This essay contends that there are fundamental connections between a nation's political arrangements and its educational efforts on behalf of youth. Though the common school architects of the nineteenth century recognized these connections, they were profoundly forgotten in a later Darwinian milieu that suggested--our allegiance to democracy…

According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), "manufacturing is the engine that drives American prosperity". When NAM and its research and education arm, The Manufacturing Institute, released the handbook, "The Facts About Modern Manufacturing," in October 2006, NAM President John Engler noted, that…

The term "research paper," in the sense of researched paper, is a tautology: all expository discourses are researched in some way. One of the first duties of writing instructors is to help students see the difference between reporting on information that already exists about a topic, in what is sometimes referred to as a "library…

Born in Cicero, New York, in 1826, Matilda Joslyn Gage became one of the leaders of the American women's rights movement. Her book "Woman, Church, and State," first published in 1893, is a work of feminist history and theory that anticipates many of the feminist critiques which are now familiar: social class, imperialism, sexual…

In a Purdue University English 101 class, students were told to identify an audience outside the classroom for each paper they wrote. The central challenge to composition teachers is preserving elements valued in teaching academic writing in the context of ill-defined problems to be addressed outside the classroom. Most useful for instructors…

This paper describes a computer conferencing experiment carried out at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. The conference provided the students an interactive learning environment appropriate for practicing argumentation and developing their argumentation skills. Participants were 31 undergraduate students. Two tutors, who were top students in…

As the baby boomer generation moves into its late 30's and early 40's, the number of students returning to college older than 35 has increased, and is, in fact, one of the fastest growing student populations in higher education. Most adult students return to school for job-related reasons. Adult students participating in forensic programs do so…

Suitable methods can be developed and instructional devices can be designed for the teaching of argumentation analysis to students of varying interests, ages, and capacities. Until 1950, the study of argumentation in the Netherlands was either purely practical or a continuation of the classic logic and rhetoric traditions. A number of new research…

Advertising in the mass media contains a wide variety of psychological, emotional, and cultural messages. In basic skills and English-as-a-Second-Language writing instruction, ads can be used to exemplify writing models presented in class. Basic skills students often come to writing classes discouraged or prepared for failure, and the structure of…

Although a relatively new area of scientific study, theory and research on nonverbal communication in the courtroom has produced important findings for students and practitioners in five key areas: voire dire and jury analysis; opening and closing statements; client demeanor and direct examination; cross-examination; and judge demeanor and…

An open-ended survey was sent to speech communication department heads to determine their perceptions about forensics as an educational activity. Results showed that administrators overwhelmingly considered debate to have been the most important educational activity they engaged in when they were students; they attributed many of their…

Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The 16 activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities expose…

Four topics covered in this volume include a pedagogical grammar of Tboli (Vivian M. Forsberg), Bantoanon phonology (Heather Kilgour and Gail Hendrickson), demonstratives in Aklanon narratives (Kristine Jensen and Rodolfo Barlaan), and behavioral discourse strategy in Eastern Bontoc (Takashi Fukuda). Tboli is a language spoken by people living in…

Noting that throughout U.S. history most viewpoints not expressed in the mainstream press have found an outlet among alternative publications, this paper presents a profile of the 19th century peace advocacy press. The paper also notes that most studies of peace history have been produced by scholars of diplomatic, military, and political history,…

This paper introduces a procedure for analyzing sentential themes and demonstrates how it may be useful to students when they consider the effectiveness of their own sentences in the process of revising a piece of writing. The paper shows that, by analyzing sentential themes and their function in academic writing, students can learn to perform the…