Basic Speech Communication courses which emphasize public speaking are an opportunity to teach critical thinking skills in the form of critical listening. Students can be taught to analyze the evidence or ideas of others and make critical judgments about the validity or quality of materials presented, using a series of steps involving student and…

This number of the journal contains the following articles: "A Language-and-Learning Framework for a Theory of Language Teaching" (Moira Chimombo); "Using Authentic Video Materials in the Language Classroom" (Kathleen Kitao); "An American Teacher in Kiev: Impressions of English Education in the U.S.S.R." (Ellen…

Using Toulmin's model of argument as its methodology, this paper analyzes the arguments employed by Lee Iacocca, chief executive officer of Chrysler Corporation, to persuade the United States Congress to provide backing for loans necessary for the corporation's financial survival in 1979-1980. After delineating the three main claims made by…

In the spirit of the Texas Hill Country Writing Project and in response to the requirements of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills, this guide presents writing assignments reflecting a commitment to a unified writing program for kindergarten through grade twelve. The framework for the assignments is adopted from the discourse theory of James…

An advanced public speaking class at the Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, was specifically designed not only to improve the overall quality of a speech communication program but also to increase the number of majors that an excellent program would attract. Only students who have demonstrated superior speaking skills in basic public speaking…

Communication is essential to the establishment and maintenance of a democracy. Democratic society is distinctive in that civic talk plays a determining role. A long tradition of civic talk exists in western democratic civilization. The Greek teacher, Protagoras, the Father of Debate, required his students to speak first on one side of an issue or…

Materials dealing with aspects of argumentation theory are cited in this annotated bibliography. The 50 citations are organized by topic as follows: (1) argumentation; (2) the nature of argument; (3) traditional perspectives on argument; (4) argument diagrams; (5) Chaim Perelman's theory of rhetoric; (6) the evaluation of argument; (7) argument…

Prepared by scholars from four countries, the 63 papers in this collection address recent developments and recurrent problems in the theory, practice, criticism, and teaching of argumentation. Following the texts of two keynote addresses, the papers are presented according to eight broad categories: argumentation theory, historical and political…

In this K-8 writing skills curriculum, developed in Skokie (Illinois), the objectives are presented in a "mastery" format so that student achievement can be assessed. The document begins with a statement of philosophy, and guidelines for teachers to use in implementing the program, and then describes the curriculum format, which focuses on the…

A moot court program developed for undergraduate debaters at Ball State University (Indiana) is presented. Following a brief introduction that establishes the benefits of such a program for the students and the department of communication, the first section of the paper explains how the moot court concept was modified to emphasize communication…

The taxonomy of cohesion devised by M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasen was used to examine the kinds of cohesive ties used in argumentative prose written by 105 sixth, tenth, and twelfth grade students. In this way, the study sought to determine whether there were differences between grade levels in the kinds of ties used and in the numbers of…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) John F. Kennedy's rhetoric during the 1960 West Virginia presidential primary; (2) male and female modes of rhetoric; (3) charismatic communication and faith healers; (4) the ideology…

The three articles in this journal issue focus on composition problems and alternatives. The topics discussed are compositional invention, composition based on students' experiences, and an oral technique for teaching basic composition. The issue also contains reviews of recent publications in the field of composition. (FL)

Since teachers have been encouraged to give attention to advertising, product advertising has been the subject of study, but because of the large amount of money spent on them, two other aspects of advertising need special attention: corporate-sponsored image (which deals with characteristics and image of the company rather than with products or…

The leading frame-of-reference theories make opposing predictions about the effects of message discrepancy on attitude change. Assimilation-contrast theory predicts that messages that are highly discrepant with initial attitudes are likely to produce less attitude change than messages that are mildly discrepant. In contrast, perspective theory…