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Objective: To determine if there was an optimal language sampling context for children with hearing impairment; specifically, if any well-documented method of obtaining a language sample was superior to the others in describing the areas of language that are known to serve as a foundation for later literacy development. Participants: Nine children with hearing impairment who used oral language as their primary mode of communication from the University of Tennessee Child Hearing Services clinic were selected to participate in the study. All were from Caucasian families who spoke English as their primary language and with the exception of hearing impairment, none had other documented disorders. Method: Three language samples were taken in an interview, picture description and story retell format during one 50 minute session. Data Analysis: The language samples were analyzed for syntax and morphology, semantic, pragmatic and narrative measures which are preliteracy factors that influence later literacy acquisition. Results: A battery of language samples is needed in order to appropriately access multiple elements of language relating to literacy acquisition of children with hearing impairment. Conclusion: Through the analysis of this study, it has been determined that in order to get a comprehensive view of language in hearing impaired children who use oral language as their primary communication, a battery of language assessments should be used.

The purpose of this thesis was to survey facilities at Utah State University and the Uintah Basin Center, develop teaching utilization models which would operate in given situations, and identify problems and recommend areas for further study. The investigator found the facilities presently used by the Uintah Basin Center adequate or nearly adequate for the use of instructional television. There are also classrooms and auditoriums at Utah State University which can be adapted for the use of television. However, equipment must be purchased in both localities . The Uintah Basin Center also must have a trained technician responsible for the equipment. In view of the large number of students taking the televised courses each quarter, the investigator recommends the use of large screen projectors rather than monitors at Utah State University . This is not to say that courses taught by television with smaller enrollments per quarter should not use monitors. The teaching utilization models developed by the investigator for the Uintah Basin Center and Utah State University were similar in nature, but each met the unique requirements for the institution for which it was designed. As a result of the survey, this writer recommends the appointment of a coordinator for the whole project of determining the effective utilization of television at Utah State University, the Uintah Basin Center, and other continuing education centers as they may develop as a part of Utah State University's instructional program. He also recommends the development of a public relations program to stimulate interest in instructional tele-vis-ion and the development of utilization seminars to instruct those involved in television with effective ways of utilizing course material. It is the opinion of the writer that the use of television instruction at continuing education centers and institutions of higher learning can be as good as it is planned to be . The success of instructional television is based upon the coordination of the entire television package. This coordination includes the detailed preparation of the physical classroom setting and courses of instruction designed to be effectively utilized in this classroom situation. The interweaving of these elements can provide effective student learning through instructional television.

Past theories have shown that stuttering results from a breakdown in the speaker's accurate timing of movement from one sound to the next. The efficacy of timing therapies is based on the proposal that stuttering diminishes as the amount of planning time for the phonetic voice-onset coordinations increases (Perkins, Bell, Johnson & Stocks, 1979). Acoustic information as to the parameters of the timing breakdown is critical to designing fluency facilitation and stuttering treatment programs. The present research investigated differences in word durations in the vicinity of the stuttered moment. Durations of words inunediately preceding and following the stutter were examined and compared to the exact words of a corresponding fluent sample from the same speaker. Stimulus material consisted of 83 phonetically balanced sentences read twice by each subject with an imposed 30 minute break between readings to minimize adaptation effects. Data analysis consisted of spectrographic measurement of durations of words (in msec.) inunediately preceding and following the stuttered word and comparison of durations of the same words from the same speaker's fluent production sample. Word durations before the stuttered sample (BSTUT) were compared to word durations before the nonstuttered sample (BNSTUT). A second comparison looked at the duration of a word after a stuttered word (ASTUT), and that of the nonstuttered sample (ANSTUT). One sample, two-tailed t-tests determined the existence of significant differences at the .OS level of confidence in word durations both preceding and following the stuttered moment when compared to word durations of the fluently produced corresponding match. Word duration patterns are consistent with those found by Viswanath (1989) and suggest that the anticipatory effect of the disruption on word duration is strong followed by a recovery period after the stuttered moment. In conclusion, this finding is consistent with theories suggesting that stuttering is a disorder of timing and supports the efficacy of timing therapies in the management of fluency programs (Andrews, Howie, Dosza & Guitar, 1982; Andrews, Guitar & Howie, 1980, Brayton & Conture, 1978, Ingham, Montgomery & Uliana, 1983). There is need for additional research to corroborate present findings.

Until this point, not much research has examined the difference in temporal characteristics for untreated stutterers in words surrounding a moment of stuttering. It is important to determine whether or not stutterers who have not been in treatment alter the duration of their speech when they stutter versus when they are fluent to determine what aids in the increase of fluency. The purpose of the present study was to examine the duration of the word prior to and following a stuttered word and the duration of the corresponding word in a nonstuttered episode. The following questions were to be addressed: 1) Is there a significant durational difference between a word preceding a stuttered word and the duration of the same word in a corresponding nonstuttered sentence? 2) Is there a significant difference between a word following a stuttered word and the duration of the same word in a corresponding nonstuttered sentence? Three subjects age 16 and older who had not received treatment for at least 4 years were selected. Subjects were recorded reading a list of 83 sentences selected from Fairbanks (1940) twice. Sentences containing a word that was stuttered in one reading and not in the other were used for analysis. The duration of the following word pairs in milliseconds was computed via the CSRE 4.2 program (Jaimeson, D.G., Ramji, K.V., Neary, T., & Baxter, T., 1993): 1) The duration of the word preceding a stuttered word within the same sentence (BSTUT) . 2) The duration of the same word in the corresponding nonstuttered sentence (BNSTUT) . 3) The duration of the word following a stuttered word within the same sentence (ASTUT) . 4) The duration of that same word in the corresponding nonstuttered sentence (ANSTUT) . A total of 144 samples were obtained. A two-tailed ~ test was run at the .05 level of confidence to determine significance between the BSTUT/BNSTUT and ASTUT/ANSTUT word pairs. Results yielded a significant difference between the durations of BSTUT and BNSTUT (P=.017). Conversely, analysis of the difference between ASTUT and ANSTUT revealed no significant difference in durations (P=.47).

Mediation is a problem-solving approach to conflict management that is used more and more in virtually every context in which conflicts arise. This paper explores the wide range of meaning for the term 'mediation' as found in the social science literature and examines the question of what processes can properly be called mediation. It surveys the literature related to numerous theories of mediation and examines the meaning of the term as established in its various contexts. The mediation literature can be divided into the following contexts: public sector or court connected mediation, divorce mediation, international mediation, environmental mediation, community mediation, small claims, and judicial mediation. This study delineates these contexts and differentiates them for the purpose of conducting an explication of the various meanings of the term mediation. The term mediation is found to be used throughout the literature without operational definition and only broad generic definitions can adequately describe the processes which are called mediation. The boundaries between mediation and other processes are blurred as a result of this expansive use of the term. This study describes mediation as differentiated from other processes such as litigation, arbitration, conciliation, and process consultation. Numerous concepts and issues are found in the literature related to mediation--caucus, goals, strategies and tactics, success, empowerment, ethics, mandatory mediation, neutrality, power and standards of practice. Many of these concepts are informed through contradictory debate within the literature. This paper describes these concepts and issues of mediation for the purpose of developing a further understand of the theory and practice of mediation. This study also reflects on the critical issues, debates and contradictory expectations of mediation that have been raised within the literature and finishes by drawing some conclusions about mediation. Mediation is described as both art and science. No one process is appropriate for handling all or even most mediation situations.

Until this time, few studies have examined differences in durational characteristics in words surrounding a moment of stuttering for untreated preschool children. It is important to determine whether or not untreated preschoolers' who stutter alter the duration of their speech when they stutter versus when they are fluent to determine what factors influence stuttering behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the duration of words immediately before and after a stuttered word and the duration of the matched target word in the identical fluent utterance. The following questions were to be addressed: 1) Is there a significant durational difference between a word preceding a stuttered word and the duration of the same word in a corresponding fluent utterance? 2) Is there a significant durational difference between a word following a stuttered word and the duration of the same word in a corresponding fluent utterance? Three subjects between the ages of 4 years, 6 months and 6 years, 11 months who had never received treatment participated. Subjects were recorded using a delayed imitation task, elicited from 60 action pictures in the Patterned Elicited Syntax Test, (PEST} two times in succession with a five minute rest period between elicited utterances. Phrases and sentences containing a stuttered word and identical elicited fluent utterances were used for analysis. The duration of the following words in milliseconds (msec.) were calculated using the CSRE 4.2 software program: l} The duration of the word immediately preceding a stuttered event within the same utterance (BSTUT}. 2) The duration of the same word in the identical fluent utterance (BNSTUT). 3) The duration of the word immediately following a stuttered event within the same utterance (ASTUT) . 4) The duration of the same word in the identical fluent utterance (ANSTUT) . A total of 44 samples were obtained. A two tailed ttest was completed at the .05 confidence level to determine the significance between the BSTUT vs. BNSTUT and ASTUT vs. ANSTUT word pairs. Results did not find statistically significant differences.

To date there are no acceptable speechreading tests with normative or psychometric data indicating the test is a valid and reliable measure of speechreading assessment. Middlewerd and Plomp (1987) completed a study of speechreading assessment using sentences (auditory-only and auditory-visual) in the presence of background noise. Results revealed speech reception thresholds to be lower in the auditory-visual condition. Montgomery and Demorest ( 1988) concurred that these results were appealing, but unfortunately not efficient enough to be used clinically. The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically valid and reliable assessment of speech reading ability, following Middlewerd and Plomp's ( 1987) framework to achiev~ this goal. The method of obtaining a valid assessment tool was to define a group of stimuli that can be administered and scored to produce reliable data efficiently. Because spondaic words are accepted as a reliable method of clinically achieving speech reception thresholds, they were chosen to be used as the stimuli in this study to develop an efficient clinical speechreading assessment tool. Ten subjects were presented with spondaic words in each of two conditions, auditory-only and auditory-visual, in the presence of background noise. The spondee words were randomized for each presentation, to validate the data. A computerized presentation was used so that each subject received the identical input. The computer also produced a performance-intensity function for each spondaic word. Results revealed an acceptable speech recognition threshold for 18 of the 36 spondee words in the auditory-only condition; 6 words were outside of one standard deviation; and the remaining 12 words did not produce obtainable thresholds. In the auditory-visual condition, all words except one had no obtainable threshold. Although these results invalidated the spondee words as an acceptable stimuli, the study does validate the foundation for further research to study different types of stimuli using this same framework.

"Diversity" has become a word associated with many professions, institutions, and contexts, paired with words such as standards, consultants, training, awareness and others. However, the researcher focused on how diversity is defined or conceptualized by pre-service teachers at Portland State University. Diversity is especially important as it relates to educators and pre-service teachers. Teachers will, today, be instructing children of different backgrounds and races more than ever in the past (Ross & Smith, 1992). And teachers conceptualizations and behaviors have profound impacts on student performance and success. In an effort to come to understand the ways pre-service teachers conceptualize "diversity," a literature search was conducted to identify past and present conceptualizations of diversity within the institution of education and more broadly. In addition, an open-ended survey question was administered, and two focused group discussions and three in-depth interviews were conducted. The survey question and transcripts from the focus groups and interviews were analyzed in an effort to identify emergent themes or units of meaning. Two major theoretical assumptions were utilized: lower-order concepts and constructivism. First, Chaffee's (1991) lower-order concepts, smaller units which comprise a larger unit of meaning, the higher-order concept, was selected. The education literature identifies language, learning style, teaching style, race, socio-economic status, ability, gender, and others (see APPENDIX B) as lower-order concepts for the higher-order concept "diversity." Second, according to constructivism, the human actively interprets and makes meaning of events (Delia, 1977) using constructs, pairs of bi-polar opposites. Individuals identify an event, experience or object and classify it along a number of relevant constructs in order to make sense of it in relation to similar phenomena. Within the education literature, the constructs, assimilationism I pluralism and ethnocentrism I ethnorelativism, good I bad, growing I dying and others have clearly been utilized to make meaning of "diversity." The researcher identified themes respondents appeared to correlate with the concept "diversity" and many complicated and conflicting messages as well (not unlike the "diversity" literature). Two of the emergent themes suggest additional lower-order concepts: "Structures" and "Mixed Messages." The emergent themes 'Teachable" and "Uncertain" suggest new constructs.

This research examined the relationship between the degree of maintained fluency improvement and the type of language used to respond to questions directly and indirectly related to speaking behavior. The subjects included sixteen former Portland State University stuttering clients who had participated in the Ginter (1979) study on fluency maintenance. The subjects responded to a thirteen item questionnaire dealing with themselves and their speaking behavior. Responses were recorded on the Modified Thematic Analysis Form developed by this examiner and analyzed according to guidelines set down by Stone and Casteel (1975) and this examiner.