Past research has found that infants between 1- and 4-months of age prefer extremely slow infant-directed (ID) speech to normal ID speech. Given that previous studies have paired the speech with a visual display, it was thought that perhaps the characteristics of the visual display affected infant preferences for rate of speaking. The present investigation was an attempt to explore this possibility. In Experiment 1, 3- to 4-month old infants were presented with ID-normal and ID-slow speech samples paired with displays of higher and lower complexity. Here, the results showed that infants preferred ID-slow to ID-normal speech regardless of display complexity. The purpose of Experiment 2 was to determine whether infant preference for speaking rate could be affected by structural differences in the visual displays. The same ID-normal and ID-slow speech samples used in Experiment 1 were paired with visual displays that either had components in a face-like or scrambled arrangement. The results of Experiment 2 showed that infants preferred the face-like display over the scrambled display regardless of what speech type was presented (i.e., there was not preference for ID-slow speech). The results of the study as a whole indicate that young infants prefer ID-slow to ID-normal speech, but that the presence of a face-like image may overshadow this preference. The study as a whole indicates that assertions about the power of ID-slow speech, as well as any auditory event in general, should not fail to address the potential influence of other sensory factors, particularly visual. / Ph. D.

This study shows that there is a high degree of agreement as to the objectives in teaching public speaking. The range of agreement on the six objectives used in this study is 91 percent to 64 percent. There is, also a fair degree of agreement as to the procedure, which may be followed to obtain these objectives. The percent of agreement on the forty-seven procedures suggested in this study are as follows: 90 percent or above on procedures 75 percent to 90 percent on procedures 50 percent or above on all others Therefore, if teachers desire to help individuals become better speakers, they may aid their students by focusing their attention upon these objectives, and by using the teaching procedures recommended. / M.S.

The purpose of this study is to formulate criteria for the evaluation of the declamation, the selection of material for declamation, the method of coaching, the method of delivery, and the value of the declamation contest as a method of teaching.

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This dissertation explores the phenomenon of ways of speaking in the Nanti speech community of Montetoni, in southeastern Peruvian Amazonia, between 1999 and 2009. In the context of this study, a 'way of speaking' is a socially meaningful, conventionalized sound pattern, manifest at the level of the utterance, that expresses the speaker's orientation toward some aspect of the interaction. This study closely examines both the sound patterns and patterns of use of three Nanti ways of speaking — matter-of-fact talk, scolding talk, and hunting talk — and describes each one in relation to a broader set of linguistic, social, and cultural practices characteristic of the speech community at the time. The data for this study is naturally-occurring discourse recorded during multi-party, face-to-face interactions in Montetoni. Bringing together methods developed by linguists, linguistic anthropologists, conversation analysts, and interactional sociologists, this study explores the communicative relations among participants, interactions, situations of interaction, and the utterances that link them all, attending to both the individual-level cognitive (subjective) facets of interpersonal communication and the necessarily intersubjective environment in which communication takes place. In order to disaggregate the multiple levels of signification evidenced in specific utterances, tokens are examined at four levels of organization: the sound form, the sentence, the turn, and the move. The data are presented via audio files; acoustic analyses; sequentially-organized and temporally-anchored interlinearized transcripts; and composite visual representations, all of which are framed by detailed ethnographic description. Nantis' ways of speaking are shown to consistently and systematically convey social aspects of 'meaning' that are crucial to utterance interpretation and, therefore, to successful interpersonal communication. Based on the robust correspondences between sound form and communicative function identified in the Nanti communicative system, this study proposes that ways of speaking are a cross-linguistically viable level of organization in language use that awaits discovery and description in other speech communities. The research project itself is framed in terms of the practical issues that emerged through the author's own experiences in learning to communicate appropriately in monolingual Nanti society, and the ethical issues that motivate community-oriented documentation of endangered language practices. / text

The problem of this study was to investigate the influence of a course in business speaking on certain aspects of self-concept and self-confidence of college students.

Thesis (M. A. (English Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / This study contributes to the rekindled interest in rhetoric in the 21st century, with the rise of important politicians on the world stage. It investigates the different rhetorical devices used by politicians to get their audiences to consent to their ideas. Selected political speeches analysed in this study highlight the different rhetorical techniques used by notable politicians in public speaking platforms. These techniques include the use of plural pronouns, repetition, allusion, rhetorical questions, negation, comparatives, present and future tense, hyperbole, and personification. The political speeches analysed here are Barack Obama’s inauguration speech (2009), Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech (1994), Thabo Mbeki’s “I am an African” speech (1996), Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration speech (2015), and Mmusi Maimane’s SONA Debate speech (2015). The study found that all the five speeches make use of the identified rhetorical devices to ‘sell’ their ideas to their listeners and canvass their support. The study clarifies the concept of rhetoric in public speaking and also explains why people (listeners) may be persuaded by politicians to ‘buy’ their ideas, conveyed through manipulative political language. It is imperative that people be made aware of the influence that political rhetoric could have on their decision-making, particularly when public opinion is formed regarding events announced on public media. Members of the public or prospective voters will be able to distinguish the truth from falsehood, if they are familiar with the elements of rhetoric in political speeches. Politicians are likely to be stopped in their tracks from betraying public trust for personal gains. It is also important to realise that there is nothing wrong if politicians apply rhetoric in public speaking, as long as they have no intention of deceiving the listeners. However, modern-day politicians seem to use it differently. This study has identified various rhetorical devices used in the selected speeches that provide some understanding of how other terms such as persuasion and manipulation are related to rhetoric.Key words: language and power, manipulation, persuasion, politicians, political rhetoric, public speaking.

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