Examines how, in the 1920s and 1930s, birth control advertisements (prolific and illegal) conflicted with the arguments for birth-control legalization. Applies M. Bakhtin's grotesque and classical categories and M. Douglas's pollution metaphors to analyze the language birth-control advocates used to distinguish between medical and nonmedical…

Describes a format for assignments that trains students to write short, persuasive essays. Essay topics address how software available in the computing lab can use a computing technique. Points are scored by making multiple concise arguments that answer different aspects of the essay question. (PVD)

Discusses the efficacy of anti-drug public service announcements (PSAs) for preventing drug-related behavior (DRB) among youth. Focuses on persuasive communication and drug prevention and the factors associated with DRB. Claims that the success of any anti-drug PSA will be limited to that scope of behavior targeted for change. (RJM)

Examines the relationship between linguistic plurality and the rationale of advertising decisions. The article presents a simple model of sales to different language groups as a function of the level of advertising in each language, language attitudes, incomes, and an advertising response function. The model is intended as a benchmark, and several…

Describes an algorithm that can be used for the construction of an oral presentation. The article suggests how nonnative English-speaking students can be taught to make their presentations more cohesive and to evaluate their cohesiveness with the help of video recordings. (21 references) (Author/CK)

Examines features of television news, drawing on a series of interviews conducted during the production of an Open University television program. Examines the visual and verbal conventions of news and attempts to highlight how and why news can appear convincing. Those interviewed included British Broadcasting Corporation news practitioners,…

Provides language arts teachers with specific techniques to help content-area teachers get more writing into their classrooms. Suggests that some of these techniques might be helpful to language arts teachers themselves, especially in getting students to think about learning. (TB)

Traces the debate over faculty tenure and academic freedom to a 1915 position statement, and examines six rhetorical techniques used consistently by tenure's critics. Concludes that the tenure debate is really about balance of power between administrators and faculty, and that the case for tenure rests on the belief that the permanent faculty is…

Responds to the article "Social Studies Teacher Educators' Perceptions of Character Education" (Andrew J. Milson). Disagrees strongly with the ideas presented by Milson in his article, stating that the survey discussed is attempting to promote a certain agenda. (CMK)

Responds to Alan Singer in his "Response to Milson on Character Education." States that Singer's account is flawed because his article is based on a misunderstanding of the purpose of the study presented in Milson's original article, "Social Studies Teacher Educators' Perceptions of Character Education." (CMK)

Questions whether morality should not be discussed in schools. Considers claims for the importance of morality by drawing on the work of John Wilson. Argues that the best strategy for public school environments would be to focus on morality in the narrow sense. (CMK)

Shares how posing realistic problems with students provides them with an opportunity to value their own opinion and develop effective arguments on their position. (MG)

Examines issue-learning outcomes in three intra-party political debates during the 1984 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Finds significant viewer learning about the issue positions of each participating candidate, about most issues, and among all categories of viewers. (KEH)

Discusses a variety of software programs which will assist middle school through college teachers in teaching text structure to their students. Notes that these programs represent a departure from traditional programing style--they allow the person who uses information technology to combine the roles of producer and consumer. (RS)

Examines the fifth edition of S. I. Hayakawa's "Language in Action" in terms of original strengths and major content still intact, reorganization of chapters with updated application sections, and new chapters on television advertisement and use of deceptive language. (KEH)