This report, covering the period of July 1 to December 31, 1973, is one of a regular series on the status and progress of studies on the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical applications. The materials included in this report are "The Motor Organization of Some Speech Gestures,""Effect of Speaking…

This report, covering the period in 1976 from July 1 through September 30, is one of a regular series on the status and progress of speech research. Manuscript topics are: stop-consonant recognition--release bursts and formant transitions as functionally equivalent, context-dependent cues; modes of perceiving; discrimination of intensity…

Describes Purdue University's two oral proficiency interviews that are a prerequisite to student teaching in a foreign language. Focuses on the procedures and content of the interviews for students of German. A three-member committee has the student read one page of materials and then asks the student questions. (SED)

Describes a course that gives students the kinds of writing and oral communication experiences they will need on the job. The course gives students information about effective speaking and teaches them how to write business letters, prepare simple visuals for written and oral reports, and write formal proposals. (EL)

Suggests having students in fiction writing classes record overheard dialogue to develop a sense of realistic speech. (MM)

Describes language laboratory program designed to help learners to move from comprehension of a spoken text through definite phases to their own utterance. Material used is an off-air recording from French radio. (Author/BK)

Tested the writing and speaking performance of students before and after the completion of one semester of rhetoric instruction. Confirmed that changes in students' writing and speaking skills can be reliably measured using the American College Testing Program's College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) Speaking and Writing Assessments. (PD)

Describes steps taken at the University of Pennsylvania to change foreign language requirement, including studies of student achievement by administering CEEB Language Achievement Tests and FSI Oral Proficiency Interview and the development of performance standards by faculty in order to make requirements proficiency-based. (BK)

Surveying alumni who had taken a basic communication course, this study obtained perspectives on communication training. Most alumni felt their speech classes prepared them "fairly well" for on-the-job communication. Although all communication skills were rated as important, interpersonal skills were rated somewhat higher than public speaking…

Explains the rationale behind freshman English course assignments in writing, a rationale based on conclusions of three research projects that relate to the writing process. (MKM)

Presents a broad overview of the assessment movement. Reviews several approaches to assessment including basic skills, general education, major, and student development. Considers the nature of assessment in the communication field. (KEH)

Investigates the development of teacher-intern's oral questioning skills during their 16 week practicum. Finds that although the interns' initial skill-level of oral questioning was relatively high, they developed their expertise in six basic oral questioning skills throughout the practicum. Describes the benefits of using a supervisory approach…

Investigates the work and communication needs of newly graduated auditors, their senior colleagues, and their managers in five MNCs (multinational companies) in Singapore. Suggests that accounting courses could prepare undergraduates more effectively in the oral/interpersonal skills needed in the initial stages of their auditing careers by…

Empathic listening is central to almost all human communication processes. "Feeling with" another is the heart of empathic listening: it includes a cognitive understanding of what the other is communicating plus a sensitivity to their state of emotion. One possible approach to utilize in the teaching of empathic listening is to begin a…

A review of literature in the speech communication field from 1978 to 1983 reveals developments emerging in the area of forensics, while a review of the contributions to theories of debate analysis reveals advances in both policy systems theory and in hypothesis testing. Although much of the research is directed toward forensics educators, it is…