Donald G. Ellis

Perceptions of Communication Behavior Associated with Relationship Terms.

Individuals use a variety of terms to designate the nature of their relationships with others, e.g., friend, lover, pal, etc. Although expectations for certain types of communicative behavior surely accompany the use of these terms, it was not clear what their communicative referents were. The first phase of this study obtained intimacy‐scaled ratings from 100 subjects to 62 relationship terms. Then more than 1,000 subjects ranging in age from 12 to 90 from eight locations across the United States responded to the six relationship words selected (lover, best friend, friend, pal, colleague, acquaintance) in terms of associated communicative behavior. The three factors central to these responses (personalness, synchrony, difficulty) were then used to analyze the relationship terms varied according to the gender, age, and marital status of the subject and the composition of a relationship to a specific other by gender. Among other findings: All age groups perceived increases in both personalized and synchron...

Relational control in two group systems

Using Markov chain and phasic models of group interaction, this study examines and explains relational control interaction patterns in two decision‐making groups and two womens consciousness‐raising groups.

Cross-cultural argument interactions between Israeli-Jews and Palestinians

This study examined the argument patterns that result when Israeli-Jews and Palestinians confront each other during group dialogues. We tested predictions derived from two theories. The first was a theory of cultural communication which predicted that Israeli-Jews and Palestinians would argue in a manner consistent with their respective cultural communication codes known as dugri and musayra respectively. Thus, the Israeli-Jews were expected to be assertive and the Palestinians more accommodating. The second theory was rooted in majority/minority power relations and predicted the opposite. The data were generated from reconciliation-based dialogue groups of Israeli-Jews and Palestinians. Communicative acts were coded according to the Conversational Argument Coding Scheme. Analysis of covariance was used to determine which patterns of argument distinguished the groups, and to identify variance attributable to lag sequences and individuals. The results were supportive of predictions from majority/minority power relations.

Going to Ground: Argument in Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian Encounter Groups

The focus of this article is the management of arguments between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Israelis and Palestinians are 2 groups that have been in severe conflict about land, culture, history, and national rights. In this study we draw on the traditions of conversation analysis, logic, and rhetoric to explain how participants used arguments to manage certain dilemmas and problems. The data were group encounters between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. This analysis highlights the role of symbolic ethnocentrism in argument, the problem of grounded premises that forestall progress, and various argumentative strategies (e.g., question asking, collaborative argument, limited topical space) that serve the rhetorical goals of the participants.

Coherence Patterns in Alzheimer's Discourse:

This article reports on linguistic features and patterns of coherence in two levels (mild and advanced) of discourse produced by Alzheimers patients. It argues and demonstrates that as the disease progresses, the discourse of Alzheimers patients becomes pregrammatical in that it is vocabulary driven and reliant on meaning-based features of discourse rather than grammatically based features. Theories of pregrammatical and grammatical modes of processing and comprehension are discussed and used as an explanatory framework for understanding 4 fundamental coherence requirements. These are grounding, temporal coherence, spatial coherence, and thematic coherence. Data collected from Alzheimers patients are used to illustrate how these types of coherence vary from earlier to later stages of the disease.

The nature of complex communication system

Little is yet known regarding structured or patterned interaction in complex communication systems. Conceptualizing complexity of communication systems as “organized complexity” in time, this study analyzed a variety of communication systems at multiple levels of complexity. Results indicate that the amount of structure contributed by increasing levels of complexity varied from one analytical system to another. The triple interact was the most appropriate level of analysis for two systems, the double interact was appropriate for another, and the act most appropriate for two other systems.

Relational control sequences in sex‐typed and androgynous groups

This study examined the use of relational control modes in sex‐typed groups. The relational communication generated by sex‐type males, sex‐type females, and androgynes working in groups on unstructured tasks was analyzed according to frequency of use and sequential structure. The sex‐type male and the androgynous groups employ significant amounts of relational dominance and organize these into sequences of competitive symmetry. As predicted, the sex‐type female groups use relational submissiveness but do not organize this relational maneuver into predictable patterns.

Syntactic and pragmatic code usage in interpersonal communication

This research identifies and describes the nature of codes in interpersonal relationships. It derives from the linguistic mediation assumption, which holds that language reflects and mediates the social world. However, some intermediary organizing concept linking language to the social world is necessary, and a code is offered as this organizing concept. Three lines of literature are drawn on to establish the theoretical underpinnings for the codes: (a) the evolution of language from a predominantly oral medium to a textual one, (b) the differences between planned and unplanned discourse, and (c) the general developmental pattern of language in children. It is hypothesized that two codes, termed pragmatic and syntactic, should distinguish between relationship definitions of varying types. Results of quantitative and qualitative analyses support this hypothesis. The nature of the codes and their sensitivity to communicative requirements are discussed.

Fixing Communicative Meaning A Coherentist Theory

This article attempts to stabilize the concept of communicative meaning, responding to theorists who maintain that meaning has lost its moorings, that historical and linguistic forces disturb the idea of meaning so thoroughly it is impossible to achieve. In the first section, I argue that the assumption of semantic realism is necessary to any intellectual or disciplinary concept of communication. This section also distinguishes between meaning and significance: Meaning is a purposeful and constrained sharable message, and significance is the relationship of the message to other realms of importance. The second section outlines a coherentist epistemology for meaning by addressing issues in intelligibility, order, and verification. The final section contrasts a message perspective with a code perspective and explains how a theory of communication, not language, can use various considerations pragmatically (e.g., referential rules, intentionality, context) to bound meaning and keep it from slipping into incessant semiosis.

Class, gender, and code on prime‐time television

The research reported here identifies and explains the nature of codes on prime‐time television as they relate to gender and social class. The study draws on the theoretical work of Ellis and Hamilton (1985). We hypothesize that an array of linguistic variables identified with the pragmatic or syntactic code would successfully distinguish characters on the basis of gender and social class as portrayed on selected television programs. Results indicated that middle class television characters employed a syntactic code by utilizing linguistic elaboration and structural complexity. This was especially true for male middle class speakers. Male non‐middle class speakers were linguistically stigmatized. Interestingly, female middle class characters were portrayed in a more stereotypical manner and not afforded full access to the syntactic code.