Comments on a set of five analyses of the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine. Discusses how the five articles take a first step toward resolving a critical issue of learning theory: understanding the boundary between common sense and technical forms of reasoning, action, and discourse; and by what means students grow from…

Contributes to rhetorical theory and to an understanding of social movements and countermovements by examining the journal of a Massachusetts anti-suffrage organization. Finds that it was principally reactive, that its basic themes illustrated the ideology of the anti-suffrage movement, and that this ideology was reflected in the organizational…

Surveys faculty teaching an introductory mass communication course regarding how new media are integrated into the course. Discusses how faculty talk about new media in their course, the use of new media in the course, integration of new media, and its perceived influence on student learning and pedagogy. (SR)

Explores research on development of integrated speech-gesture system from its origins during the one-word period of language learning through childhood. Concludes that, although there may be a brief period prior to onset of two-word speech during which gesture and speech are not well integrated, ability to convey and interpret speech and gestures…

Describes a 14-year program of research, the focus of which was the capacity of normal infants to incorporate gestural symbols into their earliest expressive vocabularies. Explores the effects of such gesturing on vocal language development, the theoretical implications for researchers, and the practical applications for parents. (Author/EV)

Undergraduate students were asked to rank the oral communication skills identified by S. Wilmington (1992) as necessary for teachers. Responses from 296 students emphasized the importance of message and listening aspects over physical aspects. Findings are compared with those of the administrators in the Wilmington study. (SLD)

Describes how the authors use a broad-based, client-centered model to teach an introductory course in public relations, integrating writing assignments for "clients" into course topics, which include history, ethics, theory, research, program planning, publicity, crisis management, and evaluation methods. Discusses course objectives, and notes…

Two groups of adolescents with language impairment (n=87) were compared with 20 adolescents with dyslexia, 19 aged-matched controls, and 18 younger typical children. Adolescents with dyslexia only performed as well as those with persistent oral language impairments and younger controls in reading and spelling, however, their reading comprehension…

Notes that regular sections of public speaking courses may have ESL students enrolled. Outlines recommended assessment and instructional strategies including four assessment steps and three groups of instructional strategies. Discusses perceptions of the two ESL student participants regarding the effectiveness of these strategies. Discusses four…

This article describes efforts to develop measurement instruments that can be used to evaluate outcomes of a variety of stuttering treatment approaches by measuring changes in speakers' affective, behavioral, and cognitive reactions to stuttering, effects of stuttering on functional communication abilities, and the impact of stuttering on quality…

Analyzes the speech of a German-French bilingual boy and observes two major developmental phases: (1) one characterized by object drop similar to that seen in Chinese; and (2) one characterized by the acquisition of the object clitic paradigm and a shift to an adult-like morphological licensing mechanism. (84 references) (Author/CK)

Investigates the nature of input available to learners in the institutional setting of the academic advising session. Results indicate that evidence for the realization of speech acts, positive evidence from peers and status unequals, the effect of stereotypes, and limitations of a learner's pragmatic and grammatical competence are influential…

Examined possibility that increased speech rate affects persuasion either by acting as an agreement cue or through impact on message processing. Fast speech inhibited participants' tendency to differentially agree with strong versus weak message arguments under both moderate and high relevance. However, fast speech was associated with increased…

Surveys high school English teachers in California. Finds that in many areas English teachers' classroom practices do not conform to the integration curriculum guidelines issued by the state. Finds no systematic trend for teachers with an oral communication background to be integrating the language arts more than teachers without this training.…

Uses data from 30 focus groups from a qualitative study of middle school students' experiences of race to show two distinctive types of conversations about race in a multiracial context: (1) "bridging talk" that builds unity and (2) discourse that creates borders and conflict. A third form, "democratic conversations," promoted…