Public speaking often imposes a nerve-wracking atmosphere in the L2 classrooms. Consequently, an alternative to the anxiety-arousing activity by using advanced technology for pedagogy is urgent. Prior publications reported the use of virtual reality (VR) for training public speaking and alleviating students' public speaking anxiety (PSA). However,…

The doctoral defence is the oral examination of the doctoral thesis. While it is a major milestone for doctoral candidates, this event is often shrouded in mystery. In this article, I explore the doctoral defence from an international perspective. I have studied the format of the defence based on written testimonies as well as the literature on…

The doctoral defense is an important step in the doctoral journey and an essential requirement for obtaining a doctoral degree. Past research on the doctoral defense has focused solely on national practices. In this work, I investigate the potential link between the doctoral defense format based on its major and minor elements and the perception…

Just as we can't expect actors trained primarily for the stage to perform the same way in films, conventional Public Speaking (PS) must adapted to digital environments. This shift emphasizes the need to treat Digital Oratory (DO) as a separate, skill-based discipline. Our research aims to examine DO instruction in English as a Foreign Language…

Oral communication skills are essential for engineers today and, as they are included in accreditation criteria of educational programmes, their teaching and evaluation deserve attention. However, concrete aspects as to what should be taught and evaluated in relation to oral communication skills have not been sufficiently established. In this…

It seems to happen every day. A meeting is called to outline a new strategy or sales plan. Down go the lights and up goes the PowerPoint. Strange phrases appear--"unlocking shareholder value," "technology-focused innovation," "maximizing utility." Lists of numbers come and go. Bullet point by bullet point, the…

Faced with a racialized political crisis that threatened to derail his campaign to become the first African American president of the United States, Barack Obama delivered a speech on race titled "A More Perfect Union." He begins by portraying himself as an embodiment of double consciousness, but then invites his audience to share his…

In this paper, we employ cultural sociology and Braj Kachru's model of World Englishes as theoretical and analytical tools for considering English as a form of capital necessary for widely disseminating research findings from local networks of practice to the greater science education research community. We present a brief analysis of recent…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) requires states and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) to define and determine whether schools are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward the goal of 100 percent academic proficiency. To address tribes' needs for cultural preservation, NCLBA allows tribal groups to waive all…

Analyzes the interaction between nuclear freeze activists and proponents of a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Argues that SDI strengthens Reagan's rhetorical position concerning nuclear weapons policy because it reduces the argumentative ground of the freeze movement by envisioning a defensive weapons system that would nullify nuclear weapons.…

Argues that the use of historical events as rhetorical artifacts has sustained cold war assumptions and attitudes; that rhetorical events provide composites for rhetorical histories which become the basis for argumentative appeals; and that these rhetorical histories continue to permeate American diplomacy in general and arms negotiations in…

When dealing with First Amendment free speech issues in the context of public libraries, courts have merely cited the supposition that constitutional public forum analysis leads to the conclusion that the public library is a limited public forum for the purposes of First Amendment analysis. By focusing narrowly on the issue of whether Internet…

Examines the use of evidence in arms negotiations. Demonstrates how evidence is systematically processed to match prior beliefs. Shows public debate to be an exercise not likely to contribute much to new arms settlements. (MS)

This volume contains papers submitted to the 12th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Sofia and Nessebar, Bulgaria, in June 2014, and papers submitted to the 2nd International Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre 'Scientific Cooperation,' Rostov-on-Don,…