the teacher's intervention in overcoming communication barriers was determined.

This study explored the perspectives of elementary school families and their preferences in communicating with their child's teacher. The researchers utilized an online survey method which was distributed to the families of one elementary school. Survey questions included areas of communication patterns, perceptions, and advice for improvement regarding communication between teachers and families. Results conclude that there are some discrepancies between family and teacher communication expectations. The intended purposes of these findings are to apply communication methods between stakeholders and families to potentially improve communication methods in schools.

As U.S. institutions continue to welcome larger and more diverse populations of international students, campus support offices are also expected to adjust their programming and outreach strategies to engage a wider student audience and provide them with key information and services. This quantitative study examines the communications preferences of degree-seeking international students enrolled in a mid-size U.S. university. It specifically investigates students' preferred methods of communication, patterns and frequency in sending and receiving messages, and the types of information they prefer to be informed of. The survey also looks across a number of communication media including email, social media, print communications, and face-to-face interactions to better understand how resources may be directed to individual channels. The authors argue that the most impactful engagement model requires an accompanying, analytics-driven communications strategy to support international students during their stay on campus.

This article highlights roles and responsibilities in design-based research (DBR) by analysing the micro-communication processes between two science teachers and one researcher. Despite DBR being a practice-oriented methodology, we know little about micro-communication processes with regard to how roles and responsibilities are fulfilled and perceived. We draw upon certain concepts from frame analysis when exploring three areas of concern: (1) the participants' framing of their own and each other roles and responsibilities, (2) the flexible researcher role in micro-communication processes, and (3) the teachers' different framing of education and research. Our analyses reveals that the researcher's role is framed as an observer while the teachers are the ones who implement the artefact being tested. Additionally, the flexible researcher appears more equipped to handle micro-communication processes and the teachers' different framing can be useful for development of the study. Finally, we present some final reflections based on our findings.