Suggests that the verbal score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test is not an adequate criterion for assigning students to remedial communication instruction. Concludes that the communication skills deficit model demonstrates the capacity for consistent measurement of communication skills if evaluators are trained to use the same decision-making…

Describes the limitations of public speaking courses and claims current instruction is culturally ethnocentric and stresses form. Maintains that students are evaluated by their ability to particularize a speech category. Shows students have unequal opportunities for success in such classes and may not develop competencies that generalize to a…

This paper develops a rhetorically centered model of community literacy in the theoretical and practical context of local publics--those spaces where ordinary people develop public voices to engage in intercultural inquiry and deliberation. Drawing on fifteen years of action research in the Community Literacy Center and beyond, the authors…

The quality of the Annual Conference of the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) was evaluated through surveys of participants. Conference attendees' ratings of the presenters, the facility, and the inservice training was studied for subgroups based on position, gender, age, and experience. Four sets of data were collected relating…

The use of videotape technology is an effective pedagogical tool with which to improve the overall performance of students enrolled in sections of basic public speaking. These uses and benefits in the classroom include: (1) practice feedback; (2) identification of style inhibitors; (3) analysis of structural-content issues; (4) suggestions for…

When colleges were first organized in what would later become the United States, they were far different from those in existence today. Students matriculated, enrolled, and graduated in lock step through a prescribed 4-year curriculum. Colleges functioned not so much to encourage intellectual development as to foster moral piety. Topics and sides…

In higher education, there has been a return to the education of the student as the focal point instead of traditional research, with the emphasis on improving student learning by developing outcome goals and being able to assess them effectively. Some guidelines for a basic framework, such as those developed for a basic public speaking course at…

A study determined the viability and effectiveness of the Computerized Competent Speaker Evaluation System. A total of 659 comments made by undergraduate students about the paper version of the Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form were subjected to two Q sorts. The 635 comments that emerged were incorporated into the evaluation system during…

This study investigated changes in the speech patterns of Japanese college students in an intensive English language course when using a microphone, focusing in part on possible links to "karaoke" activities common in Japan, in which participants sing along with music using a microphone. The researcher first observed several karaoke…

Of interest to curriculum developers, the materials in this paper pertain to the communication component of the prelaw curriculum initiated in the 1979-80 school year at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The materials include (1) a brief decription of the prelaw program; (2) information sheets for students considering the program;…

A survey of 80 department chairpersons, directors of forensics, and debate coaches indicated an increased use of nontraditional, audience-centered debate paradigms since the National Developmental Conference on Forensics issued its report advancing alternative debate options during the 1970s. Report recommendations on expanding the role of…

As a preliminary study evaluating the relative merits of skill development and information exposure in speech communication classes, an opinion survey was administered to students taking two variants of the introductory course. The two courses, labeled "Basic Blend" and "Blend: Public Speaking Emphasis," included roughly equivalent units on…

By using exercises to increase classroom community and journal assignments rather than tests, teachers can help empower students in the public speaking classroom. To create a sense of community in public speaking classrooms and to increase opportunities for dialogue on a personal level, an ungraded speaking assignment is used that begins the first…

A close examination of nine popular speech textbooks was conducted to determine how adequately and accurately they covered researching in the library and its importance in the speechmaking process for the student. Results indicated that the texts did not emphasize critical thinking skills; they also contained an inappropriate emphasis on online…

In light of the increasing number of international students on college campuses in the United States, a study examined how international students' oral communication needs were being met on these campuses as of the summer of 1985. A 19-question survey (probing required or elective status of communication courses, content of courses, assignments,…