Making the Case for Studying “Public Speaking” as a Culturally Situated Ideal for Public Expression

• In Event: Teaching Culture in Public Speaking

Abstract

Institutes of higher education around the world respond to the challenge of globalization by internationalizing their curricula. I argue that adding an element of cultural reflection to curriculum design is an important step toward internationalization. I use ethnographic analysis to highlight the culturally situated nature of Anglo-American interpretations of “public speaking” in a historical overview of the evolution of the public speaking textbook (Sproule 2012). As a result of this analysis, “public speaking” appears as an optimal form (Wilkins, 2005) of public expression. Next, I draw out some of the basic cultural assumptions rendering that optimal form coherent to members of the Anglo-American speech community. Finally, I identify directions for future research and curriculum design.
References
Sproule, J. M. (2012). Inventing public speaking: Rhetoric and the speech book, 1730-1930. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 15(4), 563-608.
Wilkins, R. (2005). The optimal form: Inadequacies and excessiveness within the asiallinen [matter of fact] nonverbal style in public and civic settings in Finland. Journal of Communication, 55(2), 383-401. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02678.x

Author

• David Boromisza-Habashi, U of Colorado - Boulder