This article explores genres as recurrent acts of positioning that contribute to associating particular positions with the genre users as social actors. As an illustration, the study investigates the positioning of Chinese university presidents in their published opening convocation speeches. By combining rhetorical move analysis with the…

This activity is designed to help students recognize ableist assumptions in rhetoric and how we evaluate what constitutes a "good" speaker and their ethos. It will highlight how ableism is embedded in social norms, using classroom public-speaking rubrics to do so. Students learn how to identify these ableist assumptions better and…

This essay analyzes the rhetorical framing tactics of a group of disability activists to understand how they use key words, topic shifts, and other framing maneuvers to amplify marginalized voices in public debates. Focusing on a town hall meeting and a legislator update meeting between activists and lawmakers, the author uses "stasis"…

This paper reveals how Joseph Biden creates an image of a president-optimist through rhetorical strategy of positive self-presentation by using language effectively in his inaugural speech. The strategy is realized by two tactics -- positive representation of compatriots and forecasting good future for the USA. Aimed at evoking in the audience…

This essay describes how an honors classroom introduces public speaking and active listening to encourage heroism and social justice among students. Asserting that people often look for a hero in times of crises, the author suggests that honors programs can become safe places where students learn the skills necessary to advocate for those in need…

This best practices article endorses incorporating service-learning into the foundational public speaking course. The article explains connections between service-learning and the rhetorical tradition, highlights pedagogical approaches that would benefit from a service-learning component, and discusses the benefits of service-learning for…

Move analysis is a research tool helping language learners and teachers to study discourse used in authentic contexts and to produce them in communication. The author examined a corpus of 50 TED talks to identify move structures including stages, problem-solution moves and the features of these moves using genre analysis and Hoey's framework for…

Rhetoric plays an important role in helping information technology (IT) professionals communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. By employing rhetorical devices when speaking about technology topics, IT professionals can present logical and convincing arguments, and demonstrate their knowledge and expertise while engaging the audience and…

Courses: Introduction to Rhetoric and Communication, Basic Course, Public Speaking, Classical Rhetoric. Objectives: To re-establish disciplinary commitment to civic education in perilous democratic times through "imitatio."

This study attempts to analyze Bush's second inaugural speech. It aims at investigating the use of linguistic strategies in it. It resorts to two models which are Aristotle's model while the second is that of Atkinson's (1984) to draw the attention towards linguistic strategies. The analysis shows that Bush's second inaugural speech is successful…

Anchored on Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, this study traced and analyzed evidence of "dominance construction" in spoken corpus, wherein the subject corpora are political speeches of Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD). Discourse segments from the speeches were extracted using content analysis meant to isolate those…

Online activism is a space of opportunity for students to encounter social justice issues, explore the possibilities of visual rhetoric, practice persuasive speaking skills, and actively contribute to the momentum of social movements. At the same time, digital activism raises concerns about "slacktivism," limiting the necessary…

When first admitted to Oberlin College, women were expected to attend their rhetoric courses in silence. Not content with an education that did not prepare them for public speaking, some women students collaborated to educate themselves. Their history uncovers feminist and antiracist disruptions to composition and rhetoric that have much to teach…

As a communication educator, the author's goal is to help students examine and understand how communication addresses--or, in this case, fails to address--public problems such as gun violence. Communication concepts can provide insight about America's bewildering debates about gun violence, and in turn, these debates can help illustrate and refine…

The current research is mainly conducted to explore the pragmatic functions of English rhetoric in public speech. To do this, methods of close reading and case studies are adopted. The research first reveals that the boom of public speech programs helps reexamine the art of utterance, during the delivery of which English rhetoric plays an…