Articles focus on the following: reading comprehension and writing; an approach to argumentative discourse writing; a didactic experiment on the construction of two academic texts; Denzil Romero's work; communication and its implication--a vision from the teaching of the mother tongue; orthography/spelling in the Real Academia Espanola (RAE)…

A study examined public speaking textbooks from the early 1900s to the present time with regard to two major questions: (1) "Have the authors emphasized the link between public speaking skills and the ability of each student to become effective members of society?"; and (2) "To what extent have public speaking texts used the need…

This article offers a multidisciplinary analysis of the structure of persuasive arguments. Following an introduction, the article contains five main parts, each of which is discussed extensively: (1) descriptions of ideas from the fields of law, communication theory, and argumentation theory that analyze the nature of persuasion and the structure…

Effective argumentation is the distinguishing feature of a classroom that employs discovery teaching and student inquiry methodologies. In the long term, the objective of the program is to understand how to design learning environments and curriculum, instruction, and assessment models that promote student self-reflection. The study evaluates the…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 Writing Assessment measured student writing performance at the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades. Scoring guides for three different writing purposes at each grade allowed scorers to objectively evaluate students' work. This issue of NAEPfacts includes a 12th-grade persuasive writing scoring…

This study compared the effects of three forms of online instruction on memory, belief change, and argumentation skill. Reading of a pro/con text was followed by: (1) online discussion in pairs compared to reading of the same text followed by two forms of individualized study techniques derived from the cognitive memory literature; (2)…

This book provides students with the kind of extra help they will need to meet the demands of their first-year writing course as well as their other courses. Through its highly visual, student-centered approach, the book teaches basic skills and engages students immediately in the thinking-writing process, guiding them through the writing…

A study investigated whether formal instruction in logic and syllogism construction helps English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL)/English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students in crafting argumentative essays. Subjects were 24 ESL students of varied linguistic backgrounds at the Mercer University (Georgia) English Language Institute. Half were given…

Discusses the misuse of language by business, military, and political interests, suggesting that teachers must lead the fight against unsound logic and corrupted language as presented to the public through the mass media. (RB)

Illustrates how children handle conflict and adjust to one another when their goals are incompatible. Found clear developmental trends: with increasing age, children used more compliance-gaining strategies; their compliance-gaining strategies became more adaptive; and their conflict episodes became more complex. (PD)

Same-sex dyads, consisting of a high or low argumentative college student paired with a moderate, argued a controversial topic. Analysis revealed seven dimensions of communication behavior discriminated between high and low argumentatives: flexibility, interest, verbosity, expertise, dynamism, willingness to argue, and argumentative skill. (PD)

Argues that television advertising is now the most powerful language in existence. Provides a "TV advertising test" to prove the point and outlines a unit designed to make students aware of the language of television commercials while improving their writing and thinking skills. (FL)

Evaluation studies are discussed in terms of aesthetic and literary qualities. Concepts such as imagery, coherence, credibility, dramatic structure, mode of presentation, and story line, are analyzed in relation to evaluative documents. (MH)

Speech is a major medium for the admissions message, and how well it is utilized needs to be evaluated. An understanding of speech communication and the role it plays in the information process can help admissions professionals to help people make better college choices. (Author/MLW)