This paper offers a systematic review that follows the PRISMA protocol; its aim is to offer a compendium of intervention programs and strategies that have been developed in the university context for promoting oral competencies and public speaking skills. After a blind pair selection process, 23 studies were included, analyzed in depth, and their…

Despite the significant amount of research published regarding the effect of service-learning on attitudinal measures such as empathy and civic engagement, little is known about how service-learning influences direct student learning outcomes. This pilot study employed a repeated measures, quasi-experimental design with a comparison group to…

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of African American males who participated in mentoring and how doing so aided their persistence and academic success in higher education. The research questions explored the participants' lived experiences and how they contributed to their college experience. The sample…

English speaking is a challenging learning objective for EFL (English as Foreign Language) learners owing to the lack of practicing environments. In this study, Interactive Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (ISVVR) was adopted as the learning mode to provide realistic sociocultural contexts for English speaking. In addition, an experiment was…

Given the opportunities new technologies afford students and instructors, this mixed methods, longitudinal study examined factors impacting college students' behavioral intentions for adopting virtual reality (VR) headsets and 360° video for public speaking rehearsals. Using the technology acceptance model, quantitative findings suggest that both…

Speaking ability is one of the integral language components in English language acquisition. This ability is a challenging one to master for ESL learners, as it involves several linguistic and nonlinguistic features in presenting ideas and it is frequently associated with anxiety. Public speaking anxiety is a common issue faced by students…

For most students at my university, classroom experience alone was the choice for formally developing speaking skills. My idea was to provide students with recurring authentic audience experience, attending to the audience dimension outlined by Derryberry (1989) as a critical requirement of public speaking pedagogy. Through research, a new idea…

PeerEval is a mobile app created for evaluating student presentations. This paper covers the rationale for creating such an app, the features of the app, and the benefits for both teachers and students. The details and initial findings of ongoing research into the efficacy of PeerEval will be briefly discussed. [For the complete proceedings, see…

In digital era technology is constantly reshaping our future and creates new demands for educators to bridge the gap between old school methodology and digitally-oriented professional landscape. Digital natives, who are flooding our universities at the moment, can't imagine their lives without mobile phones and social networks. The question that…

Situated within the CID (Communication in the Disciplines) theoretical framework that promotes the focus of communication instruction on the oral genre standards of effectiveness, and employing a transdisciplinary approach, the current study explores science students' attitudes and motivation concerning an oral skills development (OSD)…

A unit operations laboratory course was significantly modified to be an open-ended problem-based experience with an emphasis on teamwork and communication skills. Students were surveyed to assess gains in engineering self-efficacy as well as to indicate which course structure components were most beneficial to learning. Students showed significant…

While all Communication Centers support speakers, through consultation, in becoming more confident and competent oral communicators, the staff at one center wondered about the anxiety that speakers bring with them into the consultation. As one would expect, there is public speaking anxiety. With help from staff members who had been recruited from…

In an attempt to meet rising student demand and cost-effectively deliver instruction, colleges and universities are offering more online courses. Despite the increasing growth of the online format, there remains a question of the effectiveness of this instructional delivery method. We evaluated the relative effectiveness of a public speaking…

This study examines whether public speaking and hybrid introductory communication courses contribute to whether students feel connected to one another as a result of taking the course. Results indicate that students develop stronger perceptions of homophily and connected classroom climate over time, and this growth is slightly larger in public…

This article reports the results of an experimental study that investigated the effectiveness of Google Earth and Wiki tools in improving the oral presentation skills of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and boosting their motivation for learning. The participants (n =81) are enrolled in writing classes at two English-medium…