Perspectives On Human Communication

This book represents early and prominent forays into the subject of human-animal communication from a Communication Studies perspectives, an effort that brings a discipline too long defined by that fallacy of division, human or nonhuman, into conversation with animal studies, biosemiotics, and environmental communication, as well as other recent intellectual and activist movements for reconceptualizing relationships and interactions in the biosphere.

In Communication as...: Perspectives on Theory, editors Gregory J. Shepherd, Jeffrey St. John, and Ted Striphas bring together a collection of 27 essays that explores the wide range of theorizing about communication, cutting across all lines of traditional division in the field. The essays in this text are written by leading scholars in the field of communication theory, with each scholar employing a particular stance or perspective on what communication theory is and how it functions. In essays that are brief, argumentative, and forceful, the scholars propose their perspective as a primary or essential way of viewing communication with decided benefits over other views.

Bringing together top listening scholars from a range of disciplines and real world perspectives, Listening and Human Communication in the 21st Century offers a state-of-the-art overview of what we know and think about listening behavior in the 21st century. Introduces students to the core issues listening theory and practice Includes student friendly features such as editorial introductions to each section and questions for further reflection at the end of each chapter Discussion ranges from historical perspectives to present theory, to teaching and performing listening in the classroom, in health care, and in corporate settings

New Perspectives on (Im)Politeness and Interpersonal Communication gathers eleven studies by prominent scholars, which explore issues related to (im)politeness in human communication. The study of linguistic (im)politeness is undoubtedly one of the central concerns in the field of pragmatics, as attested to by the numerous conferences and journals currently dedicated to the topic, the various theoretical models and approaches developed or developing so far, and the seemingly endless list of insightful and inspiring empirical studies tackling the topic from a wide variety of angles. This volume contributes to the subfield of social pragmatics by putting together works that review the state of the art of (im)politeness studies, analysing (im)politeness in media contexts like the Internet or dubbed films and other contexts, looking into the effects and consequences of some speech acts for social interaction, drawing implications for language teaching, and approaching some of the linguistic mechanisms which help to communicate (im)politeness. Resulting from the efforts made by specialists in the field, the chapters in this volume offer additional evidence that examining the complexity of interpersonal communication from different standpoints can benefit a more complete understanding of social interaction in general. Their scope and practical applications demonstrate the transversality and versatility of interpersonal communication. The editors hope that these works will retain scholars’ interest and attention for some time to come and spark off further research.

What it means to be a self - and a self communicating and being in a particular culture - are key issues interwoven throughout Min-Sun Kim's impressive text, Non-Western Perspectives on Human Communication. Going beyond cultural descriptions or instructions on adapting to specific cultures, the author interrogates the very core assumptions underlying the study of human communication and challenges longstanding individualistic, Western models on which much intercultural research is based. Kim proposes a non-western way of conceptualizing identity, or the "self" - the cornerstone of cultural research -- illuminating how traditional western and non-western views can be blended into a broader, more realistic understanding of cultures and communication. Grounding her work in a thorough knowledge of the literature, she challenges students and researchers alike to reexamine their approach to intercultural study.