Empathic listening is a specific category of listening in which people actively engage in dialogue at the affective level, with the listener attempting to understand and acknowledge the present feelings being experienced by the speaker. Since empathic listening is central to human communication processes, any speech communication curriculum which…

The purpose of teacher feedback in the speech classroom is to inform the speaker of the audience's reaction to the speech, to make suggestions for improvement on future speeches, and to motivate the speaker to speak again or to enjoy speaking. To provide appropriate criticism, teachers need to understand the nature and the relative merits of…

In teaching introductory English as a second language to nonliterate adult refugees, the focus should initially be on oral skills. The literature on characteristics of recent Southeast Asian refugees and suggested curriculum strategies is reviewed in order to determine the appropriate curriculum and methods for this group. A curriculum for…

It was generally hypothesized that two procedural deficiencies underlie the failure of most preschoolers to produce informative referential communications or to understand that ambiguous communications directed toward them are faulty. The first is a deficiency in understanding the difference rule (the fact that an informative message should…

A student's fear of giving oral reports and the instructor's objection to using too much class time on oral reports are often seen as the major barriers that prevent an oral communication unit from being included in a business or management communications course. One approach to easing both concerns is the use of videotaping as a self-discovery…

Noting that the ethics of forensics is a complicated and controversial subject, this paper outlines some of the issues that should be addressed in preparing codes of ethics. The following issues are discussed: (1) the nature of professional ethics; (2) the functions of an ethics code; (3) approaches to ethical systems in forensics; (4) standards…

This paper examines the tacit assumptions behind different theories about the nature of language and aphasia, and it discusses critically the use of structural and generative linguistic theories to explain the behavior of aphasics, especially with regard to the difference between spoken and written discourse. It is proposed that, rather than try…

Twenty years of research in interpersonal communication have provided teachers with a basis for identifying the competencies that should be taught in introductory interpersonal communication courses, including empathy, social composure, and conflict management. However, other issues such as "performance vs. knowledge," the affective dimension, and…

Writing and speaking are so closely integrated that educators can no longer continue to isolate them for separate study. Students can benefit from the teaching of writing and speaking simultaneously in that they learn to develop personal expression in more than one medium and gain a sense of immediate feedback. By recognizing that meaning implies…

A study was conducted to determine if the Japanese use logic and argument in different ways than do Westerners. The study analyzed sample rebuttal speeches (in English) of 14 Japanese debaters using the Toulmin model of argument. In addition, it made comparisons with a sample of speeches made by 5 American high school debaters. Audiotapes of the…

One of the most memorable eulogies delivered in the United States Senate is the one by Senator Michael Mansfield for President John F. Kennedy. An analysis of his word choice reveals that he (1) forced the audience to participate in the creation of the message; (2) employed active, forceful descriptions; (3) focused on praiseworthy qualities of…

In order to study the relationship between self-esteem and communication anxiety, 1202 college students in a basic communication course completed scales developed to measure the two variables. To make sure that the variables were independent and that one was not a subset of the other, a factor analysis of all the items in each scale was performed.…

The controversy between the oral and the total communication approach to deaf education is reviewed and a study of the use of acquired speech by 71 deaf adults in Nigeria is presented. Questionnaire results are discussed in terms of demographics, cause and age at onset of deafness, use of amplification, school achievement, type of employment,…

Noting that approximately one third of the medical internships and residencies in the United States are filled by foreign medical graduates (FMGs), this paper argues that institutions where FMGs are administering care have failed to deal with the communication gaps created by language deficiencies and cultural barriers. The paper identifies…

Noting that, in recent years, college speech departments across the nation have been deleted, altered, or at least renamed, this paper examines various aspects of the disappearance of speech from the college curriculum. The following areas are considered: students' perception of speech as a nonmarketable major; disciplines to which latent speech…