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[1900-1950] Speech teachers specializing in oral performance and who were members of English departments were looked down upon by those who studied and taught literature.
[1909] Formation of Eastern States Speech Association, later renamed Eastern Communication Association.
[1914] A small group of speech teachers broke away from the Ntional Council of Teachers of English and formed the National Assocaiation of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking (NAATPS), later renamed Speech Association of America (SAA).
[1915] Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking was first published followed by Quarterly Journal of Speech
[1920] Speech became a discipline in its own right.
[1925] Rhetorical criticism (speech as a communication to a specific audience; the analysis and appreciation of the orator's method of imparting his ideas to his hearers) was established as the appropriate theoretical activity of the field
[approx. 1935] First few issues of Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking called for NAATPS members to adopt a "scientific frame of mind," which some speech professionals interpreted as attempts to gain academic respectability rather than as a drive to discover laws of oral effectiveness.
[1920s, 1940s] the advent of radio and television; such media were dismissed as merely for entertainment purposes and not worthy of public discussion.
[1940s] World War II created an urgent need to find effective ways to inform, influence and inspire.
[1950] the International Communication Association (ICA), a science-based professional organization, was established to rival the SAA; Shannon & Weaver came up with a linear model of communication.
[late 1940s and 1950s] The field of communication broadened significantly; a number of scholars from various behavioral and social science disciplines began to develop theories of communication (e.g., Anthropology: nonverbal communication, body positioning and gestures in particular cultures; Psychology: persuasion, social influence and attitudes and impact on behavior).
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December 2001
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