This research was done to find out if engineering oral presentations (EOPs) are a genre, if there are systematic differences between EOPs delivered by native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) of English, if there are systematic differences between EOPs delivered by novices and experts and, if the engineering discourse community (DC) members have beliefs concerning what constitute 'good' EOPs. One engineering seminar and four engineering conferences carried out in Malaysia and the UK between March and September 1994 were participated. From this participant observation exercise, 100 questionnaires were gathered and responses analysed; sixty-eight EOPs delivered by NSs and NNSs were transcribed and analysed using Genre Analysis frameworks. Results from the analysis of EOPs were counterchecked with the responses in the questionnaires. It was found that EOPs did have describable characteristics which qualify them as a genre; There were few differences between EOPs delivered by NSs and NNSs of English because the latter tend to follow the former; There were describable differences between EOPs delivered by experts and novices. The engineering DC members did have their genre expectations but not all of their beliefs concerning what constitute 'good' EOPs were possible to materialise in actual occasions because of certain unavoidable constraints. These constraints were found to be affecting the variants of the genre more than the invariants. These variant-invariant elements were found to be related to the characteristics of exemplars, prototypes, prestige markers and the patterns of imitations of NNSs and novices of the engineering DC members. 'Ecological validity' was pointed out to be one of the ways of achieving the reliability and the validity of the research. Potential teaching implications were also discussed. Unavoidable limitations of the research were pointed out and finally immediate and longer term research projects have been identified.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-158). Also available in print.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / With a basic understanding of the connection between EAPS and the goals of public speaking I will focus on issues especially challenging to EAPS students due to cultural and language differences, which include: communication apprehension, understanding your audience’s frame of reference, rhetorical organization, and non-verbal communication.

A non-concurrent multiple baseline design across eight participants was used to determine whether working through Hayes and Smith's (2005) book would help those with public speaking anxiety. Hayes and Smith (2005) is based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It encourages people to accept internal experiences as opposed to avoiding and struggling with them. For the purposes of this study, the book was divided into nine components, which participants discussed with the researcher. They also completed measures daily, during baseline and over the intervention period, as well as a battery of tests pre-baseline, mid and post intervention. The multiple baseline data showed that self-reported willingness to approach public speaking situations increased while self-reported avoidance decreased over the intervention. The pre and post measures also showed avoidance of internal experiences decreased significantly after the intervention. These outcomes are in line with changes suggested to result from engaging in such a therapy. The pre and post results also showed that quality of life increased significantly from mid to post-intervention. However, engagement with values did not change. While this measure is expected to change after such an intervention, this result may have occurred because the ideas about values were introduced last in the book. The intervention also led to significant decreases in anxiety, significant changes in thoughts about public speaking and significant increases in anxiety control as shown by the test battery. These findings are positive but are not predicted by processes posited for this therapy. However, there was no control group so these pre vs post comparisons must be interpreted with caution. Despite this limitation, the results suggest that the book, together with therapist contact, can help those with public speaking anxiety.

No description available.

Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) arises from the real or anticipated performance of an oral presentation. People with PSA experience an increase in Heart Rate (HR), negative self- focused thoughts and observable behaviours such as, trembling or non-fluent speech. In this study Video Self-Modelling (VSM), an intervention based on observational learning, was used to increase performance fluency and decrease cognitive, behavioural, and physiological anxiety. Ten high school students with high PSA participated from an English class in a New Zealand school. Video self-models were created for each student through editing to depict confident speaking and then viewed by the students 5 to 8 times over a fortnight. Results indicated from pre-intervention to post-intervention that all students decreased their level of behavioural anxiety. Seven of the ten students decreased their level of self-reported speech anxiety and six students self-reported more positive thoughts about public speaking. There was a decrease in HR for two of the four students, who wore HR monitors during the study. These results suggest that VSM could be used as an intervention, within a high school setting, to reduce anxiety and improve public speaking performance.

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Carol Poster, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 22, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this paper was to identify video feedback and self monitoring as a positive teaching strategy for improving the public speaking behavior in a classroom setting. An ABA withdrawal design was utilized with four adolescent, male teenage boys (ages 12-18). During the intervention, participants reviewed videotaped probes of their public speaking behavior and completed the self monitoring form. The results of the current study provided mixed results in that while some participants improved in one or more aspects of their behavior, only two of the four participants improved all aspects of their behavior. However, when taken into consideration with the anecdotal evidence provided there is some support for the use of video feedback with self monitoring to improve public speaking performance.

Rhetorical studies have been lacking in the area of John F. Kennedy's ceremonial speeches. Therefore, it was felt that a contribution could be made by analyzing samples of President Kennedy's speeches delivered on special occasions in order to describe what he used in such situations and where possible to attempt to explain why he used these devices. This study will be done in light of principles given by some classical and modern rhetoricians concerning the ceremonial speech. The specific criteria will be the rhetorical canons of invention, disposition, and style.

This study investigated curricular methods to reduce communication apprehension among public speaking students. Previous research has found many intervention strategies to be successful in reducing levels of communication apprehension, including both visualization and cognitive restructuring. However, prior research has failed to examine the efficacy of such techniques within the context of teaching a public speaking course that has limited time to devote to these techniques. Consequently, an experiment was conducted which examined whether a one hour instructional unit using cognitive restructuring and visualization can reduce levels of communication apprehension among public speaking students. The results of the study indicate that a one hour instructional unit does not reduce the anxiety of high communication apprehensive students in a public speaking course.