This paper describes strategies used by novice biology teachers to exert sociolinguistic control over conversations when teaching unfamiliar subject-matter content. These discourse control strategies were identified in a year-long study of teacher subject-matter knowledge and its effects on teaching, and are illustrated in three lessons taught by…

Argues that secondary communication courses are a likely and promising forum for peace education. Offers ideas for content development. (PD)

Proposes possible content boundaries for intercultural communication courses and discusses specific teaching methods. (PD)

This paper proposes a high school curriculum that incorporates education in oral communication as an essential graduation skill--a skill taught systematically by trained instructors in a communication course. The paper points out, however, that other innovative arrangements are possible as long as the instruction is systematic; follows…

Discusses the results of interviews and questionnaires on the oral communication skills needed by research scientists. Proposes an oral communication course for science majors and generally summarizes its content. (JMF)

The history of the basic course in speech communication in college shows that it has maintained a continued emphasis on public speaking and that change has been slow. A review of the literature revealed that the course has been typically viewed as a public speaking course taught in self-contained sections with one instructor responsible for…

Sources specifically designed for use in teaching a course on sex roles and communication have been compiled to provide suggested materials, class exercises, and assignments for units on awareness, assessment, and action. The awareness exercises are designed to give students insights into the ways in which sex-role identity affects self-concepts,…

Describes an "exit" course, Senior Seminar in Communicative Theories, developed for students majoring in Speech Communication at George Mason University. Outlines the evolution of this course and the case for adding such a course to speech communication curricula. (KEH)

Noting the increased attention being given to the communication needs of specific professional groups, this paper concentrates upon the needs of engineers and engineering students. The first section of the paper provides a general discussion of the communication needs of practicing engineers and technicians and of the ways in which these needs…

Educators in speech communication are confronted with determining what criteria comprise "disciplinary breadth" in basic courses. Such a course ought to teach students about the disciplinary perspective and process, promote active learning, emphasize methods of thinking characteristic of the discipline, and encourage life-long learning.…

Recent surveys have shown that the basic speech communication course, designed to introduce students to the discipline and to meet their basic proficiency needs, is alive and growing rapidly. While this is generally good news, a more critical examination reveals a variety of issues in need of resolution. A significant amount of course time is…

Most speech communication curricula have room for only three organizational courses: (1) business and professional speech communication (B and P), usually offered to freshmen and sophomores; (2) an introduction to organizational communication, presented to sophomores and upper-class students; and (3) a seminar in organizational communication, for…

The Department of Communication at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks restructured its major requirements to prepare majors for a multicultural world. After constructing a new mission statement, the faculty reviewed the requirements for its majors to see how much the current major requirements supported the mission. Four conclusions were reached.…

This paper provides guidelines for the development of three distinct approaches to teaching interpersonal communication: a humanistic approach, a skills-oriented approach, and a business-oriented approach. For each approach, it describes assumptions underlying the development of curriculum, suggests questions for use in the generation of study…