Although much interest has been generated regarding the functions speaking centers serve and the effects consultations can have, minimal research has addressed the dynamics of consultations themselves. This study documents what speaking center clients and consultants identify as barriers in consultations and how they address them. Analysis of…

Noting the diversity in the nature and format of individual events in debate tournaments, a study surveyed the reactions of individual events coaches and students to the events offered at tournaments, the descriptions, and the time limits. Thirty-one coaches and 71 students from colleges and universities in the eastern United States responded to a…

A pilot study was conducted to address the professional and personal roles male and female public relations students hope to play within 10 years after their graduations and to determine whether any differences were significant enough to warrant more extensive study of this phenomenon. The null hypotheses employed included: (1) there will be no…

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of audiotaped counterattitudinal messages (messages counter to a person's irrational beliefs that are designed to help change negative attitudes) on communication apprehension. One hundred and fifty undergraduate speech communication students divided into control and experimental groups listened to…

Finds that students enrolled in a basic communication course perceived significant improvement in class, work, and social settings, with the changes greater for the class context in terms of public speaking, interpersonal communication, group communication, interviewing, and self-confidence. (SR)

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate teaching assistant (UTA) competence and character and its relationship to learning in the basic communication classroom. Also of interest were the specific UTA communicator behaviors that increase or decrease student perceptions of competence and character. Students responded to a survey…

An ethnographic study explored the critical evaluations of audience members who viewed an ethnographic performance adapted, directed, and performed by a doctoral student in the Speech Communication Department on the campus of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. The performance was a one-person show consisting of a series of personal…

A study examined communication majors' attitudes toward job opportunities in their chosen areas (and communication in general) and how communication majors have proactively prepared themselves to enter the work world. A convenience sample of 140 undergraduate students enrolled in communication programs at 4 different universities responded to a…

Forced discipline refers to the specific procedures, routines, and standards required for carrying out course-related tasks. This paper discusses various facets of discipline, then looks at how 160 students in a basic speech-communication course respond to forced discipline. The paper next looks at how 30 basic-course directors define forced…

Two hundred forty-five students in a basic speech making course were tested both before and after the course by the Rhetorical Sensitivity Scale (RHETSEN) and by their reactions to three hypothetical speech situations, to determine: (1) whether their rhetorical sensitivity scores would change after completion of such a course, and (2) whether…

A study was conducted to test the empirical merit of R. M. Chisholm's and T. D. Feehan's proposed typology of deception: (1) commission versus omission (lies of commission are those where the liar contributes causally to the receiver's believing the lie, perhaps by telling the falsehood; lies of omission would occur if the liar could have…

A survey was conducted of students participating in the 1982 Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) tournament to uncover the reasons why they were competing in CEDA, whether they had ever participated in the National Debate Tournament (NDT), and which style of debate they preferred. Of the 133 respondents, 83 males and 50 females, 42%…

Reports results of a study in which 72 African-American college students listened to and evaluated a tape-recorded excerpt of a speech in two versions, one in Ebonics and one in Standard English. Finds students rated the speaker who used Standard English as more credible (i.e. , more competent and having a strong character) and more sociable than…

A study investigated speech anxiety in the basic speech course by means of pre and post essays. Subjects, 73 students in 3 classes in the basic speech course at a southwestern multiuniversity, wrote a two-page essay on their perceptions of their speech anxiety before the first speaking project. Students discussed speech anxiety in class and were…

A study investigated the relationship between students' communication apprehension levels and their attitudes toward the use of video recording in a basic speech course. A communication apprehension measure and a questionnaire on perceptions of videotape use in class were completed by 230 undergraduate basic speech students. The findings…