Critical evaluations of "The Art of Speaking, "Building Better Speech, "The New American Speech, "Public Speaking: The Essentials, "Speak Up! "Speech: A High School Course, "The Speech Arts," Speech for All," Speech for Today," Speech in Action," and Speech in American Society". (RD)

Recommends teaching speech students how to plan for, recognize, evaluate, and utilize the listener's response to a persuasive discourse. (SW)

Sketches a perspective of competence and its underlying assumptions. Compares and contrasts this perspective with McCroskey's conceptualization (ERIC ED 203 401). Discusses the implications of a relational competence approach for theory and pedagogy. (PD)

Survey results identified 52 treatment programs which use a variety of formats, treatment methods, and evaluation procedures. The majority of respondents favored more programs of this nature at the college and university level. Arguments opposing the proliferation of special treatment programs were also identified. (PD)

Describes methods for teaching students to converse in a second language, focusing on games and themes. (BK)

Lack of speech training at home and school is creating a nation of oral illiterates who are unable or afraid to express their thoughts verbally. We must demand that the study of speech be central to both elementary and secondary curriculums, taught as a separate subject by qualified instructors. (Author/SJL)

The paper presents a program for increasing spontaneous functional speech to autistic like children. The program, applicable to individual and group settings, emphasizes the use of language skills beyond the classroom. (Author/CL)

Presents guidelines for both effective speech practice and control of public speaking anxiety. (MM)

Examines how visualization compares with placebo procedures in reducing communication apprehension (CA) in public speaking classes. Finds that visualization is an active treatment procedure that reduces CA above and beyond the reduction that can be attributed to the "extra-attention" involved in any treatment process. (MS)

Argues that video can provide effective feedback in performance courses (in speech communication) by creating opportunities for students to take the role of observer, identify and emphasize specific skills, receive feedback simultaneously with performance, and make comparisons. (SR)