Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: HeeMin Kim, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Political Science. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 22, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 151 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

M.A. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the state of rhetorical criticism in public speaking organisations in South Africa. Public speaking is defined as rhetoric and the evaluation of public speaking as rhetorical criticism. The different perspectives towards rhetorical criticism are outlined and the approaches encompassed by these perspectives are discussed. The focus of the study is the state of rhetorical criticism in the public speaking organisations in South Africa. It was therefore necessary to establish the orientations and purposes of these organisations. The public speaking organisations identified at the outset of the study were Afrikaanse Taal-en Kultuurvereniging and Toastmasters International. The research project involved participant observation for the purpose of first-order interpretation ofthe methods ofevaluation used by these organisations. These organisations were founded for the purposes of promoting the skill of public speaking and developing confidence in speakers. By applying purposive sampling initially, snowball sampling emerged and the other public speaking organisations in South Africa were identified. This enabled the inclusion of the whole population for the purposes of this study. The investigation of the contemporary theories on rhetorical criticism revealed that there was a breakaway from the initial speaker orientation that focused on the effect of the speaker. Different perspectives on rhetorical criticism emerged since the traditional perspective that included approaches that focused on various forms of message analysis. Although effectiveness remained the overall criteria in the assessment ofpublic speaking, the emphasis has shifted to the message rather than the speaker. It is accepted that rhetorical criticism is subjective but at the same time it should be justified by reasons.

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Afrikaans in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1995. / The aim of the research was to identify the role of mother tongue influence in the Afrikaans of Zulu speaking pupils. The research was conducted in the Mehlwesizwe and Hlabisa inspection circuits respectively. The results showed that most deviations which could be ascribed to mother tongue influence were syntactic. Followed by lexical phonological and morphological deviations that there was a need for the use of the communicative approach in the teaching of Afrikaans which can result in the pupils being able to communicate in the language . Successful communication would determine whether the language is correct or not. The amount of exposure to Afrikaans as well as the residential area of the respondent did not necessarily determine the measure of proficiency in the language. The results also showed that Afrikaans occupies third place after the mother tongue and English in the research area. So is it fair to teach pupils a second language higher grade syllabus in Afrikaans ? Why not make provision for a second Language lower grade or even a third language Afrikaans sylabus?

This thesis tabulated five hundred and twenty correct criteria checking points. Based on the analysis of rating scale, the data show that the fourty adminstrators (subjects) made an average of 3724 speches a year (about 93 per school adminstrator), and the findings presented some evidences of the need of speech training for school administrators.

ESL students in academic listening/speaking courses often listen to long audio recordings similar to a lecture or other academic passages. When listening to these passages, students can lose their interest which impedes their learning of new strategies for understanding academic language. Students in the Level Four Listening/Speaking classes at Brigham Young University's English Language Center (ELC), under the previous curriculum, would experience this challenge. All of the passages were available only in audio and were long in duration. The students would lose interest and improve little in their listening skills. Under the new curriculum at the ELC, students in Academic Levels A and B practice listening using both audio and video. When only audio recordings are used, the students are observed to lose interest and they do not practice the strategies. In order to build student interest, broadcast news video clips can be used. These clips offer a multi-sensory experience for the students and they can vary in length. Also, these clips expose the students to language and content that they will experience in university settings, thus providing them with an authentic experience. In order to create cohesive and coherent materials using video clips, specifications for these materials needed to be designed and developed. The designed specifications discuss ten steps for developers to follow in order to create these materials. As a part of these specifications, two sample sections were created. Because of the context, the specifications focus on the use of broadcast news clips; however, they can easily be adapted for use in other contexts as well. The developed sample sections were piloted in order to assess the usefulness of the specifications. Feedback was received from my Project Chair, the listening/speaking coordinator, the students who participated in the pilot, and the other teacher who participated in the pilot. Using the feedback revisions were made to the specifications and the sample sections.

Safety in logging operations in the Southeastern United States has long been an issue of concern. Recently, a growing number of Spanish-speaking workers have become employed in logging operations in the Southeastern U.S. There is a growing concern that injury and fatality rates could increase due to inexperience, possible lack of proper safety training, and language barrier problems attributed to the new Spanish-speaking workers. The study area is the Southeastern U.S., comprising twelve states ranging from Texas to Virginia. The goal of this study is to determine the current percentage of Spanish-speaking workers in the study area, assess the previous and present safety training received by Spanish-speaking workers, and provide recommendations addressing the short and long-term logging safety training needs of Spanish-speaking workers. Data was collected through a combination of field surveys and questionnaires. The surveys collected data from 1890 logging operations in the study area, and was used to determine the population of Spanish-speaking workers in the logging industry. The questionnaires were completed during the summer of 2005 by 41 selected sample loggers who employ Spanish-speaking workers, in which they addressed the previous and present safety training received by Spanish-speaking workers, in addition to other information pertaining to safety. The percentage of Spanish-speaking workers in the logging industry in the Southeastern U.S. was 3.37%. Ten percent of operations employed one or more Spanish-speaking workers. Relevant literature as well as data collected through this study suggests that Spanish-speaking worker populations will continue to increase. The survey showed Spanish-speaking workers in the logging industry have tended to immigrate to specific regions, Arkansas and North Carolina. Loggers tend to employ one or two Spanish-speaking workers with several non-Spanish-speaking workers rather than forming entire crews of Spanish-speaking workers. Average employment tenure for Spanish-speaking workers was six years. The majority of loggers (90%) who employed Spanish-speaking workers had at least one worker who could translate safety training/instructions to other Spanish-speaking employees. Loggers ranked this method as the most effective way for presenting safety training to Spanish-speaking workers. Based on the survey data, Spanish-speaking workers are not likely to substantially impact logging industry injury statistics in the Southeastern U.S. in the near future, but could in the long term. Recommendations were developed from a combination of survey and questionnaire results and literature reviews. It is recommended that: (1) The use of multiple safety training methods will maximize the Spanish-speaking workers learning ability, (2) The combination of hands-on/demonstration training and the use of a bi-lingual employee/translator seem to be the optimal combination of safety training methods for Spanish-speaking workers, (3) Determine the education/literacy levels of Spanish-speaking employees. It is not appropriate to provide a Spanish-speaking worker with written safety material if they cannot read, (4) Safety training methods used for Spanish-speaking workers may require more "customization" than that of non-Spanish-speaking workers. This is, in part, due to language barriers, questionable literacy, and the fact that in other industries Spanish-speaking workers seem to be more accident prone, (5) It is advisable not to assign inadequately trained and experienced Spanish-speaking workers to tasks such as manual felling, trimming, or bucking with a chainsaw, as this is one of the most hazardous logging tasks. Assigning an experienced employee for a period of at least one week who can oversee the Spanish-speaking worker and correct any unsafe practices would be advisable when assigning a new Spanish-speaking worker to this task, (6) Use universally accepted hand signals around the landing area rather than verbal communication to prevent any miscommunication between Spanish-speaking and non-Spanish-speaking workers, (7) Monitor the Spanish-speaking worker population in the logging workforce closely. Depending on political and economic factors, this population could grow quickly and begin to impact safety/injury rates and (8) Crews comprised entirely of Spanish-speaking workers would likely communicate better. While the limited availability of Spanish-speaking workers in some areas may currently restrict this idea, it may be feasible in the future as more Spanish-speaking workers enter the logging workforce. At this time it may be beneficial for employers to learn Spanish or for Spanish-speaking workers to learn English. / Master of Science

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