The Craft of Speech is both practical and critical. How does The Craft of Speech use
both approaches? Consider these two major frameworks:
1. Transaction Model of communication. We define “communication in context” as not
only learning how to communicate well for one’s personal and professional advantage
(practical). We define it as communicating ethically and sensitively (critical), guided by
hightened awareness of the bigger social realities that human beings knowingly and
unknowingly construct with their varied communicative transactions.
2. Social Justice. For values integration, The Craft of Speech focuses on civic engagement and
developing a social conscience. These two frameworks shape The Craft of Speech in its
“learn and apply” sequence, manifested in the two-lesson-per-unit structure of the book.