An instructional strategy, designed for any basic semester speech and/or communication course, helps students improve their informational interviewing skills. For the strategy to work smoothly, the following conditions should be met: an introductory required speech communication course; a predetermined and uniformly used amount of course content…

The field of communication seems to ignore how religious commitment informs communication practices. According to the research of B. A. Kosmin and S. P. Lachman, religion "counts in American society." Still, a survey of publications showed that very few scholars consider religion an important topic for communication research. Over the…

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…

The interview is a special case of interpersonal communication. It is a communication event with a serious and predetermined purpose with the basic mode of communication being the asking and answering of questions. People are engaged in interviews throughout their lives from the employment setting to the counseling setting. This annotated…

This paper describes a faculty-designed program evaluation procedure established at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, focusing on the Communication Department. The assessment potential of this process is examined and, following an explication of the process itself and the Program Evaluation Committee (PEC) Report, the five elements…

The nature of human interaction, particularly within the context of family, is necessarily complex due to the multitude of characteristics which influence the individual's intention toward the other, as well as the characteristics and effects of interaction as a function of the co-construction of meaning between interactants. This paper delineates…

Some tentative connections can be made between 20th-century cultural and rhetorical reception of Isocrates' writing and selected issues in historical literacy. Specifically, two literacy scholars, David Bleich and Brian Street, the former a humanist and the latter an anthropologist, can be read concerning some issues in literacy as applied to…

This book unites speech act theory and conversation analysis to advance a theory of conversational competence, called the Dynamic Speech Act Theory (DSAT). In contrast to traditional speech act theory that focuses almost exclusively on intuitive assessments of isolated, constructed examples, this theory is predicated on the assumption that speech…

The reduction of communication "fundamentals" to depoliticized, atheoretical skills in public speaking contradicts recent challenges to rhetoric, such as critical rhetoric, aesthetic rhetoric, and ritual communication. Consequently, teaching in the basic course and university research contradict each other, presenting an image of a…

This book presents essays, letters to the editor, poems, and a book review on the topic of "E-Prime," a variant of the English language that eliminates the verbs of the "to be" family. The book reprints two symposia on E-Prime, previously published in the journal "ETC: A Review of General Semantics." Some of the other…

The speech communication unit of the Department of Communications at the University of South Carolina at Aiken uses an exit interview to obtain students' evaluations of their educational experiences, to assess students' understanding of core concepts, and to evaluate the quality of students' communication skills. The three-member speech…

This paper discusses the different types of presentations employed in various forms of impromptu and limited preparation speaking assignments in public speaking, interpersonal communication, and argumentation instruction. It also highlights the benefits associated with each activity, for example, improved thinking skills. The paper's presentations…

From Henry Giroux's perspective in his book "Border Crossings," all education ought to address some of the most difficult issues of contemporary rhetorical theory. Thus, the basic course in rhetoric is in a unique position to take the helm in critical pedagogy. The cutting edge of rhetorical theory responds to, contests, and incorporates…

Calling for redoubled emphasis on the performative and political dimensions of rhetorical study, some scholars recommend an "activist turn" in rhetorical criticism. In the context of the study of social movements, an engaged and active stance can enable critics to become direct participants in the field of social action. The promise of a…

This paper presents 10 units in an introductory oral communication course which utilize instructional techniques necessary for student success in attaining 15 course objectives. Each unit consists of a goal statement and sections on objectives, content description, enabling activities, and instructional resources. The time frame for instruction…