The required first course in speech as oral communication

The writer contends that the traditional, popular approaches to the required first course in speech are limited in their contribution to the general education program. He argues that the first course as a part of general education should be approached as a course in oral communication in which certain features of the traditional approaches are combined with communication theory.     

Critical communication pedagogy and service learning in a mixed-method communication research course

ABSTRACT

Course: Mixed-Method Communication Research Methods

Objective: The purpose of this semester-long activity is to provide students with opportunities to cultivate mixed-method communication research skills through a social justice-informed service-learning format. Completing this course, students will be able to: recognize the unique strengths of quantitative and qualitative research methods; locate, evaluate, and utilize scholarly literature for a literature review; conduct an original research project using quantitative and qualitative research methods to gather and analyze data; and raise self and community awareness about a social issue through collaboration with a community organization.     

Using motivated sequence in persuasive speaking: the speech for charity

Objective: To select a charitable organization to receive the class monetary donation Type of speech: Persuasive Point value: 100 points, which is 20% of course grade Requirements: (a) References: 5; (b) Length: 5–7 minutes; (c) Visual aid: Yes; (d) Outline: Yes; (e) Prerequisite reading: Chapter 15 (Lucas, 2001), Chapter 7 (McKerrow, Gronbeck, Ehninger, & Monroe, 2000); (f) Additional requirements: None The five-step motivated sequence organizational pattern (i.e., attention, need, satis faction, visualization, action) is an effective model for persuasive speaking, but students often select topics inappropriate for this format. This format, however, is perfect for trying to convince an audience they should do something such as give money to a charity. This speech gets students involved on an emotional as well as an academic level and encourages them to think of people other than themselves. This assignment also teaches students how to effectively persuade an audience that may have a different agenda.     

The effects of skills training on communication satisfaction and communication anxiety in the basic speech course

This study was designed to test the effects of skills training and experience on communication satisfaction and communication anxiety in the basic speech course. Skills training was operationalized as completion of COMM 15000, Theory and Practice of Oral Discourse, and experience was operationalized as multiple rhetorical performances. The results showed that students of the basic speech course experienced an increase in communication satisfaction and a decrease in communication anxiety following skills training for this sample. Moreover, highly apprehensive students reported being more satisfied with their communication interchanges following completion of the basic speech course.     

Complicating audience: A critical communication pedagogy commitment

ABSTRACT

Courses: This activity is designed specifically for public-speaking courses, but it could be used in the general introductory communication course. It also holds potential for use in persuasion, argumentation, or strategic communication courses.

Objectives: This activity helps students understand audience as a more complicated concept—one that recognizes the power of a speaker in creating and challenging communities and interrogating power through their performative speeches in the courses named above.     

A course in business communication

The actions of John Brown have been widely investigated and discussed, but no one has studied the speeches given by Brown in his anti‐slavery campaign. This article discusses three speeches delivered by Brown, prior to Harper's Ferry, and the five speeches delivered during the trial in an attempt to describe an unknown aspect of a man whose deeds formed one of the major causes for the Civil War.     

The speech act theory of interpersonal communication: Stimulus for research

This paper uses the Mann Gulch and Storm King Mountain fire disasters as a beginning point to analyze organizational crises. Several of the human factors that contributed to both disasters are identified, and the point is made that similar factors most likely contribute to other organizational crises. It is argued that the lack of legitimate authority impaired the crews’ ability to overcome disaster. Underlying this is a lack of common experience, communication, and interaction. Based on this analysis of the Mann Gulch and Storm King Mountain fires, practical recommendations for enhancing organizations’ ability to effectively cope with crisis and environmental uncertainty are offered.     

A consideration of five traditional educational philosophies for speech communication

The authors present five traditional educational philosophies— Idealism, Realism, Neo‐Thomism, Experimentalism, Existentialism—which identify an instructor's educational approaches to speech communication.     

Challenging neoliberal justification for labor exploitation through the application of critical communication pedagogy

This activity elucidates a critical and pragmatic means by which students and instructors can examine the practice of labor exploitation by neoliberal corporations. By employing critical communication pedagogy (CCP), instructors and students can learn about the ways that corporations actively steal wages from their employees and communicatively justify this theft through the ethic of individualism. In so doing, corporations break the social contract and inculcate employees to believe not in collectivism and social responsibility, but instead only in the logic of the free market. Thus, employees internalize the idea that earning at a level below what is desired is the fault of the individual and not the fault of the corporation. Employees learn to absolve corporations of any wrongdoing. Students and instructors will challenge this ideology and practice by employing the tenets of CCP to recognize and respond to labor exploitation.

Courses: Business and Professional Communication, Professional Speaking, Instructional Communication, Critical Studies/Critical Theory in Communication

Objectives: In this two-day activity, first, students will learn about critical communication pedagogy (CCP) and how they can apply it to respond to hegemony. Second, students will learn about the concept of labor exploitation that they may face in their future careers. Third, students will apply CCP to analyze and respond to the ways in which corporations justify labor exploitation through their communicative practices, equipping students to push back against labor exploitation in their future careers.     

The status of speech communication education in Michigan secondary schools

A ten year update of Michigan secondary school speech programs indicated little change in curricula. The basic course is best described as an elective, semester, combination course for ninth through twelfth graders. Most frequently offered advanced courses are drama, debate, and advanced speech. Most respondents graduated from one of Michigan's state universities, and usually teach English in addition to speech. Few are involved in professional associations.     

Addressing the challenges of critical communication pedagogy scholarship: moving toward an applied agenda

Critical communication pedagogy (CCP) scholarship is a relatively new and important area of research that evaluates how language is used to both empower and marginalize. It faces challenges in terms of recognition and publication outlets. In this essay, I argue that scholars face obstacles when attempting to publish pedagogical work that is critical in nature. I make the case that a major reason that CCP scholarship is not as widely recognized is that it is largely not considered to be applied work. By sharing my experiences, I argue that scholars working in CCP can help to overcome these barriers to recognition and publication by developing an applied language and focus for CCP, demonstrating how CCP can be used to recognize and respond to hegemony in the classroom and in society.     

Utilizing elements of The Apprentice in the strategic communication campaigns course

Courses: Strategic Campaigns, Advertising/Public Relations Campaigns

Objectives: The purpose of this semester-long project is student application of research-based strategic communication strategies and techniques used in executing a professional strategic communication campaign for a client.     

The relationship between student learning mode and changes in thoughts about communication in the basic oral communication course

This study investigates relationships between learning mode and changes in thoughts about communication (self‐perceived communication competence and communication apprehension) over a semester long basic communication course. The present study goes beyond previous work in that it examines changes in thoughts that are desired course outcomes instead of treating communication variables as unchanging. Results suggest a relationship between learning modes and thoughts about communicating but that learning mode does not exert major influence on changes during the basic communication course.     

The emergent genre of campaign e-mail in the 2008 presidential nomination campaign

This study describes e-mail use in the 2008 U.S. presidential nomination campaigns. A content analysis and rhetorical analysis of over 1,400 e-mails from the primary season of that campaign reveal evidence of typification. Consistent practices and shared purposes are evident in the campaign e-mails, along with shared and individual variations indicating an emergent communicative form. In-group identification pairs with interactive, supporter behaviors to make up the dominant constellations-of-practice within this corpus.     

Examining the persuasive effect of statistical messages: A test of mediating relationships

The current study tested the degree to which the sample size heuristic (Baesler & Bur goon, 1994), perceived verifiability of evidence (Ah Yun & Massi, 2000), and perceived message credibility (Kopfman, Smith, Ah Yun, & Hodges, 1998) mediate the relationship between the use of statistical evidence in a persuasive appeal and a person's attitude toward a given topic. Four hundred eighty‐six participants were exposed to one of three messages (statistical, narrative, or no‐evidence control) or a no‐message control condition and completed either a 12‐ (control) or 33‐item (experimental) survey that was designed to measure respondents’ perceptions of the sample size heuristic, verifiability of evidence, message credibility, and attitude toward a year‐round academic schedule. Path analysis and hierarchical regression modeling were employed to test the proposed model. Results revealed that the perceived sample size heuristic, verifiability of evidence, and message credibility mediate the relationship between statistical evidence and individuals’ attitudes. Additionally, the perceived sample size heuristic was found to be the strongest unique predictor of attitudes and confirmatory factory analysis results indicated that perceived verifiability and message credibility may be two indicators of a higher‐order factor. These findings and their implications for future research are discussed.     

The persuasive effects of statistical evidence in the presence of exemplars

This paper explores the impact of statistical evidence by varying it while pairing it with a constant set of exemplars. The resulting design includes a condition in which the statistical information and the exemplars advocate the same position (consistent condition), one in which statistical information and the exemplars advocate different positions (inconsistent condition), and a third condition in which only exemplars are presented (control condition). The data indicate that statistical evidence has a substantial effect on judgments, and that the impact of statistical evidence on attitudes is indirect. Specifically, it is mediated by judgments.     

The basic course in argumentation: A prospectus

This paper suggests that the basic course in argumentation should be developed around objectives, pedagogy, and materials which will describe the choice behaviors of the advocate and critic.     

The scholar's anthology: A research agenda for communication education

These five papers summarize and provide a focus for concerns about research in communication education, and identify critical areas for additional research. The authors also specify areas where educators and scholars should he implementing existing research findings in speech communication instruction.