Brent K. Simonds

Effects of Instructor Speech Rate on Student Affective Learning, Recall, and Perceptions of Nonverbal Immediacy, Credibility, and Clarity

Although research indicates that speech rate affects perceptions of speaker credibility as well as persuasiveness and information recall, research has failed to address how instructor speech rate affects student perceptions and learning. This study randomly assigned basic communication course students to one of three speech rate conditions (slow, moderate, fast), using a videotaped lesson by an instructor. Findings revealed significant differences for credibility, affective leaning, and nonverbal immediacy, but did not reveal significant differences for recall or clarity. Implications for instructional practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Communication and Diversity: Innovations in Teacher Education.

Teacher education programs have increasingly come under fire for not providing pre-service teachers communication skills training. Given that such training is essential to address diversity in the classroom and to meet the day-to-day functioning of teachers, higher education must provide communication skills training for teacher certification. This essay describes the “Teaching Diverse Learners: Communicating Social Support” workshop designed to help new and pre-service K-12 teachers communicate more effectively with diverse student populations, and the results of pre/post test surveys of the participants.