Oral performance of literature can be compared with film viewing, in that both are strongly based on suggestion, which forces the spectator to participate actively in the creation of images. Film is actually a series of still pictures, but persistence of vision produces the idea of motion in the mind. Likewise, literature in performance involves…

The author states that because of recent interest in readers theatre, or concert readings, some objective methods of assessing audience response should be developed. In the first section of the paper, she provides a rationale for a critical suggestions form. The author's guidelines for an evaluation form include the use of expert judges, an…

At this 1972 conference, upper division and graduate students from nine western colleges submitted papers on the theory, history, and criticism of rhetoric. Three of them are published in this conference report, along with the principal address. In "Rhetorical Criticism as Argument," the principal address, Wayne Brockriede suggests that useful…

Summarizes seven documents on oral interpretation from the ERIC system, and states that they can be used to show students the importance of reading aloud with skill. Cites that they also provide suggestions for using oral interpretation in the study of many types of literature and contexts. (MM)

Suggests that the best method of understanding a poem is to experiment with reading it aloud rather than simply discussing the poem. (DF)

Describes a model for validating creative endeavor as equivalent to scholarship in evaluating teachers for promotion. (PD)

Readers Theater is a presentation by two or more participants who read from scripts and interpret a literary work in such a way that the audience imaginatively sense characterization, setting, and action. Traditionally, the primary focus of readers theater is on an effective reading of the script, not on a dramatic presentation. The scripts in…

Readers theater is a dramatic art that directs attention to the words of a text. During a performance, a reader (rather than an actor) presents and interprets the work within a narrative context intended by the author. In this project, the text, a collection of the words and writings of a woman known as the Peace Pilgrim, tells the story of her…

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that adapting part of a novel into a dramatic reading makes students more intimate with the author's intentions and craft; and that a part of a novel may lend itself to various oral interpretations. The main activity…

Study suggests some answers to previous inconsistencies in research, provides a valid measure of oral interpretation performance, and demonstrates the effect of various levels of feedback upon oral interpretation performance. (Editor/MB)

Defines reticence," suggests methods for identifying it, and offers oral interpretation as one solution to this problem. (SW)

Offers a system that can make up one element of a program to teach students delivery of broadcast news. Presents a principled approach, based on linguistic research, to teaching students how to decide what words to emphasize, so that they can mark their scripts before reading them aloud. Examines 18 textbooks and their treatment of delivery. (SG)

An experiment is described in which learners listened to two radio broadcasts in Spanish, then reported on their strategies, comprehension, learning, level of confidence, and affective response to the input. Elements that the learners had in common are cited, as well as some that seem idiosyncratic. (24 references) (Author/LB)

A number of interaction researchers have claimed that recasts might be ambiguous to learners; that is, instead of perceiving recasts as containing corrective feedback, learners might see them simply as literal or semantic repetitions without any corrective element (Long, in press; Lyster & Ranta, 1997). This study investigates learners'…

The article takes as its starting point my recent ethnography of the Welsh National Opera Company, and the forthcoming monograph "Everyday Arias: making opera work". In the course of that work I revisited the theme of performance: the ethnography of performance and the performance of ethnography. I discuss briefly the everyday work of…