Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Leadership And Listening: Perceptions And Behaviors, Scott D. Johnson, Curt Bechler

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Recently, however, Bechler & Johnson (1995) made an initial attempt to identify a relationship between perceptions of leadership and perceptions of listening skill. Their study found a significant positive correlations between member perceptions of who was leading the group and member perceptions of which members were the best listeners. “Those subjects ranked as most like a leader were also typically ranked as good listeners…Individuals perceived to be leading the groups were most commonly believed to be listening to the groups” (Bechler & Johnson, 1995, pp.82-83). This essay extends that study, reexamining the relationship between perceptions of leadership and listening and …

An Ethnographic Study Of Chinese Adolescent Identity In Taipei, Taiwan : Franchise Hangouts, Jui-Fang Ruby Chen

Dissertations and Theses

One of the discriminating changes that Taiwan is experiencing is a shift in young people's view of "self," manifested in and through their daily activities within its cultural context (Yang, 1981). The question arises, how do Taiwan's adolescents shape their view of "self' within this contemporary context at the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures? This thesis examined on how Chinese adolescent identity was constituted symbolically in and through their speech practices within a public social context, a typical Westernized dining place--McDonald's, a U.S. fast food restaurant, and how such a locale both served and made sense by these urban …

Editorial Policy

Basic Communication Course Annual

The Editor and the Basic Course Commission invite submissions to the considered for publication in the Basic Communication Course Annual. The Annual is distributed nationally to scholars and educators interested in the basic communication course. Articles are accepted for review throughout the year for publication consideration. Manuscripts exploring significant issues for the basic course, research in the basic course, instructional practices, graduate assistant training, classroom teaching tips, or the status, role, and future of the basic communication course are invited. It is incumbent on contributors to establish a position on how the work they seek to have published advances knowledge …

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

Editors and manuscript reviewers for Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 9 (1997)

Contents

Basic Communication Course Annual

Table of contents and abstracts for all articles in the volume

Three Metaphors For The Competencies Acquired In The Public Speaking Class, Michael Osborn

Basic Communication Course Annual

The many skills taught in the basic public speaking class come together in three fundamental metaphors. The first of these, the speaker as builder, suggests we need to shape our surroundings through the spoken word. The second, the speaker as weaver, includes the arts of shaping symbols into the fabric of a speech, and of designing evidence and proofs into the tapestry of argument. The third, the speaker as climber, emphasizes overcoming interference. Barriers of fear, indifference, suspicion, and cultural variation recede as speakers and listeners learn to climb them.

Written Feedback In The Basic Course: What Instructors Provide And What Students Deem Helpful, Karla Kay Jensen, Elizabeth R. Lamoureux

Basic Communication Course Annual

Although the issue of speech evaluation has been a mainstay in our discipline, an updated discussion of written feedback merits our attention. To revisit this topic, this two-part content analysis first reveals the type of written feedback instructors offer students in basic public speaking classes.

Building on these findings, the second part focuses on student perceptions of the helpfulness of the written feedback. The findings are collectively discussed and their implications for written evaluations of students' oral performances are considered. Any instructor who has labored over written critiques, wondering whether students actually read and/or use the comments can value from …

Culture Shock In The Basic Communication Course: A Case Study Of Malaysian Students, Eunkyong Lee Yook

Basic Communication Course Annual

Malaysian students compose a large student group coming to the U.S. for higher education. Despite these numbers, however, there has been little attention given to their culture shock in the classroom. The present study investigates the concerns of Malaysian students in the basic communication course. Through interviews with Malaysian students, this study concludes that Malaysian students perceive having three major problems in presenting speeches in basic communication courses.

The first problem is the language barrier. Another is that certain nonverbal behaviors such as gesturing and talking in a loud tone are seen as disrespectful in their culture. Third, they have …

The Em-Powter-Ing Of America: Using Info-Mercials To Teach Persuasion And Popular Discourse In The Basic Communication Course, Daniel W. Heaton

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article describes how a critique of Susan Powter's "Stop the Insanity!" info-mercial provides educators with an effective, class-tested, and fun assignment to be included in the persuasion section of a basic communication course. This assignment provides students with an excellent example of a message from popular discourse that follows Monroe's Motivated Sequence. It also facilitates discussion of several key issues related to persuasion in general. Additionally, because this activity uses a popular discourse text, students enhance their critical thinking skills and become more critical consumers of messages they receive through popular discourse.

The Use Of Simulation In The Beginning Public Speaking Classroom: Let's Make It Realistic, Relevant And Motivating, John J. Miller

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article offers the instructional method, the simulation, as an alternative public speaking assignment in the beginning public speaking course. The three phases of simulation, play, debriefing, and journal writing, are described. Simulations should be realistic and relate to student goals, interests, or career aspirations. As a result, the assignment has two benefits. Simulation creates a clear rhetorical situations which aids students in the topic selection process. Further, its relevancy to the student increases the motivation to learn the art of public speaking.

Computer-Mediated Learning Environments: Theory And Research Into Practice, Chris R. Rasch

Basic Communication Course Annual

Information technology is furnishing modes of accessing and manipulating knowledge which are radically different from those offered by the traditional curriculum. Teaching effectiveness in the basic course is likely to depend increasingly on understanding the nature, function, benefits and potential costs of computer-mediated communication. The purposes of this article are to: (1) review theory and research illuminating the potential benefits and costs of computer-mediated instruction, (2) suggest some starting points for implementing computer-mediated instruction, and (3) identify factors which are likely to influence the effectiveness of teaching in computer-mediated environments.

Two Heads Are Better Than One? Setting Realizable Goals In The Basic Course, Glen Williams

Basic Communication Course Annual

Establishing goals is central to the success of the basic course. The degree to which those goals are realized depends, in large measure, upon the manner in which they are established and reviewed. This article assists course directors and instructional staff by examining the process of defining objectiveness, a process which encompasses goals, mission, and vision and which benefits from widespread, active involvement. This article presents sample objectives for consideration, and it notes the conditions under which the process of defining objectives thrives or is threatened.

A Commentary: The Basic Communication Course, General Education And Assessment, Lawrence W. Hugenberg, Barbara S. Moyer

Basic Communication Course Annual

The importance of developing student communication skills in a general education program is a focal point of each college and university accrediting agency in the United States. However, course directors and faculty frequently find themselves at the center of a controversy when trying to include a basic communication course in skill development in a general education program. This article develops a case for the inclusion of a basic communication course in a general education program.

Author Information

Basic Communication Course Annual

Biographical information about those who contributed scholarly content to this issue.

Back Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 9

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full Issue (182 pages, 10.27 KB)

Persuasive Effects Of Story And Statistical Evidence, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

The persuasive effects of story and statistical evidence were examined for three different message topics. Students (N = 100) read three story or statistical messages and completed post-test measures, including ones involving beliefs and cognitive responses. A two-way interaction between message topic and evidence indicated that the persuasiveness of evidence varied by message topic. Exploratory analyses revealed that statistics were rated as more scientific and less personal than stories, but these characteristics of evidence were not related to persuasiveness.

Gangstas, Niggas, Bitches And Hos : A Narrative Analysis Of Gangsta’ Rap Lyrics, Darnell A. Watson

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines gangsta' rap as a form of narrative. It addresses the following questions: 1) Is gangsta' rap a form of narrative; most significant characterizes the 2) if yes, which narrative elements are to interpreting the stories; 3) what elements which are most significant to interpreting the stories and 4) what kinds of stories are being told? Data for the analysis included transcribed lyrics from a representative sample of gangsta' rap recordings. Journal articles, media articles and books germane to understanding the social and cultural context of gangsta rap were also used. It was found that gangsta' rap lyrics …

"Blame It On Intake” : A Critical Ethnography Of The Negotiation Of Access To Shelter Services In A Shelter For Homeless And Battered Women, Kathleen Marie Drew

Dissertations and Theses

Even though the number of homeless women has increased among a population viewed as typically male (Merves 1992), there is still little research focused on women. This study investigated the communicative practices in and through which gendered identity was constructed, negotiated and performed at a point of rupture when the norms for judging a "good woman:"--that is woman as wife, as mother, and as homemaker appear to have been violated. The negotiation of access into an urban shelter for homeless and/or battered women provided a rich site for the study. The research was grounded in the assumptions of symbolic interaction …

Sexual Intercourse : A Feminist Reading Of Strip Joint Discourse, Regina Marie Howard Yaroch

Dissertations and Theses

The discursively-constructed stereotype of stripper plays an important role in the ideology that sustains our system of sexual relations. This construction also interacts with and constrains the lived reality of actual women who earn their living in the stripping industry. This research attempts to examine this interaction by exploring the discourse that is generated by stripping industry participants. A long interview transcript is analyzed as a text to develop a feminist reading that focuses on the socio-cultural forces that make a particular story possible as well as necessary to tell. This story emerges, through the first-person account of a dancer-informant, …

Ua11/1 On Campus, Vol. 6, No. 10, Wku University Relations

WKU Administration Documents

On Campus newsletter featuring articles about faculty, staff and events at Western Kentucky University. Regular features are:

• College News
• Sponsored Programs
• Hot off the Press
• Personnel File
• Coming Up - Calendar of Events

This issue includes articles:

• Goldie Blumenstyk. Philosophy Goes High Tech - Cassandra Pinnick
• Hughey, Aaron. Kentucky's Future Tied to Universities, Colleges
• Payne, Nikcole. Dr. Charles Smith, Music Teacher of the Year
• Payne, Nikcole. Why Clinton Defeated Dole in '96 - Larry Winn
• Adult Day Care: A Winner Again
• Forensic Team Sweeps Tournament

The Rhetoric Of Jesus Christ In The Gospel, Patrick Scott Tucker

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Patrick Scott Tucker on November 25, 1996.

A Comparison Of Speech Intelligibility Measures Between Unsophisticated Listener Judgements And Orthographic Transcription, Carla J. Dukart

Dissertations and Theses

Intelligible speech is a primary component for successful communication. However, the speech of children with disordered phonologies is often unintelligible. Therefore, when assessing the speech intelligibility of children in order to determine whether they qualify for intervention services, speech-language pathologists need reliable evaluation tools.

The focus of this investigation was the measurement of speech intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between two methods for measuring speech intelligibility. The first, identification method, involves the listener transcribing a speech sample from which the percentage of words understood is calculated. The second, scaling procedure, involves the listener estimating …

A Pilot Study: Normative Data On The Intelligibility Of 3 1/2 Year Old Children, Karen Mary Ware

Dissertations and Theses

Most of the previous published research involving intelligibility has focused on persons with various disabilities or delays. Minimal research has been conducted on intelligibility in young children with no diagnosed speech and/ or language disorders. The result is a gap in normative data by which to set a standard to judge speech as being at an acceptable level of intelligibility for a particular age group. The focus of this pilot study was to collect normative data on the intelligibility of young children, ages 3:6 ±2 months, with no diagnosed speech and/or language disorder. ~ Thirteen subjects, ages 3:6 ±2 months, …

Sabbatical Leave Proposal And Report, Charles R. Newman

Sabbaticals

The Dictionary defines "sabbatical Leave" as: "A leave of absence with pay, usually granted every seventh year, as to a college professor for travel, research, or rest." Just prior to, during, and just after my leave I traveled to Tampa, Florida; the Carolinas, and Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico for interviews, research, and reflection. I learned a great deal about multiculturalism, culturally diverse speakers, employer expectations for newly hired employees, and teaching methodologies for students that are non EuroAmerican males.

My sabbatical project was both professionally and personally satisfying, and I am very pleased with the results of the …

Temporal Characteristics Of Words Surrounding A Moment Of Stuttering In Preschool-Age Children, Gregory Keith Lilly

Dissertations and Theses

Until this time, few studies have examined differences in durational characteristics in words surrounding a moment of stuttering for untreated preschool children. It is important to determine whether or not untreated preschoolers' who stutter alter the duration of their speech when they stutter versus when they are fluent to determine what factors influence stuttering behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the duration of words immediately before and after a stuttered word and the duration of the matched target word in the identical fluent utterance. The following questions were to be addressed: 1) Is there a significant …

A Study Of The Narrative Skills Of 7-Year Olds With Normal, Impaired, And Late Developing Language, Rita F. Hernandez

Dissertations and Theses

The narrative, just like any lectured or monologue information which is shared, does not depend to any great extent on context. Therefore, ability to encode and decode the information to be presented verbally is required, that is, in order for the speaker to be able to verbalize what he or she wants to say while taking into consideration the listener's needs. This indicates that production of strong narratives depends on higher level language skills, and so children's narratives provide a sensitive means of assessing children's language development. The purpose of this study was to compare the narrative ability of children …

The Effectiveness Of A Self-Directed Inservice Program To Educate Teachers About The Classroom Needs Of Students With Hearing Impairment, Teresa Michelle Whiteley

Dissertations and Theses

Students with mild to moderate hearing losses, and some with severe hearing losses, are mainstreamed in a regular classroom for all or part of the day (Martin, Berstein, Daly & Cody, 1988). While these students may require special education services, the classroom teacher plays a vital role in the overall education and daily management of a child with a hearing impairment (Hass, 1987). Villa (1989) reported that many school employees have not received adequate training to educate these students. Therefore, it becomes the school's responsibility to educate teachers through a comprehensive inservice training program.

One format for providing such a …