Word recognition should not be separated from obtaining word meaning or comprehension. The first task of the teacher is to see that the child can handle spoken words adequately. Word mastery begins with learning basic labelling and categorization skills through experience with concrete objects; proceeds to learning words for actions,…

This book is a summary of the reports received from the various countries which participated in a conference on native language learning and teaching. The reports are based on questionnaires sent out by the Unesco Institute for Education prior to the meeting. Chapters include a general review of the pre-conference reports, extracts from one of the…

Eight articles about oral language education for preschool children are presented. They are: (1) a point of view on oral language education--"Suggestions from Studies of Early Language Acquisition,""Language Programs for Young Children: Notes from England and Wales," and "The Issue of Structure," by Courtney Cazden; (2) suggestions for curriculum…

This study attempts to investigate the nature of speech types and to arrive at hypotheses for a theory of rhetorical genres. The investigation tries inductively to answer the question: To what extent do recurrent rhetorical patterns suggest groupings of speeches on the basis of presuppositions philosophically shared between speakers and listeners?…

The basic goal of the speech department at Evanston Township High School is to provide opportunities for each student to develop his innate talents and creativity and to develop means by which he may effectively communicate. The department offers twelve courses in the areas of speech communication, oral interpretation, radio-television, and…

Conversation reminds us that we are not alone, that shared language is the opportunity to try on our many masks to see how many of them we can do without. The variety of pleasures accrued from conversation--"layers of pleasure"--deepen only as they move away from the individual orbits into the circle of mutual experience. When conversation is…

The purpose of this study was to develop an evaluation instrument to assess young children's language communication skills. Two parallel sets of Language Communication Skills Tasks (LCST) were developed. Each task was developed to measure the effectiveness of the child's communication skills as both a speaker and listener. The subjects were 112…

The physical and psychological difficulties which accompany grief resulting from another's death are described, and the intrapersonal and interpersonal communication behaviors exhibited by bereaved individuals are outlined. The role of intrapersonal communication--the mourner communicating with himself--and interpersonal communication--the mourner…

In order to obtain information about speech programs in two-year colleges with two or fewer full-time speech communication faculty, a questionnaire survey was conducted in October 1976. Usable responses were obtained from 84 two-year institutions, a 56% response. Data are presented indicating the numbers and proportions of full-time and part-time…

A change in the focus of the speech communication program at Oklahoma State University (OSU) resulted from recognition during the late 1960s that the only growth potential for the speech communication field was in preparing students for work in nonacademic settings. This paper presents the current status of the program at OSU and discusses the…

The Message Measurement Inventory was designed to determine the dimensions which listeners consider when they judge a message. This paper outlines the development of the inventory and describes some of the first studies using it. In addition, the paper discusses tests of the validity, reliability, and precision of the scales and scaling procedures…

This paper attempts to distill John Dewey's theory of poetic compression and suggests its possible application as a technique that the performer can use to confront poetic language. Specifically, Dewey's discussions of modes of interaction in art and of the expanding and contracting character of language are used to illuminate the language of the…

Vocalizing and nonvocalizing pairs and individuals solved four three-attribute conjunctive problems. In terms of overall effectiveness, vocalizing pairs were superior; individuals vocalizing to a confederate, individuals vocalizing to the experimenter, and nonvocalizing individuals were intermediate, in that order; and nonvocalizing pairs were…

Too many teachers have misguided ideas about the principles of the oral approach to teaching EFL. They are either too sure of themselves and of the theory and become complacent, or their confidence is shaken by the failure of a technique they thought to be infallible. (SCC)

This article discusses problems involved in teaching reading to students of Chinese, stressing the fact that reading instruction should be given as much attention as speaking skills. (CLK)