Human Communication: The Basic Course

Designed for introductory courses in communication, human communication and speech communication, this text surveys the broad field of communication, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, small group and organizational, public, intercultural and mass communication. The book is divided into seven parts, each of which is introduced by a unit titled "Preliminaries", giving readers a firm grasp of research, theory and skills. The sixth edition features new coverage of critical issues, such as sexual harassment (Unit 18), and key topics such as self-concept and self-esteem (Unit 3). A supplementary pamphlet, "The Public Speaking Guide", focuses on the skills of effective public speaking. Interactive pedagogy, helping students master both theory and skills, adds cohesion to the text's presentation.

Human Communication: The Basic Course provides an in-depth look at the concepts and principles that comprise all forms of human communication. With an emphasis on public speaking, interpersonal communication, and small group communication, the text also explores key issues and topics in organizational communication and the mass media. Designed to allow flexibility in teaching approaches, Human Communication: The Basic Course offers instructors a wide range of topics to discuss and apply to real-world experiences.

New and Enduring Features

• Designed to combine theory, research, and skills, “Ask the Researcher” features nationally and internationally known theorists and researchers who respond to a typical question that a student would ask about the practical applications of human communication.
• “Public Speaking Sample Assistant” presents sample speeches and outlines with suggestions for critical analysis. This feature offers both well-constructed and poorly constructed examples of informative and persuasive speeches and outlines to show students specific examples of what to do and what to avoid.
• A separate pamphlet, “Interviewing and Human Communication” (available packaged with the text for no additional charge), covers the principles and skills of informative and employment interviews.
• The photo captions, called “ViewPoints,” offer detailed information providing an opportunity for instructors and students to extend the discussion of communication principles. In keeping with the dual focus of the text, approximately half of the “ViewPoints” are concerned with research and theory and half with skill acquisition.
• Cultural and gender issues are covered in depth in two ways: an entire unit (Unit 3) explains the ways culture and gender influence communication, and integrated coverage throughout the text relate cultural and gender issues to all aspects of human communication.
• Four additional units -Emotional Communication, Criticism in the Public Speaking Classroom, Developing Special Occasion Speeches, and Mass Media-are available on an accompanying CD-ROM (available packaged with the text for no additional charge), enabling instructors to cover topics that are not always offered in other texts.

Praise for Human Communication: The Basic Course

“DeVito incorporates classic, established theory and contemporary research with practical applications and social issues in communication study, making it an excellent text-both for students who are beginning in the discipline, and for students for whom this course will be their only academic exposure to the field.”
Jill Tyler, University of South Dakota

“It is the only text I have ever used where students have said how much they like the materials (without me asking). There is no specific special item they all love-each has something different that appeals to them.”
Cynthia Graham, University of Wisconsin

“Joe DeVito's books are always well conceived and written. His explanations of topics are clear, he uses applicable examples, and in general seems to consider the student readers. This book is no exception.”
Alan Zaremba, Northeastern University