The multidisciplinary nature of English language courses prompts teachers and students to pursue meaningful tasks that delve on significant issues in society. One significant project that classes can develop are advocacy presentations that help stimulate awareness and engagement among different stakeholders. This practical paper presents three…

Anxiety has a significant effect on oral communication, particularly when it occurs in the form of a public address. The quality of a public academic speaker's oral presentation may highly be determined by a variety of emotive elements. However, this has received much too little attention in the realm of academic dissertation oral defense…

A large and growing body of research supports the view that the small-group learning structure can be an effective tool to enhance student performance and encourage innovative problem solving. This paper explains in detail how the framework of the popular television reality show Survivor has been adapted to form a vehicle for a college level group…

The article reveals the issue of the conditions for the effective use of multimedia educational presentations for teaching a foreign language in a non-linguistic institution. Particular attention is paid to the analyzed and summarized basic requirements for the development and design of modern multimedia educational presentations in the domestic…

This case study critically evaluates benefits and challenges of a form of assessment included in a final year undergraduate Religious Studies Open University module, which combines a written essay task with a digital audio recording of a short oral presentation. Based on the analysis of student and tutor feedback and sample assignments, this study…

Recruiters seek candidates with certain business skills that are not developed in the typical lecture-based classroom. Instead, active-learning techniques have been shown to be effective in honing these skills. One skill that is particularly important in sales careers is the ability to make a powerful and effective presentation. To help students…

This article, the second of a two-part series, features 13 "My Favorite Assignments" that were introduced at the Association for Business Communication's 82nd annual conference held in Dublin, Ireland, in 2017. The pedagogical innovations include assignments that teach students how to conduct primary research, present their findings,…

In this article, the author describes a project designed to take the dread out of discussion in a first-year interdisciplinary humanities course at Sewanee: The University of the South, a private liberal arts college in Tennessee. The Responsible Intellectual Discussion project, known as RID, was created in conjunction with the college's Eloquence…

The Department of Communication Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is developing a computer package designed to teach and assess aural, visual, and oral communication skills through a multi-media approach with classroom tests, portfolios, and performance measures. Before developing the multi-method approach, the department tried six…

Criticism and evaluation of classroom speeches in communication courses should be centered more on student oriented methods rather than on instructor evaluation alone. One approach is based on the use of seven-point differential scales, whereby students can provide immediate reactions to performances by their classmates. This method is of value to…

The Developmental Speech Sequence Model (DSSM), based on a developmental approach designed to overcome deficiencies in public speaking, offers students guidelines for speech delivery but not at the expense of spontaneity. While some approaches provide step-by-step direction or are more abstract, the DSSM builds developmentally through a series of…

Mastery learning is a systematic approach to instruction in which students are required to attain specified levels of competence. This paper provides a rationale for using mastery learning in the introductory public speaking course and clarifies the differences between traditional and mastery learning approaches by contrasting their assumptions…

Presents a potpourri of classroom techniques used by 28 teachers to develop skills in paragraph composition, public speaking, classroom discussion, the examination of specific literary works, and other language arts activities. (RL)

Asserts that oral presentations of research findings by students are used in higher education. States that advice or techniques for effective speaking seldom are outlined. Provides a five-part strategy for teaching and evaluating oral communication. Includes a presentation evaluation form for assessing student performance. (CFR)

Introduction: Research has shown that students do not like student presentations, yet a case can be made for them. This study seeks to understand the effects that presentations have on students. Method: Within an action research framework, two repeated-measures studies were completed, one with students undertaking assessed presentations the other…