Ronald B. Adler is Professor of Communication Emeritus at Santa Barbara City College. He is coauthor of Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication, Eleventh Edition (OUP, 2009), Looking Out, Looking In (2011), and Communicating at Work: Principles and Practices for Business and the Professions (2011).

George Rodman is a professor in the Department of Television and Radio at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, where he founded the graduate media studies program. He is author of Mass Media in a Changing World, Fourth Edition (2011), Making Sense of Media (2001), and several books on public speaking.

Carrie Cropley Hutchinson is a professor in the Department of Communication at Santa Barbara City College, where she directs the Interpersonal Communication and Business Communication programs. She also teaches Intercultural Communication for the college's study abroad program. Professor Cropley is the author of Interpersonal Communication: Navigating Relationships in a Changing World (2010).

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN COMMUNICATION IS UNDERSTANDINGCHANGE.

For over three decades, this has been the best-selling text for the introduction to human communication course.Understanding Human Communicationis written with one goal in mind: to provide students with the insights and skills to succeed in our changing world. Ronald B. Adler, George Rodman, and new author Carrie Cropley Hutchinson place communication theory within the context of everyday skills and draw from the latest media, culture, and scholarship, creating a distinctive pedagogy that gives students the tools they need to master--and enjoy--this intriguing and relevant subject.

NEW TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION
* New part-opening "Case Studies"present real-life communication challenges on the job, in school, and in personal relationships.
* A brand-new chapter, "The Changing World of Communication,"considers demographic and cultural influences and the ways in which technologies have created both new opportunities and challenges in our modern world.
* This edition presents current research on many new topicsincluding how we perceive strangers differently in mediated and face-to-face communication, how linguistic labels reflect cultural identity, the differences between conflicts online and in person, and the ways in which gender influences styles of conflict.
* New "@ Work" boxesdemonstrate how key concepts presented in the book can be applied in the workplace.
* Part V: Public Communicationhas been streamlined and reorganized to give students a more efficient introduction to public speaking. Synthesizing material from previous editions, the new Chapter 11, "Preliminary Considerations," discusses choosing and developing a topic as well as managing communication apprehension.
* A new Appendix, "Communicating for Career Success,"provides students with practical information on interviewing and networking.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
*Understa

Table of Contents
Pt. 1 Elements of communication
Ch. 1 Human communication : what and why 2
Ch. 2 Perception, the self, and communication 32
Ch. 3 Language 74
Ch. 4 Listening 114
Ch. 5 Nonverbal communication 152
Pt. 2 Interpersonal communication
Ch. 6 Understanding interpersonal relationships 186
Ch. 7 Improving interpersonal relationships 226
Pt. 3 Communication in groups
Ch. 8 The nature of groups 260
Ch. 9 Solving problems in groups 288
Pt. 4 Public communication
Ch. 10 Choosing and developing a topic 326
Ch. 11 Organization and support 352
Ch. 12 Presenting your message 386
Ch. 13 Informative speaking 404
Ch. 14 Persuasive speaking 426