A Descriptive Study of Informative Oral Communication Skills in Early and Late Adolescence

Abstract

The present descriptive study investigated adolescent informative discourse in order to identify various strategies used in informative discourse and to provide a basis for oral informative communication training.

Three variables that are likely to influence the process of oral clarity were considered: (1) age and the resulting sophistication in control over language and thought, (2) interaction and possibility of receiving feedback, and (3) planning and the resultant possibility of making one's messages systematic.

Three classes of dependent measures were developed to capture the elements judged essential for success with the kind of descriptive task used: (1) indices of message completeness based on the inclusion of essential topics, (2) general strategies for formulating clear messages, and (3) assessment of speaker and listener strategies for feedback management.

The study used a 2 x 2 x 2 factoral design. Students from the seventh and eleventh grades each explained how to play a game of his or her choice. Half the students explained how to play the game to a physically present conversational partner not familiar with the game; half prepared audiotaped instructions to be used by someone not familiar with the game. Half had three minutes of planning time; half did not.

Results verified earlier research which indicates an apparent inadequacy of adolescent informative discourse skills. Message completeness increased with age: general organization and style strategies used to improve message clarity did not. Planning and interaction did not affect message completeness or the use of general intelligibility strategies. Amount and level of speaker's feedback management strategies did not increase significantly with age, but the level of listener feedback management strategies did.

The study provided evidence of a need for training programs in oral communication skills. Three more specific implications are also apparent: (1) informative discourse strategies should become a part of the curriculum, (2) planning strategies need to be taught that will enable students to benefit from a planning opportunity when it is available, and (3) the failure to use interaction management strategies reflects a lack of understanding of the interactive nature of communication.