Each year, thousands of international students move to the United States to pursue higher education. Over the past few years in particular, the numbers of international students enrolled at U.S.-American universities has been on a constant incline. Two of the biggest changes that international students may experience are the different expectations of classroom etiquette and participation in the U.S.-American classroom setting. Impacted by many years of exposure to West-centric approaches to pedagogical praxis, the U.S.-American classroom has been created as a privileged space in which, more often than not, West-centric epistemologies, approaches to pedagogy, and ways of knowledge production are privileged over others. For international students, the majority of whom do not come from Western cultures, this can be a very tough space to negotiate. In this dissertation, I look at the conceptualizations of voice and silence, in particular, in order to gain a better understanding of how these two concepts are experienced and negotiated by international students within the U.S.-American classroom setting at a medium-sized U.S.-American university located in a small town in the Midwestern region of the country. While many West-centric cultures conceptualize voice and silence as dichotomous, I argue that they form a continuum that is dialogic, communicative, fluid, contextual, and at times paradoxical. Furthermore, I argue that the meanings of silence and voice within the U.S.-American classroom space can have multiple meanings and be understood as different forms of communication and participation. For the purpose of this project, I selected the three meta discourses of postcolonial theory, critical (communication) pedagogy, and international student-centered research to help deconstruct the notion of international students as the “Other,” as well as the misconceptions of silence within the classroom. Postcolonial theory as the main anchor of this research, in particular, allowed me to engage in an in-depth discussion of how we can decolonize West-centric, U.S.-American classrooms and create more dialogic, inclusive, and intercultural spaces in which different epistemologies and ways of knowing and knowledge production can be included. Furthermore, I bring into dialogue the three selected meta discourses in order to create a more nuanced and inclusive conceptualization of voice and silence that moves away from West-centric binaries. I used critical complete-member ethnography (CCME), as developed by Dr. Satoshi Toyosaki (2011), as the main method for critical inquiry. CCME argues for the value that is derived from combining different ethnographic methods in order to create an accurate account of cultural practices, as well as “focus on communicative practices and processes” (p. 66). I incorporated an autoethnographic account that functions to position myself as a researcher as well as autoethnographic narratives and reflections throughout my data analysis. In addition, I extend the notion of membership as it is currently conceptualized within CCME to make the argument for CCME as a method for critical inquiry within intercultural communication, and not just intracultural communication, research. My research findings demonstrate that the West-centric, binaristic conceptualization of voice and silence within the U.S.-American educational system can create unwelcoming learning environments for international students who may feel positioned as the Other who do not fit in, or may feel excluded from dominant discourse by being silenced. The participants’ narratives indicate the meanings of and reasons for international students’ embodiments of silence within classroom settings are as multiple, contextual, and dialogic as the conceptualization of silence itself. The collected data support the argument of the complexity and contextuality of voice and silence, and further call for a reconceptualization of voice and silence as acceptable forms of classroom participation. Furthermore, the international student participants identified several reasons as to why they may choose to perform silence in the classroom. Finally, through the interviews I tried to create a dialogue among international students and instructors in order to address and deconstruct issues pertaining to the struggles of international students caused by U.S.-centric approaches to pedagogy as well as conceptualizations of voice, silence, and classroom participation. My research showed that it is imperative for us to engage in more inclusive, critical, yet compassionate dialogues across our differences in order to create glocalized, intercultural learning communities within U.S.-/Euro-/West-centric educational systems. We must attempt to create intercultural spaces within our classrooms that allow for and cherish diverse narratives, epistemologies, different ways of knowing, and different conceptualizations of voice, silence, and classroom participation within the U.S.-American classroom setting, in particular at a medium-sized U.S.-American university located in a small town in the Midwestern region of the country. This dissertation research privileges such dialogue by centering the narratives of international students, thus, moving them from the periphery to the center and allowing them the agency to address exclusionary pedagogical practices within the U.S.-American educational system that exclude them from dominant discourse.

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Titel: Har chefer slutat lyssna? – en studie om kommunikationstillfredsställelse och chefers aktiva lyssnande. Nivå: Examensarbete för kandidatexamen i företagsekonomi. Författare: Michel Barjakob, Mathias Johansson. Handledare: Kristina Mickelsson, Pär Vilhelmson. Datum: 2016 - januari Syfte: I denna studie vill vi söka en djupare förståelse för chefers aktiva lyssnande och hur det formar medarbetarnas kommunikationstillfredsställelse. Metod: Då studiens syfte är att skapa en djupare förståelse i chefers aktiva lyssnande så har vi utfört en kvalitativ forskning. Data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med tio anställda från en ledande elektronikkedja i Gävle. Materialet har analyserats genom tematisering och presenterats med resultaten. Resultat & slutsats: Studien visar att chefer bör ha en tillräckligt hög kommunikationskompetens för att veta när ett aktivt lyssnande ska tillämpas eller ej. Chefers kommunikationskompetens formar de anställdas kommunikations-tillfredsställelse samtidigt som det framkommit att chefer inte är medvetna om det aktiva lyssnandet i tillräcklig utsträckning. Förslag till vidare forskning: Studien har varit djupgående med sin kvalitativa forskning och ligger som grund till vårt förslag till vidare forskning. Deltagarna i denna studie har efterfrågat en uppföljning av det aktiva lyssnandet. Ett ytterligare förslag till vidare forskning är en undersökning efter det aktiva lyssnandets avspegling på företagsresultat. Uppsattsens bidrag: Bidraget till studiens målgrupp syftar till det tomrum som lokaliserats samt besvarats. En teoretisk modell har skapats med hjälp av tidigare forskning som kartlägger begrepp inom kommunikation och tillfredsställelse. Det praktiska bidraget syftar till chefer då kunskap inom aktivt lyssnande kan hjälpa chefer att kommunicera med sina medarbetare. Nyckelord: kommunikationskompetens, aktivt lyssnande, kommunikationstillfredsställelse, arbetstillfredsställelse, forma. / Title: Har chefer slutat lyssna? – en studie om kommunikationstillfredsställelse och chefers aktiva lyssnande. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Author: Michel Barjakob, Mathias Johansson. Supervisor: Kristina Mickelsson, Pär Vilhelmson. Date: 2016 – january Aim: In this study we aim to create a deeper understanding in supervisors active listening and how it shapes employees communication satisfaction. Method: Due to the aim of the study, which is to create a deeper understanding in supervisors active listening, we have conducted a qualitative research. Data has been gathered through semi-structured interviews with ten employees from a leading electronic store and was conducted in Gävle.  Result & conclusions: The study show that supervisors must possess enough communication competence to know when active listening should be used. Supervisors communication competence shapes the employees communication satisfaction meanwhile most supervisors lack knowledge in active listening. Suggestions for future research: Our suggestions for future research are based on this study’s qualitative research. The participants have requested a follow-up of the active listening. A further recommendation for further research is to examine the impact active listening has on company results. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes by filling the gap we found in our research area. A theoretical model was developed based on previous research, which helped find and localize communication and satisfaction and its components. The practical contribution is aimed towards supervisors hoping to receive knowledge in active listening to help them communicate with their co-workers. Key words: communication competence, active listening, communication satisfaction, job satisfaction, shape.

Syfte: Tidigare forskning visar att AEL har påverkan på en säljares prestationer och ger bättre kundrelationer. Syftet med denna studie är att mäta säljares självupplevda förmåga att använda sig av AEL under ett kundmöte och analysera sambandet mellan AEL och deras kön, ålder, erfarenhet samt bruttolön i en kunskapsintensiv bransch. Metod: Studien har tillämpat kvantitativ metod och har ur teorin deducerat hypoteser för att undersöka samband. För datainsamlingen har en sluten webbenkät genomförts. Data har analyserats via korrelationsanalyser i SPSS för att sedan redovisas i tabeller och figurer. Resultat & slutsats: Studien visar inte på några samband mellan AEL och lön, ålder samt erfarenhet. Däremot finns det svaga positiva samband mellan AEL och kvinnliga mäklare. Studien visade på samband i frågorna som motsvarar responding och bruttolön, ålder, erfarenhet och kön. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: En självskattad enkät har den begränsningen att respondenten kan underskatta respektive överskatta frågor som framför allt berör attityder. När vi inte kan finna några direkta samband vore det intressant att ur ett kundperspektiv undersöka hur de uppfattar mäklaren. Studien visade på samband i frågorna som motsvarar responding och bruttolön, ålder, erfarenhet och kön. Detta gör att framtida forskning bör fokusera på hur mäklare svarar när de lyssnar och hur kunderna uppfattar att säljaren visar empati. Uppsatsens bidrag: Det visar att AEL inte har ett absolut samband med hur bra en säljare presterar. Ålder och erfarenhet är inte några faktorer som visar på några samband. Det enda som överensstämmer med tidigare forskning är att kvinnor är bättre på att använda sig av AEL. Det praktiska bidraget är en vägledning för chefer hur de skall resonera vid rekrytering och utbildning av personal. Utbildningen måste vara mer verklighetstrogen. / Aim: Previous research shows that AEL impacts a salesperson's performance and provides better customer relationships. The purpose of this study is to measure the salesperson's self-perceived ability to use AEL during client meetings and analyze the relationship between AEL and gender, age, experience, and salary in knowledge-intensive trades. Method: The study applies quantitative methods and theory deduced hypotheses to investigate relationships. A closed web survey was conducted for data collection. Data was analyzed using correlation analysis in SPSS and then presented in tables and figures. Result & Conclusions: The study does not show a relationship between AEL and salary, age or experience. However, there is a weak positive correlation between AEL and female brokers. The study showed a correlation between questions related to responding with salary, age, experience, and gender. Suggestions for future research: One limitation of a self-rated questionnaire is that the respondent may underestimate or overestimate issues that particularly affect attitudes.  It would be interesting from a customer perspective to examine how they perceive the broker in cases where we did not find a direct connection. The study showed a correlation between questions related to responding with salary, age, experience, and gender. This means that future research should focus on how the broker responds when they are listening to the customers and how customers perceive empathy. Contribution of the thesis: We conclude that AEL does not have an absolute connection with how successfully a salesperson is performing. Age and experience are not correlated. The only factor consistent with previous research is that women are better users of AEL. This practical guide managers when discussing the recruitment and training of personnel. Training must be more realistic.

Perception of today’s business is characterized through movements on globalization, transnational companies and global networks across the whole world. The perspective of a leader in the field of acting has moved from a national to a multinational level. Also the abilities and skills which are needed to develop further in order to succeed in this global transformation have changed. This thesis project, entitled ‘What needs a leader?, will touch upon these prospective abilities and skills. In the growing global economy the abilities as a prospective leader must continually develop. It seems to us that leading and not managing people is the first approach in direction of efficient leadership. Lead- ership and Management cannot be compared; one is about people, and the other one is about facts. Thus, in our thesis we take this as a challenge to develop the component of leadership further and want to explore which specific skills are needed. Communication and emotional intelligence are two fields of knowledge, which have received a great deal of focus in this research field high. Thus, only a few researches have concentrated their research on both fields of knowledge as a powerful leadership tool. Our thesis discusses the relevance of communication aligned with emotional intelligence as an efficient leadership tool in today's global networked society.

Context. Daily active listening is important for the deaf and hard of hearing people (DHH) of their hearing rehabilitation, but the related hearing activities are usually not enough for them due to kinds of reasons. Although some traditional desktop computer-assisted tools were created for encouraging active listening, the usage rate is not high. Nowadays, mobile smart devices become more and more widely used and easily accessible all around the world. Game applications on these devices are good tools for training related activities. However, in the market, there are limited games designed for the DHH, especially aiming for engaging them in active listening. Therefore, such a game on mobile platform is the inspiration for increasing their everyday active listening. Objective. In this study, an audio-based mobile game application called the Music Puzzle was to create on Android operating system, for encouraging the DHH in their active listening. With aim of making the game have good usability and engaging for real use, we were to evaluate the game and conduct experiments on its usage, to see if it could be more used than another traditional hearing game on desktop platform and bring greater amount active listening for the DHH. Methods. In this study, overall, methods of literature review, game development, preliminary and evaluation experiments, as well as tracking study were used. In the development phase, interaction design theories and techniques was applied for assisting the design work. Android and Pure Data were employed for the software implementation work. In the evaluation phase, System Usability Scale (SUS) and Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire were used for respectively testing the game usability and engagement. Then a four-week tracking study was conducted to acquire the usage data of the mobile game among the target group. Afterwards, the data was collected and compared with the usage data of the desktop game using statistical method of paired sample t-test. Results. From the preliminary experiments results, most of the participants reported their enjoyment with playing Music Puzzle and willingness to use it. Subsequent experiment gave good results on the game usability and engagement. The final tracking study shows that most participants activated and played Music Puzzle during the given time period. Compared with the desktop game, the DHH spent significantly greater amount of time on playing the mobile game. Conclusion. The study indicates that the Music Puzzle has good usability and it is engaging. Compared with the desktop game, The Music Puzzle mobile game is a more effective tool for encouraging and increasing the amount of active listening time among the DHH people in their everyday life.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of active listening skills on perpetrator response style in crisis negotiations. The extant literature boasts the utility of negotiations in crisis situations for law enforcement that came about in response to cataclysmic events such as the Attica Prison Riots (1971), Munich Massacre (1972), and the Williamsburg incident (1973). Various crisis negotiation models assert the importance of active listening skills in crisis negotiations; given the recent and voluminous media attention on police, this research aimed to provide further support for a cultural shift in police departments around the country to provide their officers with crisis negotiation training. These trainings allow officers to expand their arsenal of tools that decreases their need to rely on a tactical response when verbal de-escalation may be warranted to minimize risk to both officer and subject. The proposed study coded and analyzed audio recordings from the first 20 minutes of 12 simulated negotiations. The author proposed: (1) an increase in the proportion of active listening skills within the first phase of the negotiation would be associated with a decrease in the proportion of negative perpetrator response style in the second phase of the negotiation, (2) an increase in the proportion of active listening skills within the first half of the negotiation would be associated with an increase in the proportion of positive perpetrator response style in the second half of the negotiation, (3) an increase in the proportion of problem-solving utilized during the first phase of the negotiation would be associated with an increase in the proportion of negative perpetrator response style in remainder of the negotiation, and (4) an increase in the proportion of emotional labeling, paraphrasing and summarizing, and open-ended questions utilized during the first half of the negotiation would be associated with an increase in the proportion of positive perpetrator response style in the second half of the negotiation. While no significant results were identified via Pearson’s correlations, scatterplots were constructed for visual inspection of the data, which indicated potential support of hypotheses II and IV when considering the limitations of the study.

Communication between the patient and healthcare professional is pivotal in enabling effective self-care management to occur (Street et al., 2009) which in turn leads to improved health outcomes (Kravitz et al., 1993). However, there is little published data exploring the most effective tools for evaluating whether these communication skills occur and what particular attributes enhance the process (Goodchild, Skinner & Parkin, 2005; Heisler et al., 2003; Parkin & Skinner, 2003). This study aims to identify patient-centred communication skills occurring in consultations and to explore their link with a tool-recording agreement on reported decisions made. Quantitative analysis was conducted on 86 dietetic consultations across four outpatient diabetes services. Audio recordings from 20 of these were qualitatively analysed. Greater agreement on reported decisions correlated significantly with level of empathy demonstrated (t = .283, p = .0005). In consultations featuring agreement, dietitians expressed more empathy (p = .02), used more active listening skills, asked significantly more exploratory questions on self-care practices (U = 18.5, p = .007), provided significantly more supportive/collaborative information-giving exchanges (U = 11, p = .003) and were more likely to set an agreed agenda at the start of consultations. In contrast, consultations featuring disagreement had low levels of empathy, fewer active-listening skills and exploratory questions, significantly greater numbers of persuasive information-giving exchanges (U = 17, p = .007) and more recommending exchanges. Generally, agendas were not set. In conclusion, recording patient/healthcare professional agreement on reported decisions made during a consultation is a simple tool that can indicate the presence of patient-centred communication skills. Active-listening skills allow expressions of empathy that facilitate patient involvement and interactive dialogue. The measure of agreement should be used frequently as a marker of effective dietetic consultations and to provide further data on the relationship between patient-centred communication and implementation of behaviour change for improved health outcomes.

Bakgrund: Kommunikation innebär en relation mellan en sändare och en mottagare samt ett möte på en jämlik nivå. Att lyssna aktivt är en grundläggande kunskap inom omvårdnad och lyssnandet leder till att sedan kunna kommunicera effektivt. Vårdprofessioner kommunicerar på varierande sätt, har olika mål med kommunikationen samt att det finns flera samtalstekniker. Ett hinder i kommunikationen beskrivs som avsaknad av ett gemensamt språk eller att tolk används till hjälp. Syfte: Att belysa kommunikation, samtalet och lyssnandet i mötet mellan patient och vårdare i vårdmiljö. Metod: En beskrivande litteraturstudie. Resultat: Indelades i tre olika kategorier: Tala är silver, Tiga är guld och Att inte förstå varandra. God kommunikation ledde till trygghet och följsamhet hos patienter. Patient-centrerad kommunikation stimulerade empowerment och gav bättre hälsa. Samtal som redskap var det viktigaste redskapet och krävde träning för att utföras. Aktivt lyssnande ledde till nöjdare patienter, färre återbesök och en ökad tillfredställelse hos patienten. Att avbryta eller leda samtalet ledde till ineffektiv kommunikation. Hinder i kommunikationen kunde äventyra patientsäkerheten samt öka patientens lidande. Med tolk kunde de kulturella skillnaderna försvåras, men även att vara tre i en vårdrelation kunde leda till missförstånd. Slutsats: Kommunikation var basen i vårdmötet. Tala var silver men att tiga var guld. / Background: Communication is a relationship between a transmitter and receiver, and a meeting on an equal level. Active listening is a basic knowledge in nursing and listening leading to communicate effectively. Health care professionals communicate in different ways have different goals with communication and that there is several conversations techniques. One obstacle in communication is described as the absence of a common language or interpreter is used to help. Aim: Highlighting communication, conversation and listening in the meeting between patient and caregiver in the healthcare environment. Method: A descriptive literature-review. Result: Divided into three categories: Speech is silver, silence is golden, and Not understanding each other. Good communication led to patients felt safe and adherence. Patient-centered communication stimulated empowerment and provided better health. Conversation as a gear was the main tool and required training to be performed. Active listening led to more satisfied patients, fewer return visits and increased patient satisfaction. To interrupt or lead the conversation leads to ineffective communication. Barriers in communication could jeopardize patient safety and increase patient suffering. With an interpreter could be the cultural aspects complicate but also to be three in a health care relationship could lead to misunderstanding. Conclusion: Communication was the basis of health meeting. Speech was silver but silence was golden.

The main goal of this thesis is to describe what happens in the collaborative approach to therapy from a conversation and discursive analytical perspective. The data we worked with are part of collaborative therapy sessions in Mexican Spanish Dialect. Chapter 1 is an introduction to two of the main social constructionist approaches to therapy, the `reflecting team approach' and the `collaborative approach' to therapy. This sets out the theoretical environment in which the therapy was done. Chapter 2 is a review of the state of the art in conversation and discourse studies on therapy talk and related fields, illustrating the type of analysis done up to now. Chapter 3 describes aspects of Mexican population that were part of the context in which the data originated; some notes on translation issues are included here. Chapter 4 is the first analytic chapter and it describes the dynamics in conversation of the English particle `okay' as found in Spanish therapeutic interaction. It shows both the work okay is doing when found in the therapists' discourse and what it is doing when found in the clients' discourse. Chapter 5 presents the analysis of instances of informality that were found in the data, arguing that aspects of an `egalitarian therapeutic stance' can be displayed in the participants' talk. Chapter 6 is a study on questions and therapy, more specifically it shows the questions that can be asked by the clients in therapy talk and the conversational job this is doing. Chapter 7 is an example of research done when taking as a starting point a category that is relevant for therapy and counselling: active listening. In reading through this thesis, the reader will find aspects of the therapeutic approach as displayed in talk. Examples of this are the displays in talk of the philosophical stance, such as being egalitarian in an institutional setting. Besides describing how theoretical assumptions can be displayed in talk, this work describes in detail several aspects of therapy talk.