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Essentials of Human Communication: The Basic Course, 11th edition

Published by Pearson (March 29, 2023) © 2024

  • Joseph A. DeVito Hunter College of the City University of New York

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For courses in Introduction to Communication.

An accessible overview of communication that emphasizes real-world applications

Essentials of Human Communication: The Basic Course is a unique blend of author Joseph DeVito's previous comprehensive and brief Introduction to Communication titles. Combining the best of both texts, the 11th Edition is designed to help students achieve competence in interpersonal, group and public communication.

Like its predecessors, the 11th Edition explains the core theories, research and skills of communication, highlighting practical applications in the workplace and beyond. Highlights include fresh coverage of contemporary topics and new sample speeches.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Viewpoints photos with accompanying captions prompt readers to consider a variety of issues, many of which focus on the themes of social media, the workplace and culture.
  • Ethics in Communication features present an ethical issue and prompt readers to respond to a specific related ethical issue.
  • The Public Speaking Sample Assistant in the public speaking chapters provides sample annotated speeches and outlines to assist students in preparing their own speeches.
  • Sample speeches and outlines assist students in preparing and outlining their own speeches.
  • An accessible framework leads students through the material. Tools include learning objectives, summaries of concepts and skills, and key terms.

New and updated features of this title

  • UPDATED: The text includes a range of updated content and coverage of contemporary topics. New topics include lying and nonverbal communication, types of friendship, and social allergens.
  • UPDATED: Several new speeches for analysis and speech excerpts provide fresh, up-to-date examples.
  • UPDATED: In Preview figures provide a quick visual look at upcoming concepts. Many of these are new to the 11th Edition.
  • UPDATED: In a Nutshell tables recap the essential content presented. These have been updated for the 11th Edition.
  • UPDATED: Pearson is dedicated to creating bias-free content that reflects the diversity of all learners. The 11th Edition offers updated language, including inclusive pronoun usage, and relevant diverse examples throughout.

Features of Revel for the 11th Edition

  • NEW: 3 online-only chapters enable instructors using Revel to customize how they present a few key topics. These chapters let instructors assign more in-depth coverage of culture and communication, organizational communication, and speaking on special occasions.
  • UPDATED: Integrated Experiences help readers apply course material to specific situations, thereby improving and perfecting their communication skills. A variety of self-assessment styles are offered, including fill-in-the-blank, short answer and true or false.
  • UPDATED: Videos expound upon and illustrate key topics. Correlating self-checks enable readers to test their understanding immediately after watching.
  • Interactive Cultural Maps highlight cultural differences such as ambiguity tolerance and power distance. Readers can click hotspots for additional information and related images.
  • Choice Points features encourage students to identify and evaluate the communication choices that are available in different contexts. Ethical Choice Points offer interactive short-answer opportunities. Communication Choice Points provide interactive writing opportunities with assessment capability.
  • Interactive figures and tables engage students deeply by enabling them to interact with the information presented.

Part 1: Foundations of Human Communication

  1. The Essentials of Human Communication
  2. Perception of Self and Others
  3. Listening in Human Communication
  4. Verbal Messages
  5. Nonverbal Messages

Part 2: Interpersonal and Small Group Communication

  1. Interpersonal Communication and Conversation
  2. Interpersonal Relationships
  3. Managing Interpersonal Conflict
  4. Small Group Communication
  5. Members and Leaders in Small Group Communication

Part 3: Public Speaking

  1. Public Speaking Preparation (Steps 1 through 6)
  2. Public Speaking Preparation and Delivery (Steps 7 through 10)
  3. The Informative Speech
  4. The Persuasive Speech

About our authors

Joseph A. DeVito received his BA from Hunter College, MA from Temple University, and his PhD from the University of Illinois. After earning his doctorate in speech and linguistics, DeVito returned to teach in the CUNY system, first at his alma mater, Hunter College, and then at Queens College, and then back to Hunter College. During his teaching career, DeVito taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses with a focus on introductory courses. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Hunter College.

At various times, DeVito has served on the editorial boards of Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication Monographs, Communication Education, Communication Quarterly, Journal of Communication and Etc: A Review of General Semantics. He has also served as a consulting editor to the following publishers: Random House, Harper & Row, Waveland Press and HarperCollins. He was an ETS coordinator of the committee to construct the DANTES Public Speaking Test for the Educational Testing Service as well. A prolific author, DeVito has written or edited more than 30 books in the field of communication, including The Interpersonal Communication Book, Human Communication: The Basic Course, Essential Elements of Public Speaking, Interpersonal Messages and Essentials of Human Communication, all published by Pearson. A number of his textbooks have been translated into a variety of languages including Chinese, Indonesian, French, Greek and Czech.

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Revel

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