A Survey of the Status of Speech in the Public Junior Colleges of the United States

This study was conducted for the purpose of determining so far as possible the status of the speech programs of the public junior colleges of the United States.The problem was twofold: first to determine the status of both curricular and co-curricular speech offerings in the public junior college; and second, to determine, if any growth has taken place in the junior college speech programs in the past thirty years. In order to carry out the objectives, a survey was conducted. Questionnaires were sent to 236 public junior colleges in all parts of the United States.One hundred ten usable questionnaires were returned from colleges in thirty states. A comparison of the results of this study with previous studies shows that, in most areas of speech, the speech programs in the public junior colleges of the United States has been expanded over the last thirty years.There has been an increase in the number of separate speech departments, but there is still more speech being offered in the English departments than in separate speech departments.More schools are offering courses in fundamentals of speech, public speaking, oral interpretation, and radio and TV than they were in 1931 or 1936.There has seemingly been a decrease since the 1936 study of junior colleges in the number of speech clinics owned and operated by junior colleges, but an increase in the number of schools which have access to speech clinics.The facts indicate that the majority of the speech instructors are well-trained and qualified to teach speech in the junior college.There has been a 52.3 per cent increase in the number of junior colleges with co-curricular speech in the past twenty-five years.Both in this study and Mariner’s 1936 study the production of one-act and full-length plays was found to be the most prevalent type of non-competitive co-curricular event related to speech.There has been a decrease of 7.9 per cent in the inter-school programs in the junior colleges since 1936. Many of the weaknesses found in the speech programs such as insufficient budget, an inadequate teaching staff, limited equipment, and lack of time and money are the same today as they were thirty years ago. Advisor: Maxine Trauernich