COVID-19 public health measures have forced educators to adapt their courses to an online or hybrid presentation format with laboratory components facing particular challenges. We surmised that having introductory organic chemistry students orally present selected faculty literature publications would provide a flexible alternative to our final…

Rhetoric plays an important role in helping information technology (IT) professionals communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. By employing rhetorical devices when speaking about technology topics, IT professionals can present logical and convincing arguments, and demonstrate their knowledge and expertise while engaging the audience and…

The current study explores the relationship between social contagion and vocal fillers. An experiment was conducted in which 100 students presented speeches. Prior to presenting their speech, half of the students were exposed to a speech with excessive vocal fillers and half were exposed to a speech with no vocal fillers. Students who heard a…

Oral presentations and public speaking are an important aspect of the student experience in the United Kingdom higher education. Many modules (self-contained units normally within a programme of study) use presentations as a form of assessment and require students to verbally engage in small and large group settings to enhance learning. Previous…

In this study, we investigated preparatory class students' perceptions of oral presentations and their functions in EFL learning and teaching in connection with language ability, speech anxiety, and language learning motivation. Our participants were 29 adult EFL students in two intact classes attending a mandatory English preparatory program at a…

This research aims to determine the relationship between prospective Turkish teachers` public speaking anxiety and digital speaking tendencies. In this context, 181 prospective teachers from different grades studying in the Turkish language teaching program of a state university in the west of Turkey were examined. The relational surveying method,…

This dissertation examines heritage language learners of Spanish enrolled in university Spanish courses, focusing on their strategic use of suprasegmental speech features in two speaking tasks. The research investigates attitudes' influence on heritage language learners' speech production in different task types. Participants engaged in two…

The present two-phased sequential explanatory mixed-methods research investigates first and second-year Japanese university students' perceptions of peer evaluation through self-reflection and its relation to learner autonomy satisfaction in English presentation activities. First, the qualitative data were collected through an open-ended survey…

Improvisational theatre activities can be used as a tool for developing interactional competence in a language classroom. The unpredictable nature of improvisation resembles authentic communication, as it requires topic negotiation, spontaneous reactions and cooperation. The present article examines the student perspective on improvisation, which…

Vygotsky's (1934; 1980) sociocultural theories of learning posit that learning is a socially negotiated activity. Learners can sustain this activity, and specifically how they engage in literacy practices, through participatory experiences with experts, known in sociocultural theory as a more knowledgeable other (MKO). However, hierarchies in…

This paper explores the ways in which apology functions as a stance act at public speech events. Rather than focusing on speakers' intentions, in this study I pay attention to indexical meanings associated with apologies in a specific context. The study primarily analyses apology sequences that involve code-switching, which were drawn from…

Procedures and practices that are ableist in the educational system have been long overlooked. Speakers having differing abilities than neurotypical or able-bodied individuals is often not something that is considered in basic course assessment tools. This is important to address because although there are institutional policies and procedures in…

This study investigated 113 community college students enrolled in face-to-face and online speech communication courses and their perceptions of instructor speech assessments. Each course completed a self-inventory questionnaire using Google Forms at the completion of the semester. Descriptive statistics and an independent samples t-test analyzed…

Courses: Introduction to Rhetoric and Communication, Basic Course, Public Speaking, Classical Rhetoric. Objectives: To re-establish disciplinary commitment to civic education in perilous democratic times through "imitatio."

The purpose of this study was to find out whether the previously identified gender gap in public speaking anxiety and self-perceived communication competence was also evident in student speaking performances. This study also examined whether students developed equally strong presentations in public speaking versus hybrid introductory communication…