Differences may exist between the voice qualities of those who professionally use and train their voices and those who do not. The examination of fundamental frequency and frequency range m actresses and non-actresses is integral to determining voice quality differences in these populations. These differences, whether the result of frequent use or training of the voice, may exist relative to fatiguing conditions such as may be experienced by actresses in the course of their work. Fatigue has been shown to produce greater effects in normals than in performers, particularly in singers (Gelfer, Andrews, and Schmidt, 1991). Little research has been found comparing actresses to non-actresses in such an interaction effect. In order to determine whether a separate set of normative values should be sought for actresses, it is first necessary to determine whether significant differences exist between these populations in voice quality parameters. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether or not significant changes in fundamental frequency and frequency range occurred in non-actresses relative to actresses as a result of fatigue. The subjects for the study included ten actresses between the ages of 20 and 30 who had a minimum of one quarter of voice training and three years of acting experience and ten women of the same age group who had no voice training or experience in acting. Each subject passed a puretone audiometric screening, had a negative history of voice disorders, and had not smoked within the last year. These two groups were evaluated for: 1) fundamental frequency in prolonged productions of the vowel lal; 2) speaking fundamental frequency in connected speech; 3) frequency range in sung scales; and 4) frequency range in connected speech. Data was statistically analyzed using one way ANOV A tests with repeated measures. No significant interactions occurred between group and time, suggesting that non-actresses did not produce a greater shift than did actresses in fundamental frequency or frequency range as a result of fatigue. These results contradicted some findings and supported other findings of previous research based on similar samples.

The purpose of this study was to identify the preferred learning styles of Greek EFL students and teachers in Greece. The learning styles examined were visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, group and individual. The study was conducted at a private English language school in Piraeus, Greece. Ninety-two Greek EFL students (33 male and 59 female) ranging in age from 13 to 22, and 11 Greek EFL teachers (3 male and 8 female) ranging in age from 22 to 52 constitute the sample. The study used the self-reporting learning style questionnaire that Reid (1987) developed to measure the preferred learning style preferences of ESL students in the U.S., and is a partial replication of Reid's study. The instrument was used to determine the major, minor and negligible preferred learning styles of Greek EFL students and teachers. Data from the learning style questionnaires were analyzed using paired t-tests, unpaired t-tests, single-factor and two-factor ANOVAs. Statistical analysis indicated kinesthetic learning as a major learning style for students, and visual, kinesthetic and tactile learning as major learning style preferences for teachers. No negligible learning styles were reported for either group. Students tended to prefer teacher-centered learning styles (visual, auditory and individual learning) slightly more than student-centered learning styles (kinesthetic, tactile and group learning). Furthermore, teachers tended to prefer student-centered learning styles slightly more than teacher-centered learning styles. Data from both groups (teachers and students) suggested interaction effects for age and gender. The results of this study raise questions concerning the reliability of Reid's instrument. Neither subject groups in this study, nor subjects in Hoffner's (1991) or Pia's (1989~ studies, identify negligible learning styles on the part of the subjects. This raises questions related to the reliability of Reid's instrument. It suggests that further study needs to be conducted in measuring learning style preferences in culture specific studies.

A common criticism of U.S. citizens today, whether as voters or students or workers, is that they are "lazy and apathetic". It is important to explore the validity of this criticism. This thesis begins with the premise that there are two prerequisites for citizenship in a democracy: (1) that citizens be willing to participate and (2) that citizens are able to participate. The purpose of this research is to examine a particular set of perspectives regarding social conditions which consistently impact the two aforementioned prerequisites. This examination addresses social conditions that undermine a person's ability to participate meaningfully and it addresses perspectives on alternative social conditions which support personal action. Included in this set of perspectives are relevant concepts and ideas derived from Socrates, John Locke, Karl Marx, Anthony Giddens, and Michael Lerner. These prominent thinkers provide likely, but not exclusive examples of how certain themes commonly emerge regarding social conditions and their relationship to communication. Each of these sources, in different ways and to different degrees, demonstrates how social conditions commonly encourage ideology that can undermine personal action. Additionally, each theorist indicates the need for dialogue and critical thinking to penetrate these social conditions and ideologies, thus providing the keys to encouraging personal action. Once established, the potential for dialogue and critical thinking is discussed with regard to several important social arenas and systems of American culture: mass media, education, the workplace, and government. The true test of whether or not Americans are willing to participate depends upon the nature and extent of their ability to participate. As the promotion of dialogue and critical thinking is necessary to assure the second, an exploration of these capacities is necessary to begin assessing the first.

The contemporary research suggests that some children who present with early language delays as toddlers outgrow their delays while others continue to develop long-term language difficulties. Several studies over the years have focused on factors that might aid in predicting the outcome of late talkers. This current study emphasized exploring gender as a possible predictive factor. The purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences exist in the rate of growth in language skills, as indexed by scores on the Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) procedure (Lee, 1974) of boys versus girls who are late to start talking as toddlers. The research hypothesis was that boys who present as LT toddlers would score significantly higher than LT girls at each age level tested. The DSS is a norm-referenced instrument that assesses age-appropriate morphological development and syntax. The LT subjects used were part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study. Spontaneous speech samples were collected, transcribed, and analyzed using the DSS procedure once each year from the time they were approximately 3 years of age, until the age of 7. Late talking children in this present study were grouped by gender. A Chi Square test was used to determine if the proportion of males scoring above the 10th percentile on the DSS was significantly different than the proportion of females scoring above the 10th percentile at each age. Results from this analysis indicated that at the age of 3 years, more boys than girls scored above the 10th percentile on the DSS. There were no significant differences found at the ages of 4, 5, 6, and 7. At-test was used to compare average DSS scores between the two genders for each year of the study. This test revealed a significant difference between the LT girls' and LT boys' scores at the age of 3 years. No significant differences were found for the subsequent years. However, difference between boys' and girls' scores at age 7 approached significance, with boys again scoring higher.

Linguistic diversification within our public schools has demanded professional responsibility from speech-language pathologists (SLPs) serving nonstandard English speaking students. Understanding and recognizing normal cultural linguistic differences is the responsibility of the SLP. This study focused on the relationship of three speech features to intelligibility ratings of 10 preschool aged Black English speakers as assigned by 4 licensed standard English speaking SLPs with varying experience. The SLPs also rated the perceived effect of these speech features (i.e., articulation, speaking rate, and resonance) on intelligibility. Using the Pearson product-moment correlation, ratings were correlated and found to demonstrate an association between intelligibility ratings and all three speech features assessed. To determine which speech feature affected intelligibility the most, a linear association using a stepwise regression was applied to all listeners' ratings. For 3 of the 4 listeners, the strongest association between intelligibility and articulation. Ratings of the 4th listener, the listener with the most experience(> 3 years) demonstrated the strong association between intelligibility and resonance. The listener with _the least amount of experience tended to assign higher severity ratings to ratings for intelligibility, rate, and resonance than did the other listeners. Findings from this study demonstrate a need for more studies within the area of Black English as well as further investigative studies to assess listeners' perception of dialectical differences based on the experience within linguistically different or similar communities. Various measures of intelligibility of Black English speakers should also be explored for more accurate assessment tools for this population. Clinical implications focus on the SLP's responsibility to be experienced and knowledgeable of the linguistic community they are serving.

The narrative, just like any lectured or monologue information which is shared, does not depend to any great extent on context. Therefore, ability to encode and decode the information to be presented verbally is required, that is, in order for the speaker to be able to verbalize what he or she wants to say while taking into consideration the listener's needs. This indicates that production of strong narratives depends on higher level language skills, and so children's narratives provide a sensitive means of assessing children's language development. The purpose of this study was to compare the narrative ability of children at second grade age, using a wordless picture book, with differing rates of language development. Subjects were assigned to three diagnostic groups, (normal, history of expressive language delay, and chronic expressive language delay) based on their original diagnoses at 20 - 34 months (normal or late-talker) and their Developmental Sentence Score (Lee, 1974) at second grade age. During the second grade assessment, each subject was audiotaped producing a spontaneous narrative using a wordless picture book. These narratives were scored on eight measures: Mean Length of Utterance per T-Unit, TypeToken Ratio, Narration Length in T-Units, Information, Average Sentence Length, Lexical Diversity, Cohesion, and Narrative Stage. Results of the ANOVA and the Duncan Test multiple comparison procedures revealed significant differences among the groups on only one variable - Mean Length of Utterance per T-Unit. Children in the normal language group and the history of expressive language delay group performed significantly better than the group of children with chronic expressive language delay. No significant differences were found between the normal language group and the history of expressive language delay subjects.

Current research in early language development suggests that children who were diagnosed during preschool with expressive language delay would demonstrate difficulties during elementary school years (Scarborough and Dobrich, 1990). This purpose of the present study was to qualitatively describe the outcome of children with a history of early language delay and differing levels of expressive performance (ELD and HELD), as reported by the parents. A questionnaire was developed to determine the children's current age and grade level, past and present reading ability and reading interests, best and worst academic subject, special services and diagnosed disability, speech and language concerns, friendships concerns, and behavioral and motor issues. The study used Developmental Sentence Scoring (Lee, 197 4), which determined which children continued to function below the normal range at second grade. Once identified, these children were placed into two groups indicating early language delay (ELD) and history of early language delay (HELD). The data was collected from parent interviews and placed into tables for analysis. Case vignettes were developed for each ELD and HELD subject. The suggested trends from the study include: Differences in reading material, literacy related play activities, number of friends, and similar special services received in school.

Using typologies by Benoit (1995), Seeger (2006), and Heath (2006) this study argues that when an organization encounters multiple complications (e.g., perceived guilt, magnitude of harm, nature of the victims, etc.) compounding a crisis situation, that the organization’s best course of action is to employ atonement rhetoric. Second, this study also argues for the inclusion of a new best practice in crisis communication, which highlights the importance of organizations to recognize the impact visual evidence, especially video footage, has on complicating crisis response while also increasing demand for an appropriate and timely response. To do this the study uses the above typologies as well as Koesten and Rowland (2004) to carry out a rhetorical analysis of the NFL’s response to the Ray Rice crisis. This study finds that the NFL’s crisis response through the first three phases, though using nearly all of Benoit’s (1995) strategies, fails to meet all of Seeger’s (2006) and Heath’s (2006) best practices. It is only through meeting the requirements for atonement set out by Koesten and Rowland (2004) that the NFL meets the recommended best practices and achieves resolution from this crisis.

This dissertation contributes to the discipline by demonstrating successful and productive incorporation of feminist research methods and methodologies in rhetorical studies and the application of the rhetorical arts to feminist projects. Specifically this dissertation examines the history of state-sanctioned marriage in the US and its contribution to normative discourses of family that problematically inform public policies and mainstream arguments directed at some working and parenting women struggling to care for their families and provide for them economically. Through feminist rhetorical analyses of congressional testimony on welfare; feminist rhetorics on women, work, family, and economics; and narratives of women's lived experiences derived from an interview-based study, this project renders visible and disrupts mechanizations of privilege and oppression deployed through hegemonic discourses on marriage and family. It concludes that feminist rhetorical scholars are uniquely trained and therefore called upon to address inequities promulgated through national attachment to state-sanctioned marriage and normative models of family.

Contemporary federal education policy discourse from A Nation at Risk to the Race to the Top program has promoted and extended neoliberal discourse from the national level to the level of the school and its personnel. This study highlights the persistence of neoliberal discourse within federal education policy and the consequences this persistence holds for critiques of current policies and practices. Analyzing reports published by the United States Department of Education and contemporary United States education policy starting from A Nation at Risk, moving through America 2000, Goals 2000, and No Child Left Behind, and ending with the Race to the Top program, I use rhetorical tropes to provide a method of analysis for education policy. Due to the novelty of this project for the field of education policy studies, I bring in concepts from rhetorical studies and discourse analysis to produce an interdisciplinary approach to policy analysis that fills a particular gap in existing analyses. At present, there exists no framework within the traditional analyses of education policy that offers a theoretical account of how a discourse maintains and propagates itself through policy. This dissertation offers a new method of policy analysis that examines how a discourse stabilizes and perpetuates itself through education policy. Specifically, an analysis of these policies and reports demonstrates how neoliberal discourse uses the tropes of metaphor, where two objects are identified with one another, and synecdoche, where the part is made to represent the whole and vice-versa, to ground and naturalize its growing presence in education policy and practice. Through the tropological analysis of the above cited texts, the co-operation of metaphor and synecdoche, what I term “organic identification,” accounts for the persistence of neoliberal discourse through its identification and integration with federal education policy discourse specifically through the constitution of places, e.g., the nation and the school. The conclusion suggests the critical potential for considering the role of tropes in the discursive constitution of place by mapping the persistence of a discourse and providing a critical distance from which contradictions and alternative trajectories can be forwarded.