- Email: [email protected]
Listening: a programmed approach
BOOK REVIEWS
87
There are several personality sketches done in mitigated Timestyle. Rivers pays his l espeets to Walter Lippmann: he "has the aura of an aging eagle" (p. 67). J~,~mes Reston, it is suggested, is all but the complete reporter: his "direct in|pact on government is impressive, but his indirect influence is awesome" (p. 73). It is a relief, once again, to read a chapter poking fun at Time, we spend so much of our lives taking it seriously. But the most readable cl'aapters recount, with vivid incident, the presidential "managing" of news, from Roosevelt to Johnson. Rivers' preface to this edition updates the study by noticing the humorists of journalism, such as Russell Baker, by making once again evident correspondents' inability to grasp Senator Goldwater's unfamiliar attitude towards Vietnam war strategy, civil rights, the United Nations, and Red China; and by adverting to President Johnson's conduct of the war in Vietnam as an illustration of his disregard of "all questions of taste and morality" (p. xiii). This book is, in a limited way, a useful introduction to the world of press and politics as seen in Washington, D.C., just yesterday. Despite extensive use of quotations, there is a general absence of source references.
Ella A. Erway: Listening: a programmed approach, New York, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1969, 117 pages, $2.95, set of four master tapes, $50.00. By Joseph S. Coppolino, Pace College, N.Y. This educational package consists of the text (actually more a student workbook), four seven-inch reel master tapes, and a combined teacher's guide tape transcript manual. The program can be used, according to the author, either individually or in small groups, and while particularly suited for use in public speaking classes, it is also adaptable to other situations where there is a desire to improve listening skills. The text is divided into seven programs, each taking, according to the author, an average of forty-five minutes to complete. It is suggested that no more than one program a day be completed because "you will be more tired at the end of a program than you would be at the conclusion of an hour in class". The programs progress in difficulty; sound sensitizing and distinctions between hearing, listening and auding are covered in program one, discerning the central idea and major sections of the speech in program two, organizational patterns in program three, supporting materials in program four, motive or persuasive appeals in program five, style and language in program six, and a test of listening skills in program seven. For those unfamiliar with programmed instruction, the method is as follows: the student begins a program by reading the text (tiffs is usually the
88
BOOK REVIEWS
introduction to the skill to be mastered). He is then directed to listen to the tape (usually to a speech excerpt of under five minutes). He now returns to the text and records his answers based either on questions in the text or asked on the tape, checks his answers and then moves on in the text going through a similar process. There are tweive to twenty speech excerpts within a program, progressing in difficulty and selected because of their relevance to the objectives of the particular program. All of the samples are excerpts from contemporary public figures, and are read on the tape by actors. The program is well developed with regard to the isolation and progression of speaking skills (as one can see from the subject descriptions of the programs above). But the hypothesis, that "the idenltification of elements of speech content and structure will aid the student in developing critical ability in listening" is one which the author readily admits, requires further exploration. This brings us to the broader question of the o v e ~ ! effectiveness of the program. While the author did test large groups of students in the preparation of the program, f'mal evaluations were based o~ the test at the end of the text, and all we can safely conclude from that is that the program does a good job of preparing the students for the test, and the test tests the recognition of elements of speech content and structure. The~e is no mention of control groups or objective listening tests in the teacher's guide or text. Another problem I find with the program is that it tends t,~ forge ahead in spite of an incorrect answer. That is, while the student who records an incorrect answer must pause and. read material which discusses the nature of his error and possible reasons for making it, he then moves on to the next speech excerpt, without an opportunity to practice the skill just explained. An advantage of programmed material is that the place and t2~pe of error can be identified, and the student does not move on until he has mastered the particular skill. If the mate~rial in this text is truly progrt~ssive, then the student who has recorded an incorrect answer must master or cope with two levels of difficulty at the same time in the next excerpt. The ~uthor may well reply, however, that this drawback, if it is one, did not ma, lifest itself to the students, as indicated by their performance on the final ~:e:~t (90% of 300 students achieved a maste.,T score of 70%). Teachers of communications certainly recognize the importance of reception and decoding in communication models; we, therefore, cannot ignore these skills or assume they will somehow happen in our communication courses. Listening: a programmed approach offers a positiv,,' :dternative. I am confident that it will aid students in the preparation of their own speeches. I am fairly confident that it will aid them in the analysis of si?eeches of others. If its underlying hypotheses require further exploration, then, as the author suggests, the program itself may become a tool of that r,~search. Wherever public speaking is taught, and particularly where little or notl,~ting is done with regard to listening, the program is certainly worth ~t try, even if only on an experimental basis.
87
There are several personality sketches done in mitigated Timestyle. Rivers pays his l espeets to Walter Lippmann: he "has the aura of an aging eagle" (p. 67). J~,~mes Reston, it is suggested, is all but the complete reporter: his "direct in|pact on government is impressive, but his indirect influence is awesome" (p. 73). It is a relief, once again, to read a chapter poking fun at Time, we spend so much of our lives taking it seriously. But the most readable cl'aapters recount, with vivid incident, the presidential "managing" of news, from Roosevelt to Johnson. Rivers' preface to this edition updates the study by noticing the humorists of journalism, such as Russell Baker, by making once again evident correspondents' inability to grasp Senator Goldwater's unfamiliar attitude towards Vietnam war strategy, civil rights, the United Nations, and Red China; and by adverting to President Johnson's conduct of the war in Vietnam as an illustration of his disregard of "all questions of taste and morality" (p. xiii). This book is, in a limited way, a useful introduction to the world of press and politics as seen in Washington, D.C., just yesterday. Despite extensive use of quotations, there is a general absence of source references.
Ella A. Erway: Listening: a programmed approach, New York, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1969, 117 pages, $2.95, set of four master tapes, $50.00. By Joseph S. Coppolino, Pace College, N.Y. This educational package consists of the text (actually more a student workbook), four seven-inch reel master tapes, and a combined teacher's guide tape transcript manual. The program can be used, according to the author, either individually or in small groups, and while particularly suited for use in public speaking classes, it is also adaptable to other situations where there is a desire to improve listening skills. The text is divided into seven programs, each taking, according to the author, an average of forty-five minutes to complete. It is suggested that no more than one program a day be completed because "you will be more tired at the end of a program than you would be at the conclusion of an hour in class". The programs progress in difficulty; sound sensitizing and distinctions between hearing, listening and auding are covered in program one, discerning the central idea and major sections of the speech in program two, organizational patterns in program three, supporting materials in program four, motive or persuasive appeals in program five, style and language in program six, and a test of listening skills in program seven. For those unfamiliar with programmed instruction, the method is as follows: the student begins a program by reading the text (tiffs is usually the
88
BOOK REVIEWS
introduction to the skill to be mastered). He is then directed to listen to the tape (usually to a speech excerpt of under five minutes). He now returns to the text and records his answers based either on questions in the text or asked on the tape, checks his answers and then moves on in the text going through a similar process. There are tweive to twenty speech excerpts within a program, progressing in difficulty and selected because of their relevance to the objectives of the particular program. All of the samples are excerpts from contemporary public figures, and are read on the tape by actors. The program is well developed with regard to the isolation and progression of speaking skills (as one can see from the subject descriptions of the programs above). But the hypothesis, that "the idenltification of elements of speech content and structure will aid the student in developing critical ability in listening" is one which the author readily admits, requires further exploration. This brings us to the broader question of the o v e ~ ! effectiveness of the program. While the author did test large groups of students in the preparation of the program, f'mal evaluations were based o~ the test at the end of the text, and all we can safely conclude from that is that the program does a good job of preparing the students for the test, and the test tests the recognition of elements of speech content and structure. The~e is no mention of control groups or objective listening tests in the teacher's guide or text. Another problem I find with the program is that it tends t,~ forge ahead in spite of an incorrect answer. That is, while the student who records an incorrect answer must pause and. read material which discusses the nature of his error and possible reasons for making it, he then moves on to the next speech excerpt, without an opportunity to practice the skill just explained. An advantage of programmed material is that the place and t2~pe of error can be identified, and the student does not move on until he has mastered the particular skill. If the mate~rial in this text is truly progrt~ssive, then the student who has recorded an incorrect answer must master or cope with two levels of difficulty at the same time in the next excerpt. The ~uthor may well reply, however, that this drawback, if it is one, did not ma, lifest itself to the students, as indicated by their performance on the final ~:e:~t (90% of 300 students achieved a maste.,T score of 70%). Teachers of communications certainly recognize the importance of reception and decoding in communication models; we, therefore, cannot ignore these skills or assume they will somehow happen in our communication courses. Listening: a programmed approach offers a positiv,,' :dternative. I am confident that it will aid students in the preparation of their own speeches. I am fairly confident that it will aid them in the analysis of si?eeches of others. If its underlying hypotheses require further exploration, then, as the author suggests, the program itself may become a tool of that r,~search. Wherever public speaking is taught, and particularly where little or notl,~ting is done with regard to listening, the program is certainly worth ~t try, even if only on an experimental basis.