Describes results of surveys of secondary school speech curricula, teacher preparation, and experience in 15 states. Major focus of speech programs continues to be public speaking; theater continues to be the most frequent extracurricular offering. (PD)

Discusses the role of a "basic course director" who oversees the consistency among multiple sections of the same course. Surveys communications departments at representative midwestern universities concerning the methods and functions of such a director of introductory courses. (HB)

Rhetorical criticism and the way it is taught has evolved considerably over the past 30 years. In the 1950s, virtually all instructors used the same textbook and the "effect" model of teaching was used universally. White males were virtually the only speakers studied, and the classical tradition held complete dominion. A historical…

Studies indicate that there is a general lack of availability and use of women's speeches in college speech curricula. By incorporating more women's speeches as models, instructors of the basic course in speech can present a more complete picture of American public speaking while also encouraging women in these classes to feel less muted in their…

Observing that speech communication, by whatever term it is called, is now a popular major among the traditional liberal arts, this paper proposes an essential speech communication curriculum for the small, comprehensive college. The first part of the paper presents a rationale for the curriculum by exploring how the curriculum reflects (1) its…

A major decision confronting the basic communication course director involves the degree of instructional freedom to grant teaching assistants in regard to lecture/presentational materials, readings, written assignments, examinations, and grading procedures. In making these decisions, certain philosophical and pragmatic implications of possible…

The first stage of a three-stage speech placement test that can be used by individual campuses of the University of Wisconsin is discussed in this paper. The following applications of this speech theory test are described first: to exempt students from the basic communication course, to place students in an appropriate communication course, or to…

For an academic department to successfully compete for resources today, it must keep its enrollments up by actively marketing its courses. The "minimal marketing" strategy used in the past, where departments designed programs and simply waited for students to appear, is no longer effective. At Central Missouri State University the…

The Standards of Learning Objectives for Virginia Public Schools in the areas of theatre arts, oral communication, and journalism explicitly stated in this guide reflect the scope and depth of these elective subjects and identify some appropriate ends for instruction. The guide outlines the program goals, objectives, guidelines, and SOL objectives…

Public relations education is frequently criticized as being misdirected and incapable of imparting necessary job skills. This essay argues that contemporary public relations training overemphasizes print journalism at the expense of managerial skills and social science theory. Further, traditional justifications for journalism-based public…

Drawing from Mortimer J. Adler's "The Paideia Proposal" and from related publications, this paper identifies aspects of the proposal that relate to basic communication instruction. The first part of the paper summarizes "The Paideia Proposal," pointing out the major points in each of its four sections, which concern schooling…

The impact of Mardel Ogilvie's teaching of speech at Queens College (New York) during the 1950s and 1960s can be distilled into three areas: her personality, her impact on the lives of her students, and her contributions to the speech profession. Mardel's warmth was punctuated by her sense of humor, which always de-escalated crises. Her attitude…

A survey of speech teachers. (CH)

This paper describes the use of British union, or parliamentary, debating in a college public-communication course. This debating format, practiced at British universities and used in the British House of Commons, promotes interaction between speaker and audience, emphasizing the effective methods of persuasive discourse that evoke audience…