Composition teachers today are aware of the practice of differentiating between written and spoken language. The "basic writing" student often views written language as a nearly new language altogether. Therefore, it is increasingly important to recognize and codify not merely the disparity between speech and writing but also the…

This study explores the linguistic abilities and political insights of African Americans in the inner city, focusing on the women and children of one particular neighborhood. Many of the research conversations were conducted with 12 members of 2 families. Based on more than 3 years of fieldwork, the book presents the oral, literate, and analytical…

A participatory model of public relations proposed by Dean Kruckeberg and Kenneth Starck would seek not to serve a public but to build a sense of community. In this model the advocacy focus of the publicity model is dropped and there is a movement toward relationships rather than selling products and services. Leaving behind the journalistic…

A survey assessed the current status of the business and professional communication course. A questionnaire was completed by faculty members at 39 Texas colleges and universities. Results indicated that 66% of the institutions surveyed offer a course in business and professional communication (with titles such as Business Speech, Oral…

In response to demographic changes among entering college students, more and more colleges are offering freshman orientation courses that have come to be known as "College 101." At Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, a course called COL 101 was begun in 1985. A survey of teachers of the course investigated speech or oral…

Noting that an "at risk" population in American higher education is often overlooked, this paper investigates the ABD (all but dissertation) phenomenon, analyzing efficiency, educational excellence, and equity issues. The paper discusses barriers to completion of the dissertation, as well as inequities found in the education of female…

Forced discipline refers to the specific procedures, routines, and standards required for carrying out course-related tasks. This paper discusses various facets of discipline, then looks at how 160 students in a basic speech-communication course respond to forced discipline. The paper next looks at how 30 basic-course directors define forced…

This study was designed to examine how an intercultural communication course in speech communication affects students' responses to intercultural communication. It was hypothesized that students would show significant differences after participating in the course. Students from an intercultural communication and research methods course were used…

This booklet presents statements of outcomes and competencies in basic entry college level communication courses for both community colleges and 4-year colleges in the state of Illinois. The booklet's first section describes the origins of the project. The aims were to clarify and articulate statewide what was being taught under what headings. The…

This volume is intended to help speakers of the Hmong language express their health problems to English-speaking medical personnel and social workers, and to help those English speakers understand them. In addition to the introduction, the book contains chapters dealing with the following: (1) a discussion of the language itself, with examples;…

Through personal reminiscences, the author offers a retrospective view of the first fifty years of the activities of the Central States Speech Association. Reflecting on past papers and convention programs, the author calls attention to the proliferation and diversification of interests in speech communication's instructional and investigative…

One approach to field theory in argumentation begins with a description of argumentation and, by identifying similarities or regularities in discursive practice, attempts to induce the nature and characteristics of a field. The controversy surrounding the use of Laetrile, a proposed cancer treatment, provides an example of this approach. Assuming…

To examine the current status of speech and theatre departments in small (1000 to 3000 students) U.S. liberal arts colleges, 24 colleges in the Midwest and Great Lakes areas were surveyed. The survey revealed that the colleges organized speech and theatre in one of four ways; they either (1) combined departments, (2) split the two into separate…

In the first of two experiments designed to determine whether the use of humor would enhance audience reactions to a speaker without damaging that speaker's ethos (character and authoritativeness), 98 university students were randomly assigned to read one of four versions of the speech, "Why I Chose Psychology." The subjects read…

Developed as part of a program designed to examine why so few graduates of doctoral programs demonstrate their scholarship through the media of books and refereed publications, the four papers in this series address the question of publication. The first paper explains why one should publish, explores differences between graduate term papers and…