More useful communication web sites
Here's an additional set of links that relate to the chapters in Understanding Human Communication, 9th Edition. These links are great for additional student research as well as classroom discussion.
- Human Communication: What and Why
- Perception, the Self, and Communication
- Language
- Listening
- Nonverbal Communication
- Understanding Interpersonal Relationships
- Improving Interpersonal Relationships
- The Nature of Groups
- Solving Problems in Groups
- Choosing and Developing a Topic
- Organization and Support
- Presenting Your Message
- Informative Speaking
- Persuasive Speaking
1. Human Communication: What and Why
- As you study communication, you'll discover much about the discipline by examining the numerous professional organizations dedicated to the study of communication. Key organizations include the NCA, National Communication Association, and the regional organizations associated with it: Western States Communication Association, Southern States Communication Association, Central States Communication Association, and Eastern Communication Association. From the NCA site, you can also find state associations. Other major communication organizations include the International Communication Association , World Communication Association and the American Communication Association .
- How competent a communicator are you? You can try to quantify your competence by completing the Communication Competence Scale. Scales look at motivation, knowledge and skill; subscales assess your adaptability, involvement, conversational management and empathy.
- For a change of pace, check out the Happy Fun Communication Land (HFCL) tutorial. Discover more about various aspects of communication and find additional resources for your study of communication.
- Want to see a mega-communication site? Click on http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/. Hosted at the University of Wales, UK, this extensive site devotes itself to media and communication studies. You'll find extensive links to other communication sites, too.
- As you learn about new communication media, it is important to learn the etiquette of each medium. You will find insightful etiquette tips for using e-mail appropriately and effectively at this site.
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2. Perception, the Self, and Communication
- You might also enjoy the frequently updated "Monthly Tips" offered at this site: http://www.bbraham.com/html/self-esteem.html Tips are often related to self-concept issues.
- If you were fascinated by the perceptual concepts introduced in this chapter take a look at http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/sen_tut.html, where you'll find perceptual theories presented in a tutorial designed for psychology classes.
- A superb career planning web site is maintained by Career Services, University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada . You'll find excellent resources for getting to know yourself better as you plan for a career.
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3. Language
- For an interesting look at regional language variations, check the American Slanguages page You can find your city (or one near you) and foreign cities, too.
- For upgrading your skills in using and understanding the English language, tour the site Word Play. Have fun with the links to more than 25 sites of acronyms, homonyms, anagrams, cliches, oxymorons, and rhyming words.
- You'll find this article on the search for gender-free language interesting and informative.
- Ebonics has been at the center of controversy lately. Read up on the topic here. Read the Oakland School Board's original and amended resolutions, as well as the resolution on the Oakland decision written by the Linguistic Society of America.
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4. Listening
- For current newsletters and research papers on listening, visit the International Listening Association's site. Here's a hint: Click on Listening Resources, then check the Convention Paper Resource Center. You'll find the most recent research on listening.
- Listening isn't always easy. Find out about some of the resources available for the hard-of-hearing here There are links to resources for deafness and hard-of-hearing students.
- You can enhance your knowledge of sign language by visiting the Animated American Sign Language page. Here you can learn to sign your name and create sentences, discover the differences between Deaf Culture and deafness, and brush up on techniques for communicating with the hearing impaired.
- Look at http://www.stresscure.com/relation/7keys.html for an interesting article, "7 Keys to Listening."
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5. Nonverbal Communication
- Looking for a way to start your study of nonverbal communication? Look no further than the Nonverbal Communication Research Page. You'll find more information than you can imagine about news, upcoming events, people who research nonverbal communication, organizations, publications, and much more.
- To discover the most recent research in nonverbal communication, peruse the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. Look for your favorite nonverbal topics.
- One of the most extensive bibliographies of nonverbal research articles is at http://www.uamont.edu/facultyweb/roiger/
biblio/nonverb.html. You'll find well over 100 articles there. You can find an equally extensive bibliography on a related topic, deception, at http://www.uamont.edu/facultyweb/
roiger/biblio/decept.html.
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6. Understanding Interpersonal Relationships
- As you read Chapter Six, you may wonder how to measure your disclosure and feedback. Score yourself on this self-disclosure instrument and see what you learn about yourself.
- From the National Communication Association site, use the search tool to search for the most recent convention papers on relationships. Try using search terms like self-disclosure, intimacy, and relationships or more specific relationships (parent, couple).
- Want to know more about relationships at work? Read the philosophy of Fast Company and use their Web site to search the current issue and archives of their magazine. You will find contemporary views on working relationships in today's organizations and you can use either a key word or natural language search.
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7. Improving Interpersonal Relationships
- Interested in a particular aspect of conflict in relationships? You can find a myriad of articles related to almost every manner of conflict and communication at the Center of Communication Studies, a subsite of the American Communication Association.
- If you are considering teaching as a career, you will find a valuable resource on conflict in schools and basic conflict resolution strategy at http://para.unl.edu/ServedDocuments/
Communication/lesson5.html, a site designed for paraeducators (teacher assistants) maintained by the Barkley Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. - Do you enjoy proverbs? You can see how your reaction to various proverbs relates to your conflict resolution style(s) by using the self-scoring exercise at http://www.uamont.edu/facultyweb/roiger/
write/conflict.html.
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8. The Nature of Groups
- If you're interested in a more in-depth picture of the impact of CMC on groups, go to http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1995/
mar/jones.html and read Steve Jones' article "Computer-Mediated Communication and Community." This is actually the opening chapter from the book CvberSocietv: Computer-Mediated Communication and Community. - Discover more about the consequences of technology on teams by reading "A Project Management Approach to Online Communication: Training Virtual Teams Using Desktop Video Conferencing Technology" by Brian Hoyt. This article, found at http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1998/jun/hoyt.html, advocates learning from strong online relationships and maximizing distance (computer) tools that make teams stronger.
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9. Solving Problems in Groups
- To peruse the titles of over 50 articles on focus groups (the most recent available in full text) visit http://www.groupsplus.com/articles.htm.
- Working together in a group may not be easy, but if you want to improve your group's ability to work together (and even present together) try following the guidelines at http://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/html/
groupcomm.html and you'll be a step ahead of the rest. - For additional information on group collaboration on the Internet, look at http://www.faughnan.com/sgc/intro.html. See the "Link Collections and Resources" site for even more information.
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10. Choosing and Developing a Topic
- You will find one of the most comprehensive sites to assist you in creating your speeches at the Virtual Presentation Assistant sponsored by the University of Kansas. You can seek and find useful hints in selecting a purpose and a topic, analyzing the audience, gathering support, and presenting your speech.
- For links to sources of news from Reuters to CNN and from the New York Times to ABC Radio News, try The Newsroom. You can also find information about each day in history, a word of the day, or link to various government sites for information.
- For help with exploring topics and looking for support, you will find these sites helpful: Information Please
My Virtual Reference Desk
Reference Shelf
From here, you can check newspapers and magazines for current topics. Search engines helpful at this stage include Hotbot (http://www.hotbot.com) and Yahoo! - Still looking for ideas for a topic? Browse the titles of over 1400 e-zines (magazines on-line) listed at http://www.e-zine-list.com/.
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11. Organization and Support
- If you use Web sites as sources of support for your speech, be sure that you evaluate them carefully. The Evaluating Web Resources page is from Lake Forest College and supplies remarkable links to both good and bad examples of authority, objectivity, accuracy, coverage, and currency.
- Want some help with outlining? You will find a clear and concise guide to outlining for speeches along with additional solid advice and checklists to evaluate your support materials at Ron St. John's Public Speakers page.
- To use and understand the use of statistics in research, learn from http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html. This site is an online textbook and will answer questions about the statistics you find in your research.
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12. Presenting Your Message
- A contemporary article to help you face fears of public speaking is found here
- From this remarkable site, Presentation Technology Sites on the Web, you will find Web sites that present hardware and software useful for presentations, information on using these tools, and more articles on the topic.
- You will find numerous helpful speaking tips at the site for LJL Seminars. For instance, using the letters from the word, "audience" you can remember basic steps to conduct an audience analysis. At the same site, you'll find "Five Ways to Make Your Body Speak." Venture through this site to find advice for dynamic delivery, technology in presentations, and much more.
- When it comes to public speaking, Toastmasters is one of the most respected organizations in the world. Visit their Web site for a comprehensive look at the Toastmasters program to improve speaking and leadership skills. Be sure to learn from their "Speaking Tips."
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13. Informative Speaking
- Looking for quotations that are motivational and inspirational? Check out Motivational Quotes.
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14. Persuasive Speaking
- From Southwest Missouri State University comes this site of supplemental items for their basic speech course. You'll find recent speeches to analyze and samples of student work to guide you.
- You can hear and see some of the most famous speeches in the world at World's Greatest Speeches. Look for the persuasive techniques of these speakers.
- Look at Stephen's Guide to the Logical Fallacies for the name, definition, and examples of various fallacies.
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