Oral Communication Across the Curriculum: The State of the Art After Twenty-five Years of Experience

Authors

Michael W. Cronin, Radford University
George L. Grice, Radford University
Patricia R. Palmerton, Hamline University

Abstract

This article aims is to guide administrators and faculty in developing oral-communication-across-the-curriculum (OCXC) programs. It examines the rationale for and the most common arguments against OCXC; presents recommendations for designing, implementing, and assessing such programs; reviews published assessments of learning outcomes relevant to OCXC; and offers suggestions for the continued development of OCXC. OCXC was first began in 1975 at Central College in Pella, Iowa. A dissertation and a master's project have examined OCXC. The National Communication Association has promulgated resolutions to guide the development of OCXC and has offered a three-hour short course on OCXC at the past ten annual conventions. External funding, including four FIPSE grants, has helped support programs at institutions such as Alvemo College, Bismark State College, Butler University, Central College, Clarkson University, DePauw University, Hamline University, Ithaca College, Mount Holyoke College, Pima Community College, Radford University, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, St. Olaf College, and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The OCXC approach is often patterned after writing across the curriculum. Both the writing and OCXC emphases evolved from the "language-across-the-curriculum" movement that began in Great Britain in the 1960s.

Recommended Citation

Cronin, M. W., Grice, G. L., & Palmerton, P. R. (2000). Oral communication across the curriculum: The state of the art after twenty-five years of experience. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 29(1), 66–87.