In order to view the field of communication as a practical discipline, this paper examines the debate between linguistic prescriptivism (the belief that standards of correct language exist and can be warranted), and scientific linguistics (which rejects the idea of standards in the name of scientific objectivity). Following an introduction to the…

Focusing on the issue of the training and preparation of the communication specialist in communication consulting, an investigation of the persuasive elements in the client-consulting relationship suggests that more direct focus on consulting as persuasion can lead to more responsible and effective enactment of the role of both consultant and…

A high school speech communication instructor who also coaches the debate team has drawn a number of conclusions regarding concurrent teaching and coaching. First, forensic programs generally take too much time and energy from classroom work, and an inordinate amount of relaxation and "recharge" time. Forensic coaches who teach need…

Divided into three sections, this paper explores semiotic phenomenology as a paradigm for communicology (a translation for the new French "comunicologie" and the "German Kommunikationgemeinschaft," which are used increasingly to suggest a qualitative and human signification as opposed to the quantitative and technological…

The grading system for technical practicums in theatre at California State University, San Bernandino uses an evaluation form completed by each student's practicum supervisor. The evaluation form gives concrete evidence that there are viable criteria for grading practicums, and also helps if a student wishes to challenge his or her grade. Usually…

Noting that the decision to offer special sections or courses for superior communication students is often ignored because such students are not very visible in the traditional classroom, this paper focuses on some of the considerations involved in honors programs and proposes some guidelines for developing them based on extant honors programs and…

The Target: Communication Skills program instituted in the Lincoln, Nebraska, public schools proposes that all students, K-12, in all subject areas be provided with opportunities to develop and improve their communication skills. The program emphasizes four basic skills: speaking, observing, listening, and nonverbal skills. In applying this…

The speech communication discipline is an excellent base for public relations education. Public relations is the communication of information or persuasive messages designed to integrate or adapt social institutions to the needs of people. Common functional categories of public relations activity run through virtually all public relations efforts.…

Undertaken at the request of students and colleagues, and because of the many request for copies of his speeches, this book presents a biography and speech transcripts of Ezra Christian Buehler, long-time professor of speech communication at the University of Kansas. Following the preface, the first section contains a biographical sketch,…

The emergence of the ability to maintain and develop a topic of conversation is examined. The production of a competently structured topic involves utterances that are both propositionally contingent on previous utterances and related to the global concern of the topic. Children under 2 years of age can only product utterances that are…

In the game-like world of competitive tournament debating, fiat power is simply another rule of the game, a way of saying "hypothetically" or "for the sake of argument let us assume this affirmative plan to be implemented." While fiat power is just a way of saying "let's pretend," there are limits to the pretense. For…

Speech education in Arkansas's institutions of higher learning has a long and illustrious history. In l89l, the Arkansas Baptist Association opened Central College for women to students ranging from first grade through college. The curriculum was departmentalized into preparatory, high school, and collegiate levels with a shared faculty for all…

A study explored the effects of both the sales representative's and the target consumer's biological gender upon the persuasive strategy choice of the salesperson. Data from 204 salespeople responding to a 27-item questionnaire were collected over a 6-week period. The results indicate clear differences between men and women sales representatives…

Despite the almost complete lack of research addressing a theoretical understanding of empathy or ways to increase human empathy, empathy is a central component of effective human communication. Seen as a key social science phenomenon, it is viewed, along with power, as an inextricable component of human dynamics, and, in its relationship with…

Recent years have been marked by a decline in the quantity and quality of small group research for four reasons: (1) the experimenter is an integral component of the system he or she is studying and thereby influences the findings, (2) layers of group process defy complete analysis, (3) small group research is reflexive, and (4) much of the…