As an aid in integrating videotape procedures into effective speech communication programs, this report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of videotaping, provides guidelines for the use and purchase of equipment, and suggests classroom and extracurricular activities involving videotape. After indicating several positive characteristics,…

Prompted by the concern of parents and educators with both the process of a child's language acquisition and the amount of time spent watching television, a content analysis of children's television commercials was conducted to see if this form of mass media could be used to stimulate language skills in children. The 36 commercials were drawn from…

As communication/English curricula pass from a period of great diversity to one of greater centrality, educators need to find a more reasoned direction to guide curricular decision making. Many of the current reports on the state of education refer to the importance of oral communication skills, but such skills have not received their rightful…

Children's speech styles vary considerably, ranging along a continuum from formal to informal, in the various educational and social settings they encounter in school. Teachers who see their role as preparing children to fill social roles will be aware of the speech styles that children use and will accept varying speech styles as appropriate to…

The seminar concept is a form of independent study that allows children the opportunity to learn as much as they like on a chosen topic while they are acquiring valuable library research skills. The child begins a seminar project by writing down all possible ideas he or she can think of for exploring a topic. This is done on a "brainstorming"…

Two theoretical schools have emerged within the field of communication focusing on the alleviation of dysfunctional communications such as speech anxiety, communication apprehension, and speech reticence. The communication anxiety-behavior therapy school regards excessive anxiety to be a primary factor in dysfunctional communication. This school…

DESPITE THE GENERAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE IDEA THAT LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOR AND COMMUNICATION ARE FIRST OF ALL SPOKEN, LANGUAGES ARE NOT ALWAYS TAUGHT ON THAT BASIS, AND CONFUSION STILL EXISTS ABOUT THE NATURE OF SPEECH AND WRITING. THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD WAS THE BASIC SYSTEM UNTIL WORLD WAR II, WHEN IT BECAME NECESSARY TO TRAIN MANY PEOPLE TO…

Noting the growing number of foreign students in colleges in the United States, this paper argues that communication educators should devote more discussion to the development of oral proficiency in those students. This paper (1) discusses the significance of the problem facing educators and foreign students, (2) examines the language training of…

The national Language Development Project in Australia, an undertaking concerned with informing teachers on matters to do with language, language development, and language and learning, is described in this report. The various sections of the report establish the project's purposes; offer discussions of developments in thinking and research of the…

This diagnostic instrument was developed for use with non-English-speakinq adult students. Four tests measure listening comprehension and oral proficiency at four levels of English proficiency. The Level One test assesses the student's ability to identify specific vocabulary items; no oral response is necessary. Survival vocabulary and the ability…

This bibliography includes materials for educators who are concerned with assessment of basic speaking and listening skills and is categorized as follows: (1) speech rating scales; (2) listening; (3) functional communication; (4) bilingual education; (5) reviews of tests and instruments; (6) materials on practices in states and local districts;…

Several types of narrative errors are discussed that were found in the course of an analysis of stories collected in casual settings from a number of American speakers in undirected conversation. The approach to the question of error correction is sociocultural; the emphasis is on the motivation for the error correction. This paper explores the…

This is one of a series of self-teaching textbooks initially prepared for the Armed Forces and now offered to the public. Book 1 is divided into two main sections, each consisting of five lessons and a review lesson. Each lesson is divided into several sections: basic sentences, word study, pronunciation practice, grammar and conversational…

A set of levels of useful oral competence in a second language are proposed, and a revision in its structure is shown that can make it applicable to first language and to passive-bilingual situations. Unlike many other scales of bilingualism, it integrates oral expression and oral comprehension into a single scale without losing validity. Its…

To identify speech skills necessary to effectively teach the oral dimension of language, 137 secondary school teachers of English in Alabama were asked to complete a questionnaire on (1) their undergraduate education, (2) their knowledge of speech, and (3) those speech activities perceived useful in facilitating instruction in oral English. The…