This study found that consonantal lingual-palatal contact patterns of 10 normal hearing children were consistent across subjects, whereas productions by 18 hearing-impaired subjects (ages 10-15) showed wide variability across subjects, contact patterns, and listener identifications. Hearing-impaired subjects who produced more correctly identified…

Numerous studies indicate that communication apprehension can and does have considerable negative consequences for college students so affected. There are strategies that can be undertaken in the classroom that may help alleviate communication apprehension for some students. Classroom instructors must first recognize how students are processing…

The logic and the benefits of requiring college students in basic speech communication classes to tape-record oral journals are set forth along with a detailed description of the assignment. Instructions to the students explain the mechanics of the assignment as follows: (1) obtain and properly label a quality cassette tape; (2) make seven…

Designed as a 13-week self-help course to meet the speech and language needs of college students in the areas of articulation, voice control, standard American usage, and fluency, this combination syllabus and workbook offers a rationale for the course, describes course objectives and content, and provides worksheets and evaluation forms for the…

This article compares first and second language acquisition and applies conclusions pertaining to first language acquisition to second language learning, specifically that a command of grammar is essential and this grammar is independent of that associated with the written language. (CLK)

Interpreting as an exercise of language skill is presented as a necessity for communication, limited (in the instructional process) to everyday situations. Interpreting offers something different, and is therefore a source of motivation at the intermediate level. Basic characteristics of the skill, teaching hints, and types of exercises are…

This article describes a program designed to give native French speakers who already speak English further skills in oral presentation, public debate, and the language of business negotiations. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Describes a partially self-instructional program designed to deal with the correction of errors in second language learning. The purpose of the program is: 1) to sensitize future teachers to types of errors that occur in oral language practice, and 2) to help teachers make decisions as to how to correct errors effectively. (CLK)

An educational program called KIDSPEAK was designed to teach oral communication skills to children in grades three through six in four public and private school districts in Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Topics which have been taught include: basic public speaking skills; oral reading; listening; creative expression and…

As part of the Speech Communication Association (SCA) 1990 Summer Conference on Communication Competency Assessment held in Denver, Colorado, one work group worked on the development of a speech performance evaluation form and/or process grounded in and driven by the competency paradigm. Prior to and during the conference, the group developed a…

The articles in this paper explore the status and progress of studies on the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical research applications. Titles of the papers and their authors are as follows: (1) "Task Dynamic Coordination of the Speech Articulators: A Preliminary Model" (Elliot Saltzman); (2) "Some Observations…

When people say that what they hear is "over their heads," they are describing a severe information-based complexity (I-BC) problem. They cannot understand what is said because some of the information needed is missing, contaminated, and/or costly to obtain. Students often face these I-BC problems, and teachers often exacerbate them. Yet…

Noting that in different disciplines the study of communicative competence has focused to varying degrees on referential, social, and directive functions of communication, this paper reviews the three major traditions using the term. The first section of the paper reviews the sociolinguistic tradition, which views communicative competence as…

While covering various English language forensics activities in Japan, this special journal issue is heavily devoted to debate. The 22 articles in the journal are divided into five sections as follows: (1) general information on the Japan English Forensics Association (JEFA); (2) debate, including reports on debate tournaments around the world, a…

In response to a need for writers in corporations who are able to construct well-written speeches, a format for a speech-writing seminar for corporate writers has been developed. First, there are two kinds of seminars: open, for which anyone could register; and in-house, which is conducted for a specific company or organization. Second, in…