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Part One

Expected Student Outcomes for Speaking and Listening:

Basic Communication Course and General Education

The following student outcomes represent some of the expectations for students taking a basic communication course and/or participating in the general education requirements of a school. Basic course or general education students need speaking and listening skills that will help them succeed in future courses and on the job. They need to be able to construct and deliver messages and listen with literal and critical comprehension. The basic course can provide knowledge of effective communication techniques, an arena for developing and practicing skills, and positive feelings about communicating in the future. Instructors and administrators could use some or all of the expected student outcomes to inform the design of a basic communication course. Academic institutions could use some or all of the outcomes to describe campus expectations for students in regard to the general education curriculum (Rosenbaum, 1994).
Note: The content of this table was originally published by NCA in 1990 as Communication Is Life: Essential College Sophomore Speaking and Listening Competencies. Some definitions have been updated from the original publication and editing changes have been made to achieve more consistency among the tables contained in this document.
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Table 1: Expected Student Outcomes for Speaking and Listening:
Basic Communication Course and General Education

I. SPEAKING COMPETENCIES      (Quianthy, 1990)I. SPEAKING COMPETENCIES      (Quianthy, 1990)

Speaking is the process of transmitting ideas and information orally in a variety of situations. Effective oral communication involves generating messages and delivering them with attention to vocal variety, articulation, and nonverbal signals.

In order to be a COMPETENT SPEAKER, a person must be able to compose a message and provide ideas and information suitable to the topic, purpose, and audience. Specifically, the competent speaker should exhibit the following competencies by demonstrating the abilities included under each statement.

A. DETERMINE THE PURPOSE OF ORAL DISCOURSE.

  1. Identify the various purposes for discourse.
  2. Identify the similarities and differences among various purposes.
  3. Understand that different contexts require differing purposes.
  4. Generate a specific purpose relevant to the context when given a general purpose.

B. CHOOSE A TOPIC AND RESTRICT IT ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE AND THE AUDIENCE.

  1. Identify a subject that is relevant to the speaker's role, knowledge, concerns, and interests.
  2. Narrow the topic adapting it to the purpose and time constraints for communicating.
  3. Adapt the treatment of the topic to the context for communication.

C. FULFILL THE PURPOSE OF ORAL DISCOURSE BY:

Formulating a thesis statement.

  1. Use a thesis as a planning tool.
  2. Summarize the central message in a manner consistent with the purpose.

Providing adequate support material.

  1. Demonstrate awareness of available types of support.
  2. Locate appropriate support materials.
  3. Select appropriate support based on the topic, audience, setting, and purpose.

Selecting a suitable organizational pattern.

  1. Demonstrate awareness of alternative organizational patterns.
  2. Demonstrate understanding of the functions of organizational patterns including:
    1. clarification of information
    2. facilitation of listener comprehension
    3. attitude change
    4. relational interaction.
  1. Select organizational patterns that are appropriate to the topic, audience, context, and purpose.

Demonstrating careful choice of words.

  1. Demonstrate understanding of the power of language.
  2. Select words that are appropriate to the topic, audience, purpose, context, and speaker.
  3. Use word choice in order to express ideas clearly, to create and maintain interest, and to enhance the speaker's credibility.
  4. Select words that avoid sexism, racism, and other forms of prejudice.

Providing effective transitions.

  1. Demonstrate understanding of the types and functions of transitions.
  2. Use transitions to:
    1. establish connectedness
    2. signal movement from one idea to another
    3. clarify relationships among ideas
The COMPETENT SPEAKER must also be able to transmit the message by using delivery skills suitable to the topic, purpose, and audience. Specifically, the competent speaker should exhibit the following competencies by demonstrating the abilities included under each statement.

A. EMPLOY VOCAL VARIETY IN RATE, PITCH, AND INTENSITY.

  1. Use vocal variety to heighten and maintain interest.
  2. Use a rate that is suitable to the message, occasion, and receiver.
  3. Use pitch (within the speaker's optimum range) to clarify and to emphasize.
  4. Use intensity appropriate for the message and audible to the audience.

B. ARTICULATE CLEARLY.

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the sounds of the American English language.
  2. Use the sounds of the American English language.

C. EMPLOY LANGUAGE APPROPRIATE TO THE DESIGNATED AUDIENCE.

  1. Employ language that enhances the speaker's credibility, promotes the purpose, and the receiver's understanding.
  2. Demonstrate that the use of technical vocabularies, slang, idiomatic language, and regionalisms may facilitate understanding when communicating with others who share meanings for those terms, but can hinder understanding in those situations where meanings are not shared.
  3. Use standard pronunciation.
  4. Use standard grammar.
  5. Use language at the appropriate level of abstraction or generality.

D. DEMONSTRATE NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR THAT SUPPORTS THE VERBAL MESSAGE.

  1. Use appropriate paralanguage (extraverbal elements of voice such as emphasis, pause, tone, etc.) that
  2. achieves congruence and enhances the verbal intent.
  3. Use appropriate kinesic elements (posture, gesture, and facial expression) that achieve congruence and enhance the verbal intent.
  4. Use appropriate proxemic elements (interpersonal distance and spatial arrangement) that
  5. achieve congruence and enhance the verbal intent.
  6. Use appropriate clothing and ornamentation that achieve congruence and enhance the verbal intent.
The COMPETENT SPEAKER must also be able to transmit messages using interpersonal skills suitable to the context and the audience. Specifically, the competent speaker should exhibit interpersonal competence by demonstrating the following abilities.
  1. Demonstrate appropriate interpersonal skills for various contexts.
  2. Display self-awareness as a communicator.
  3. Select from a repertoire of interpersonal skills those strategies that enhance relationships.
  4. Use a conversational mode through self-presentation and response to feedback.

II. LISTENING COMPETENCIES

Listening is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and or nonverbal messages. People listen in order to comprehend information, critique and evaluate a message, show empathy for the feelings expressed by others, or appreciate a performance. Effective listening includes both literal and critical comprehension of ideas and information transmitted in oral language
In order to be a COMPETENT LISTENER, a person must be able to listen with literal comprehension. Specifically, the competent listener should be able to exhibit the following competencies by demonstrating the abilities included under each statement.

A. RECOGNIZE MAIN IDEAS.

  1. Distinguish ideas fundamental to the thesis from material that supports those ideas.
  2. Identify transitional, organizational, and nonverbal cues that direct the listener to the main ideas.
  3. Identify the main ideas in structured and unstructured discourse.

B. IDENTIFY SUPPORTING DETAILS.

  1. Identify supporting details in spoken messages.
  2. Distinguish between those ideas that support the main ideas and those that do not.
  3. Determine whether the number of supporting details adequately develops each main idea.

C. RECOGNIZE EXPLICIT RELATIONSHIPS AMONG IDEAS.

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the types of organizational or logical relationships.
  2. Identify transitions that suggest relationships.
  3. Determine whether the asserted relationship exists.

D. RECALL BASIC IDEAS AND DETAILS.

  1. Determine the goal for listening.
  2. State the basic cognitive and affective contents, after listening.
The COMPETENT LISTENER must also listen with critical comprehension. Specifically, the competent listener should exhibit the following competencies by demonstrating the abilities included under each statement.

A. ATTEND WITH AN OPEN MIND.

  1. Demonstrate an awareness of personal, ideological, and emotional biases.
  2. Demonstrate awareness that each person has a unique perspective.
  3. Demonstrate awareness that one's knowledge, experience, and emotions affect listening.
  4. Use verbal and nonverbal behaviors that demonstrate willingness to listen to messages when variables such as setting, speaker, or topic may not be conducive to listening.

B. PERCEIVE THE SPEAKER'S PURPOSE AND ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS AND INFORMATION.

  1. Identify the speaker's purpose.
  2. Identify the organization of the speaker's ideas and information.

C. DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN STATEMENTS OF FACT AND STATEMENTS OF OPINION.

  1. Distinguish between assertions that are verifiable and those that are not.

D. DISTINGUISH BETWEEN EMOTIONAL AND LOGICAL ARGUMENTS.

  1. Demonstrate an understanding that arguments have both emotional and logical dimensions.
  2. Identify the logical characteristics of an argument.
  3. Identify the emotional characteristics of an argument.
  4. Identify whether the argument is predominantly emotional or logical.

E. DETECT BIAS AND PREJUDICE.

  1. Identify instances of bias and prejudice in a spoken message.
  2. Specify how bias and prejudice may affect the impact of a spoken message.

F. RECOGNIZE THE SPEAKER'S ATTITUDE.

  1. Identify the direction, intensity, and salience of the speaker's attitude as reflected by the verbal messages.
  2. Identify the direction, intensity, and salience of the speaker's attitude as reflected by the nonverbal messages.

G. SYNTHESIZE AND EVALUATE BY DRAWING LOGICAL INFERENCES AND CONCLUSIONS.

  1. Draw relationships between prior knowledge and the information provided by the speaker.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of inference.
  3. Identify the types of verbal and nonverbal information.
  4. Draw valid inferences from the information.
  5. Identify the information as evidence to support views.
  6. Assess the acceptability of evidence.
  7. Identify patterns of reasoning and judge the validity of arguments.
  8. Analyze the information and inferences in order to draw conclusions.

H. RECALL THE IMPLICATIONS AND ARGUMENTS.

  1. Identify the arguments used to justify the speaker's position.
  2. State both the overt and implied arguments.
  3. Specify the implications of these arguments for the speaker, audience, and society at large.

I. RECOGNIZE DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE SPEAKER'S VERBAL AND NONVERBAL MESSAGES.

  1. Identify when the nonverbal signals contradict the verbal message.
  2. Identify when the nonverbal signals understate or exaggerate the verbal message.
  3. Identify when the nonverbal message is irrelevant to the verbal message.

J. EMPLOY ACTIVE LISTENING TECHNIQUES WHEN APPROPRIATE.

  1. Identify the cognitive and affective dimensions of a message.
  2. Demonstrate comprehension by formulating questions that clarify or qualify the speaker's content and affective intent.
  3. Demonstrate comprehension by paraphrasing the speaker's message.

 

Continue on to Part Two (Basic and Advanced Skills)
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