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An examination of language arts instruction for the elementary school child, this paper reviews the failures of traditional methods of teaching grammar to develop language competence. As an alternative, the author proposes the oral method, which focuses upon student-centered interaction situations. Such situations would provide the student with opportunities to develop and strengthen his language performance skills through self-motivating and group activities. Using this approach, the teacher would establish an environment which stimulates child discourse. Thus, the elementary classroom would be changed from a teacher-dominated environment of listeners to a dynamic verbal environment in which children explore their language by using it. (LG)

The author suggests a critical approach to the rhetoric of the American Revolution focusing on the concept of "myth-making. This operates in revolutionary rhetoric when the revolutionist creates a spiritual dynamism for his movement through appeals that suggest the sanction of supra-rational forces. The author applies this concept to the persuasive literature of an American Revolutionary propagandist, Francis Hopkinson. He reveals a close interaction of aggressive rhetoric and unifying rhetoric, operating to generate an American identity, which included a shared vision of both the national character and the destiny of America. He points to such words as "liberty,""genius," and "commerce," as unifying symbols or the ultimate terms of that period. He suggests that in order to grasp the full significance of American Revolutionary rhetoric, scholars focus their attention on the myth-making function. He concludes that the rhetoric of the Revolution was more than manipulated; it expressed ideas with personal significance to both rhetors and auditors--ideas with perhaps lasting impact on the future development of American public address. (Author/RN)

This syllabus provides guidelines and bibliographies for training teachers. A variety of training programs in classroom communication, ranging in length from one-hour presentations to semester-length courses, are outlined. The flexible format is divided into five parts: (1) Rationale for Studying Classroom Communication; (2) Communication Models: Perspectives on Teaching as Communication; (3) Nonverbal Communication; (4) The Verbal Code: Encoding and Decoding; and (5) Barriers to Classroom Communication. This report also suggests instructional materials (including readings, films, and activities) that increase teachers' and prospective teachers' awareness of classroom communication. (CH)

Advocates return of collegiate debating to public forum format. (CH)