Source: J. TECHNICAL WRITING AND COMMUNICATION, Vol. 33(1) 65-81, 2003
As I am mostly interested in the pedagogical side of Technical Communication, I have chosen this article which covers the history of the field and the pedagogy of teaching Tech Comm.
Jeff Todd (from Georgia Southern University) highlights the progress of Technical Communication history as an emerging field but also one whose literature has considerably grown over the years. Besides, the articles sheds light on the disconnection between academia and industry. One of Todd’s takes on Tech Comm’s history is the necessity to work within an English language research sphere. Then, he argues that once the field is delineated, it becomes easier to introduce history within the academic curriculum. Such approach will make the curriculum more reasonable and more reflective of the market needs especially if the texts produced are simulated with what a student will produce once a professional. The article also claims that teaching Tech Comm history is beneficial for students because they will get to watch the progress of information transfer and be consciously able to locate their framework and therefore be more efficient. Finally, Todd uses the examples of Roosevelt’s Fireplace talks and Hoover’s writing on Mining to revisits the value of communication in American history and establish its own "American English" rhetoric.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Holbrook: “Women's work: The feminizing of composition”
Andrea Beaudin
Holbrook, Sue Ellen. “Women's work: The feminizing of composition.” Rhetoric Review 9.2 (1991): 201-229. Web.
"Composition, then, is being feminized, a process made possible by its low status and women's" (209).
Holbrook's article, quite influential when published (Google Scholar lists that it's been cited 44 times), looks to the gender, status, employment, and financial inequality in the teaching of composition in higher education. Holbrook offers overwhelming data (ranging from the gender distribution of part-time instructors to full professors to the rosters of and conference presentations for NCTE and CCCC) to support her hypothesis. She argues that "women's work has four related characteristics: it has a disproportionate number of women workers; it is service-oriented; it pays less than men's work; it is devalued" (202), supporting her claim with a gendered break-down of professions, how they are characterized, and pay scale. Holbrook then focuses on the Academy, demonstrating that women are disproportionately in lower-level, often contingent faculty positions, teaching introductory/ composition courses, generally at a much lower rate of pay.
Holbrook's findings are troubling, and one hopes that situations have dramatically changed in the past twenty years. As a snapshot in time, however, her work uses the lens of gender to again demonstrate the ways in which the teaching of writing (composition and, by extension, technical writing) has been undervalued. She often alludes to the historical events that Connors and Whitburn develop at length to theorize the basis for this bias. Her article challenges Connors's bright and rosy outlook for the 1980s, as her findings forecast that many of those (mostly women) who will earn their PhDs in fields like composition or technical writing will not earn the respect or the compensation they deserve.
Getting an Invitation to the English Table—and Whether or Not to Accept It.
Annotation by Joshua Barron
This recent article provides a well-paced and thoroughly commented walk-through of the long term changes that have taken place in the University of Cincinnati English Department over time. Building from the foundational concepts and values of its founding faculty, the article focuses specifically on the wide variety of changes the department and its programs have undergone through the years. The article culminates by articulating the three key concepts its authors believe are essential in helping Technical Writing, to be and to feel fully engaged.The Principles offered are as follows:
- The Professional Writing Faculty Must Become Visible Contributors in the Department and Find Ways to Integrate Their Program’s Purposes and Needs into the Department’s Priorities.
- The Professional Writing Faculty Need to Use Caution When Responding to the Demand for Professional Writing Coming from Outside the Department and to Encourage the Demand Coming from Inside the Department.
- The Department and the Professional Writing Faculty Need to Nurture
an Intellectual (and to Some Extent Ideological) Compatibility Across English
Subfields.
Rentz, K., Debs, M., & Meloncon, L. (2010). Getting an Invitation to the English Table—and Whether or Not to Accept It. Technical Communication Quarterly, 19(3), 281-299. doi:10.1080/10572252.2010.481536.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Linda Gilmore
B. Childs, A College Course in Engineering Writing, College English, Vol. 21, No. 7 (Apr., 1960), pp. 394-396
As Robert J. Connors points out in his article, "The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America," the industrial revolution, and the resultant university engineering students, played a key role in creating a need for technical writers. Once it was discovered that practicing engineers could not write or communicate effectively, it became necessary to either teach the engineers to communicate more effectively, or to train others to do their communicating for them. An attempt at both occurred. In his article, "A College Course in Engineering Writing," Childs reviews the writing course he designed primarily for engineering students. His motivation was, "the serious current problems of our technological civilization: the incredible amount of technical, scientific, and engineering writing demanded of its personnel and the paucity of people even remotely qualified to write it" (p. 394)
Childs' states that the premise of his technical writing course was, "similar to Aristotle's definition of the function of rhetoric: to furnish the tools of persuasion for any given situation" (395). He then expresses his frustration with existing "handbooks," and proceeds to give an overview of his course, which included such things as, providing students with sample reports for review, writing letters, lessons on knowing your audience, report writing, and a 2500 word investigative essay. Childs states in his article that the students greatly enjoyed his class, though he gives no indication of the actual success of the class in regard to producing engineers who were also effective technical writers.
I find it interesting that even today it is common to hear people lament the inability of engineers to communicate their knowledge effectively. Engineering Departments seem to feel like they have more important things to teach their engineers, and do not want to spend time training them how to communicate when it knows the English Department is now producing technical writers to do it for them. This synchronicity between Departments has evolved over time through trial and error, and it seems that when deciding which is the better course of action, teaching engineers to do technical writing or establishing a separate field of technical writers to do their communicating for them, the latter won out.
B. Childs, A College Course in Engineering Writing, College English, Vol. 21, No. 7 (Apr., 1960), pp. 394-396
As Robert J. Connors points out in his article, "The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America," the industrial revolution, and the resultant university engineering students, played a key role in creating a need for technical writers. Once it was discovered that practicing engineers could not write or communicate effectively, it became necessary to either teach the engineers to communicate more effectively, or to train others to do their communicating for them. An attempt at both occurred. In his article, "A College Course in Engineering Writing," Childs reviews the writing course he designed primarily for engineering students. His motivation was, "the serious current problems of our technological civilization: the incredible amount of technical, scientific, and engineering writing demanded of its personnel and the paucity of people even remotely qualified to write it" (p. 394)
Childs' states that the premise of his technical writing course was, "similar to Aristotle's definition of the function of rhetoric: to furnish the tools of persuasion for any given situation" (395). He then expresses his frustration with existing "handbooks," and proceeds to give an overview of his course, which included such things as, providing students with sample reports for review, writing letters, lessons on knowing your audience, report writing, and a 2500 word investigative essay. Childs states in his article that the students greatly enjoyed his class, though he gives no indication of the actual success of the class in regard to producing engineers who were also effective technical writers.
I find it interesting that even today it is common to hear people lament the inability of engineers to communicate their knowledge effectively. Engineering Departments seem to feel like they have more important things to teach their engineers, and do not want to spend time training them how to communicate when it knows the English Department is now producing technical writers to do it for them. This synchronicity between Departments has evolved over time through trial and error, and it seems that when deciding which is the better course of action, teaching engineers to do technical writing or establishing a separate field of technical writers to do their communicating for them, the latter won out.
Teaching the History of Technical Communication: A Lesson with Franklin and Hoover
Todd, Jeff. Journal of Technical Writing & Communication, 2003, Vol. 33 Issue 1, p65-81
Annotation by Harrison Ownbey
Todd argues that while research into the history of tech comm has become more abundant and sophisticated, tech comm history teaching techniques have stayed relatively static. He proposes four guidelines (below) for integrating the study of history into tech comm classrooms. Then he juxtaposes examples of Benjamin Franklin’s writing with Herbert Hoover’s writing to show parallels between the changes that university students undergo when entering into the professional field, and the changes technical writing underwent when the Industrial Age arrived.
Todd’s suggested guidelines and his defense for them (briefly)
1. “Maintain a continued research interest for teaching history.” The field needs to define canonical works and instruct students based on those works.
2.“Limit to technical rather than scientific discourse.” Technology is for a wide audience and science is for a narrow one, so focus on things that are most deliverable for the largest audience.
3.“Focus on English language texts.” Scholarship and research have focused on English, so pedagogy should also focus on English.
4.“Focus on American texts, authors, and practices.” When teaching American students going into an American workforce, it’s pragmatic to focus on American texts.
I disagree strongly with Todd’s last point. With everything becoming globalized, I think it would impair tech comm students to only focus on American text.
Annotation by Harrison Ownbey
Todd argues that while research into the history of tech comm has become more abundant and sophisticated, tech comm history teaching techniques have stayed relatively static. He proposes four guidelines (below) for integrating the study of history into tech comm classrooms. Then he juxtaposes examples of Benjamin Franklin’s writing with Herbert Hoover’s writing to show parallels between the changes that university students undergo when entering into the professional field, and the changes technical writing underwent when the Industrial Age arrived.
Todd’s suggested guidelines and his defense for them (briefly)
1. “Maintain a continued research interest for teaching history.” The field needs to define canonical works and instruct students based on those works.
2.“Limit to technical rather than scientific discourse.” Technology is for a wide audience and science is for a narrow one, so focus on things that are most deliverable for the largest audience.
3.“Focus on English language texts.” Scholarship and research have focused on English, so pedagogy should also focus on English.
4.“Focus on American texts, authors, and practices.” When teaching American students going into an American workforce, it’s pragmatic to focus on American texts.
I disagree strongly with Todd’s last point. With everything becoming globalized, I think it would impair tech comm students to only focus on American text.
Oral Communication and Technical Writing
Daniel Reifsnider
Cibangu, S. K. (2009). Oral Communication and Technical Writing: A Reconsideration of Writing in a Multicultural Era. Journal of Technical Writing & Communication, 39(1), 79-105.
In this article, Cibangu traces the history of oral communications within the field of technical communication in order to show the importance orality has played in the development of technical communications. Cibangu states that, “The article calls for orality as an integral part and driving force of technical writing,” and that, “(it) brings to light the misconceptions that have led to a diminished role of oral communication in technical writing.” Cibangu begins the article with a brief introduction of orality in academia and also defines how he will use orality throughout the article. He then begins outlining the history between orality and literacy through their roots in antiquity and then on to the 19th century and more modern times. Moving past the formal history, he then examines the history of orality within the context of technical communications, with the, ”hopes of crafting avenues for orality” within the field. In doing so Cibangu hopes to add a new dimension in the work of defining technical communications as a field, and also hopes to enrich the field as a whole through the use of oral communication.
This article is interesting within the context of the history of technical communication through its tracings of orality in relation to technical communication. It supposes that technical communication has been in existence since oral communication started, long before the advent of writing. Insomuch it begs for a new look at the field of technical communication, one that combines its rich history of orality with the concrete products of technical writing in order to enrich the field. By doing so, Cibangu argues, not only would the technical communicator benefit, but also would the users for which the technical discourse is intended.
Cibangu, S. K. (2009). Oral Communication and Technical Writing: A Reconsideration of Writing in a Multicultural Era. Journal of Technical Writing & Communication, 39(1), 79-105.
In this article, Cibangu traces the history of oral communications within the field of technical communication in order to show the importance orality has played in the development of technical communications. Cibangu states that, “The article calls for orality as an integral part and driving force of technical writing,” and that, “(it) brings to light the misconceptions that have led to a diminished role of oral communication in technical writing.” Cibangu begins the article with a brief introduction of orality in academia and also defines how he will use orality throughout the article. He then begins outlining the history between orality and literacy through their roots in antiquity and then on to the 19th century and more modern times. Moving past the formal history, he then examines the history of orality within the context of technical communications, with the, ”hopes of crafting avenues for orality” within the field. In doing so Cibangu hopes to add a new dimension in the work of defining technical communications as a field, and also hopes to enrich the field as a whole through the use of oral communication.
This article is interesting within the context of the history of technical communication through its tracings of orality in relation to technical communication. It supposes that technical communication has been in existence since oral communication started, long before the advent of writing. Insomuch it begs for a new look at the field of technical communication, one that combines its rich history of orality with the concrete products of technical writing in order to enrich the field. By doing so, Cibangu argues, not only would the technical communicator benefit, but also would the users for which the technical discourse is intended.
Technical Writing in English Renaissance Shipwrightery: Breaching the Shoals of Orality.”
Tebeaux, E. (2008). “Technical Writing in English Renaissance Shipwrightery: Breaching the Shoals of Orality.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 38(1), 3-25.
Annotation by Erin Trauth
In her article, Tebeaux explores the rising development of the first English shipbuilding texts in the middle of the 17th century. Though the English shipbuilding industry ruled supreme during the English Renaissance, Tebeaux asserts there remained an absence of shipbuilding texts until the 17th century because the community thrived in its “closed discourse which shared knowledge via oral transmission.” Once navigational technologies improved in the 17th century, however, design principles became mathematically-based, the commercial shipping industry exploded, and shipbuilders were finally forced to generate technical writing for shipbuilding. Further, Tebeaux suggests increasing literacy led to more written texts on information that was previously transmitted solely through experience and apprenticeship. Tebeaux then shares several examples of the first shipbuilding texts focused on design, positing that “understanding the halting emergence of English shipwrightery texts during the Renaissance and then the seventeenth century adds a reinforcing segment to the story of the rise of English technical writing.” She then illuminates the following four observations to be taken from this research: pragmatic technical writing existed before printing was ever an option, emergence of technical writing almost always mirrors a growth in a community’s literacy, technical writing took place before rhetoric truly influenced discourse, and the presence of technical writing is often analogous to the emergence of “text in general.”
This article is helpful for those who wish to explore or provide an example of a specific industry’s transfer from orality to technical writing. Tebeaux asserts that the English shipbuilding industry provides a wealth of material for understanding the evolution of a community’s discourse, literacy, and technical writing (especially writing which includes graphics, tables, images, etc.). In essence, this article provides a valuable case study in the context of technical writing history.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
CFP for Technical Communication
Call for Proposals:
Technical Communication, the journal of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), is soliciting article proposals for an upcoming special issue that will examine current issues surrounding our struggle for professionalization. This special issue will be published in November 2011, and the guest editor is Nancy W. Coppola, New Jersey Institute of Technology.
SPECIAL ISSUE DESCRIPTION
Studies show that professions emerge in processes of struggle for market control and closure, for definition of a coherent body of knowledge, and for development of a professional history that will give the field a unifying identity. These ideological, economic and political processes for professional identity are already in play for technical communication – but are we there yet?
No one has articulated the issues and strategies for professional status in any meaningful way since Theresa Kynell-Hunt and Jerry Savage’s volumes Power and Legitimacy in Technical Communication in 2003 and 2004. No one has picked up a researched perspective of certification since Ken Rainey’s last work in 2004. Much of the discussion regarding professional status is now taking place sub rosa in conference hallways and on professional organization listservs.
Yet, exigency for examining professional status exists anew. STC is already developing two elements of professionalization: its certification program for practitioners, and sponsorship of a body of disciplinary knowledge for technical communication. Some scholars have argued against professionalization as an outdated or elitist path for legitimacy and status. However, all call for critical engagement of the full cultural, political, and sociological implications of professionalization.
This special issue of Technical Communication will provide an opportunity for public debate as it incorporates a range of contending perspectives and voices.
POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR THIS SPECIAL ISSUE
The guest editor invites proposals for papers on applied research or theory, case histories/studies, tutorials, and/or annotated bibliographies that address these or other issues:
- Why should technical communicators attend to professionalization issues? Why not?
- Is professional status necessary or desirable? Why or why not?
- Who should set standards and minimum qualification for practice? How should the standards be established? Should the knowledge base be determined by experience of practitioners and/or academic research?
- What are the cultural, political, and sociological implications of professionalization?
- What does our history predict about professionalization?
- How can our professional organizations come together to create consensus for both academics and practitioners and build political support for professionalization?
- Should students in technical communication programs be taught how to be public advocates for their careers? If so, how?
- What can we learn from other professions that have achieved a professional identity?
- How can we resolve the contradiction of ethical practice for the good of society and elitism based on controlling knowledge and restricting access?
- What impact would professionalization have on academic programs and academics? Is accreditation of technical communication programs tied to certification? How?
- What might be the complementary research questions that could lead to a coherent body of knowledge?
- What can we learn from international organizations that have already set standards and established a code of good practices?
- What theories inform our authority and professional status? Is rhetoric the only model that we can apply to our role as professional?
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Proposals should be no more than 400 words in length. All proposals should include submitter name, affiliation, and email address as well as a working title for the proposed article.
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
The schedule for the special issue is as follows:
30 October 2010 – 400-word proposals due
30 November 2010 – Guest editor returns proposal decisions to submitters
15 February 2011 – Draft manuscripts of accepted proposals due
30 March 2011 – Guest editor returns reviewed manuscripts
16 May 2011 – Final manuscripts due
November 201l— Publication date of special issue
CONTACT INFORMATION
Completed proposals or questions about either proposal topics or this special issue should be sent to Nancy Coppola atcoppola@njit.edu
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Steel Bible: A Case Study of 20th Century Technical Communication
Kate Crane
Johnson, Carol. “The Steel Bible: A Case Study of 20th Century Technical Communication.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 37.3 (2007): 281-303. Web.
Johnson analyzes the 'Steel Bible' (aka The Making, Shaping, and Treatment of Steel)
comparing and contrasting the 11 versions of the text published between 1919 and 1999. Through
these versions, Johnson sees not only the changing steel industry, but the changing technical
communication field. She notes the major changes being technological, graphic/pictoral,
multiple-authorship rather than an authoritative single author, and the organization of
information for easy access. These changes reflected the needs of the audience and the audience
were loyal readers and users of the reference. Once consistency throughout the evolution of the
text, however, was the absence of human/social conditions affecting the steel industry. From the
1920s labor disputes to the outsourcing and decline of steel manufacturing in the U.S. during the
1980s, the text focused only on the techncial aspects of manufacturing steel.
Johnson's analysis not only chronicle an important American industry through the 'Steel
Bible' (a historical artifact for sure) but shows how the TC field has particularly adjusted to the
needs of the audience. Her explanation of audience, graphics, and authorship demonstrate how
our field has changed to what we see today.
Jeremy Huston
Staples, K. "Technical Communication from 1950-1998: Where are we now?" Technical Communication Quarterly, 8 (1999): 153-164.
In her article, Staples argues that as TC theory and research has matured in the frame for her article, but with that maturity has come growth away from its original industrial/engineering foundations, creating a split in the discipline not unlike the literature/composition schism of the first part of the 20th century. She tracks TC history from 1950-1998, treading over some of the same ground as Connors and citing him several times, then going a little further to document TCs flourishing in the the early 80s, intradisciplinary problems, and the real solidification of the discipline in the 90s. This history has led to a more theoretically supported, researched, and developed discipline, but it has also heightened the academy/industry, theory/praxis split. To solve this, she advocates for open dialogue between industry and the academy, as well as a broader, more inclusive research agenda to accommodate a more inclusive TC pedagogy and a more diverse discipline.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Early Cold War Professional Communication: A Rationale for Progressive Posthumanist
Early Cold War Professional Communication: A Rationale for Progressive Posthumanist by Ronald Clark Brook.
Source: Technical Communication Quaterly (19)1, 31-46.
This article shares the background of Technical Communication Teachers as Posthumanist and how such approach has shaped up teacher's performance. I tend to think that this is one of the most insightful articles into the field because it highlights taking into consideration the learners’ agenda. The author explains how the posthumanist approach has somehow brought the different stakeholders in Technical Communication to a more common ground to better understand and write or in a more generic way make the classroom a more productive learning setting. I think this article is a must-read for us novice students in the field because it helps us understand a contemporary stand point in teaching in general and in Tech Comm on a smaller scale.
Source: Technical Communication Quaterly (19)1, 31-46.
This article shares the background of Technical Communication Teachers as Posthumanist and how such approach has shaped up teacher's performance. I tend to think that this is one of the most insightful articles into the field because it highlights taking into consideration the learners’ agenda. The author explains how the posthumanist approach has somehow brought the different stakeholders in Technical Communication to a more common ground to better understand and write or in a more generic way make the classroom a more productive learning setting. I think this article is a must-read for us novice students in the field because it helps us understand a contemporary stand point in teaching in general and in Tech Comm on a smaller scale.
History and the study of technical communication in Canada and the United States
Daniel Reifsnider
Connor, Jennifer J. "History and the Study of Technical Communication in Canada and the United States." Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on 34.1 (1991): 3-6.
In this short article Connor studies the role of history in “the teaching and research of technical communications”, and “explores three examples of early 19th-century published engineering reports and comments on their historical implications.”
This article is useful in the sense that it examines physical pieces of technical communication for their historical implications within the realm of technical communications. By doing so, it demonstrates where the field of technical communications comes from, not only theoretically but also physically. Connor states that, “the history of technical communication can be a “medium of education,” used to increase understanding and develop judgment.” By teaching the history of technical communication it’s easier to understand certain aspects within the field as it relates to the history of the field itself. This is helpful as Connor says, because it allows us to examine the field and to “rethink the avowed principles of technical communication, to ask new questions, and to follow new lines of inquiry.” Also tying this back to last week, it is also helpful because it gives us more support in coming up with a definition that is not only based on the historical aspects of the field, but also one that defines where we’re going as well.
Connor, Jennifer J. "History and the Study of Technical Communication in Canada and the United States." Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on 34.1 (1991): 3-6.
In this short article Connor studies the role of history in “the teaching and research of technical communications”, and “explores three examples of early 19th-century published engineering reports and comments on their historical implications.”
This article is useful in the sense that it examines physical pieces of technical communication for their historical implications within the realm of technical communications. By doing so, it demonstrates where the field of technical communications comes from, not only theoretically but also physically. Connor states that, “the history of technical communication can be a “medium of education,” used to increase understanding and develop judgment.” By teaching the history of technical communication it’s easier to understand certain aspects within the field as it relates to the history of the field itself. This is helpful as Connor says, because it allows us to examine the field and to “rethink the avowed principles of technical communication, to ask new questions, and to follow new lines of inquiry.” Also tying this back to last week, it is also helpful because it gives us more support in coming up with a definition that is not only based on the historical aspects of the field, but also one that defines where we’re going as well.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tech Comm and the 18th Century Iron Industry
Annotation by Harrison Ownbey
Johnson, Carol Siri. Technical Communication Quarterly, Apr 2006, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p171-189
Johnson notices a chronological gap in literature about technical communication between the 18th and mid 19th centuries. As an attempt to fill that gap, she looks at technical communication in the American iron making industry. She examines the iron industry specifically because it represents larger social and cultural phenomena that occurred at the time.
In the beginning of the 18th century, iron makers relayed information to each other in a “prediscursive” manner, through person-to-person observation and practice instead of writing. In this model, the workers themselves contained the knowledge of the craft. As the industry expanded with the invention of the railroad, industry workers couldn’t spread knowledge fast enough. Therefore, manuals on making iron began to appear. While the quality of information was not as good as a peer-to-peer mentoring relationship, the medium allowed the information to reach a broader audience.
This article illustrates the close relationship between technical writing and industry. Before mass industry, technical communication was largely prediscursive.
Johnson, Carol Siri. Technical Communication Quarterly, Apr 2006, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p171-189
Johnson notices a chronological gap in literature about technical communication between the 18th and mid 19th centuries. As an attempt to fill that gap, she looks at technical communication in the American iron making industry. She examines the iron industry specifically because it represents larger social and cultural phenomena that occurred at the time.
In the beginning of the 18th century, iron makers relayed information to each other in a “prediscursive” manner, through person-to-person observation and practice instead of writing. In this model, the workers themselves contained the knowledge of the craft. As the industry expanded with the invention of the railroad, industry workers couldn’t spread knowledge fast enough. Therefore, manuals on making iron began to appear. While the quality of information was not as good as a peer-to-peer mentoring relationship, the medium allowed the information to reach a broader audience.
This article illustrates the close relationship between technical writing and industry. Before mass industry, technical communication was largely prediscursive.
Women's Work
Linda Gilmore
Brown, Judith. "A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex." American Anthropologist 72 (1970): 1073-78. Article first published online: 28 OCT 2009.
Using ethnographic records, Judith Brown cites several examples of division of labor by sex among various tribal groups. It is evident that the division of labor is based almost entirely on the female's child bearing and child care responsibilities. In societies in which the work to be done was conducive to performing the necessary tasks while simultaneously caring for children, men and women were more likely to share the work load fairly equally; both the type and amount of work to be done. According to Brown, "It is obvious
Brown, Judith. "A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex." American Anthropologist 72 (1970): 1073-78. Article first published online: 28 OCT 2009.
Using ethnographic records, Judith Brown cites several examples of division of labor by sex among various tribal groups. It is evident that the division of labor is based almost entirely on the female's child bearing and child care responsibilities. In societies in which the work to be done was conducive to performing the necessary tasks while simultaneously caring for children, men and women were more likely to share the work load fairly equally; both the type and amount of work to be done. According to Brown, "It is obvious
that certain subsistence activities are extremely compatible with simultaneous child care and that societies depending on such subsistence bases invite considerable economic contribution by women" (p. 1077).
Of course, with technological advances and civilization things change. In 1893 Durkheim would state that though, "primitive men and women are fairly similar in strength and intelligence... With the “progress of morality,” women became weaker and their brains became smaller" (Brown, p. 1074). This quote is compatible with a quote from Wajcman (1991) that Katherine T. Durack uses in her article, "Gender, Technology, and the History of Technical Communication, "the work of women is often deemed inferior simply because it is women who do it" (p. 39).
It seems that the extent to which women's work is valued is directly related to how dependent a society is upon that work, and in the context of technical communication, it is also dependent upon the definitions of technology and workplace. As in other articles we've read regarding defining technical communication, the definition of technology broadens everyday. We are now considering the possibility that cookbooks and sewing pattern instructions may be considered technical writing. The technical communication workplace is also becoming more fluid with people working from home or any other place that has wifi available.
Maybe in time modern society will achieve the same egalitarian approach to all forms of work that the tribal groups had, and work done by women, especially done by women at home, will be as valued as work done outside the home by men. The field of technical communication is definitely at the forefront of creating equal opportunity for women, and equal value for women's work. This equality and value will only continue to increase as our definitions and inclusion become more widespread.
Technical communication in the 21st century: Where are we going?
Jeremy Huston
Killingsworth, M. J. "Technical communication in the 21st century: Where are we going?" Technical Communication Quarterly, 8 (1999):165-174.
This is one of three essays about the history/future of tech comm in TCQ in Spring '99. I call dibs on Kynell for next week (seeing as it plays well with Connors) but Staples is fair game.
If the links don't work, sorry. I'm trying to hard code them.
Using the framework of works of science fiction, Killingsworth claims that evaluating our beliefs and future desires in TC keeps us from hubristically defining the future in dangerous/harmful ways. Understanding of our myths (these beliefs for the future) will prepare us for the future better than subscribing to the myths themselves. He discusses the a myth he identifies as current (as of 1999) in the TC community: immediate communication. He defines this as the instantaneous and flawlessly lucid communication between sender and receiver without being bound by time or distance. He criticizes this viewpoint by arguing that technology does not necessarily improve things without some loss on another level; it is safer to say that things change instead of categorically improving. He states that immediate communication runs the risk of isolating users of technology. Killingsworth also goes on to state that if we were able to perform mind-to-mind communication without the intermediary of language, semiotic research shows that thought itself is symbolic, making that aspect of the myth untennable as well. To conclude, he argues that science fiction literature can be used as a viable way to teach students aspects of TC in the classroom.
I thought this was a good one for this week, considering our discussion in class about how technology is beginning to isolate us (which Killingsworth anticipated here) and how we try to understand/define TC and its future given the messiness of language and rhetoric that we have to use to implement it. And he cites LeGuin a lot, if you're into that sort of thing.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Wahlstrom and Scruton: "Constructing Texts/Understanding Texts: Lessons from Antiquity and the Middle Ages"
Annotation by Andrea Beaudin
Wahlstrom, Billie, and Chris Scruton. “Constructing Texts/Understanding Texts: Lessons from Antiquity and the Middle Ages.” Computers and Composition 14.3 (1997): 311-328. Web.
Annotation
Writing in 1997, Wahlstrom and Scruton compare the textual shift brought on by computer-mediated communication (CMC) to the oral to scribal shifts of the rabbinical and medieval times. Technological shifts promote differing perceptions of the "social and intellectual dynamics of text construction" (311). The authors illustrate interesting parallels in terms of issues of authority (equality between writer and reader/respondent/writer), authorship (decentralized primary text), and mnemonic conventions (including document design). They argue that technical communicators should learn from history in order to negotiate the emerging issues involving CMC's freedoms, concepts of community, and accountability.
I'll confess to being biased about this article, as my master's work was in medieval literature. I have long thought that current conundrums concerning CMC--everything from access to literacy to power structures-- are mirrored in medieval history. I did my best, however, to approach this text critically. Wahlstrom and Scruton strengthen their claims by providing images of both modern and ancient/medieval texts. They offer intriguing connections, such as that between microtext in rabbinical and medieval document design and modern hypertext. While some may argue that Chaucer was the first technical communicator, Wahlstrom and Scruton show that tech comm practices have been in place at least since antiquity.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Teaching the History of Technical Communication: A Lesson with Franklin and Hoover
Todd, J. (2003). Teaching the History of Technical Communication: A Lesson with Franklin and Hoover. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 33(1),65-81.
Annotation by Erin Trauth
Todd examines the history of technical communication from a primarily pedagogical standpoint. After illustrating how historical research in technical communication has increased both in “quantity and sophistication” over the last several decades, Todd asserts that pedagogical scholarship to work in tandem with it, however, has remained stagnant. Thus, the first half of his article serves to provide a four-part set of “guidelines” for incorporating historical scholarship into the technical communication classroom, including suggestions to:
“1) maintain a continued research interest in teaching history; 2) limit to technical rather than scientific discourse; 3) focus on English-language texts; and 4) focus on American texts, authors, and practices” (66).
The remainder of the article focuses on technical texts from Benjamin Franklin and Herbert Hoover. The texts illustrate society’s change in focus from the individual to the corporation before and after the American Industrial Revolution. By way of a textual analysis, Todd uses the each document’s focus to illustrate the shift. Todd posits that this revision also mimics a novice technical communicator’s move from the academic to the workplace setting. Using quotes from both technical documents, Todd asserts we can use these documents as “mirrors” to teach students how they will likely move from individual concerns such as programs of study and grades to corporate issues such as employer and client expectations.
An interesting mix of history and pedagogy, the second half of the article serves the budding technical writing teacher well, as it is helpful in illuminating changes in technical writing through the Industrial Revolution while also providing valuable pedagogical suggestions.
Annotation by Erin Trauth
Todd examines the history of technical communication from a primarily pedagogical standpoint. After illustrating how historical research in technical communication has increased both in “quantity and sophistication” over the last several decades, Todd asserts that pedagogical scholarship to work in tandem with it, however, has remained stagnant. Thus, the first half of his article serves to provide a four-part set of “guidelines” for incorporating historical scholarship into the technical communication classroom, including suggestions to:
“1) maintain a continued research interest in teaching history; 2) limit to technical rather than scientific discourse; 3) focus on English-language texts; and 4) focus on American texts, authors, and practices” (66).
The remainder of the article focuses on technical texts from Benjamin Franklin and Herbert Hoover. The texts illustrate society’s change in focus from the individual to the corporation before and after the American Industrial Revolution. By way of a textual analysis, Todd uses the each document’s focus to illustrate the shift. Todd posits that this revision also mimics a novice technical communicator’s move from the academic to the workplace setting. Using quotes from both technical documents, Todd asserts we can use these documents as “mirrors” to teach students how they will likely move from individual concerns such as programs of study and grades to corporate issues such as employer and client expectations.
An interesting mix of history and pedagogy, the second half of the article serves the budding technical writing teacher well, as it is helpful in illuminating changes in technical writing through the Industrial Revolution while also providing valuable pedagogical suggestions.
Friday, September 17, 2010
The New Historicism and Studies in the History of Business and Technical Writing
Kate Crane
Dillon, W. T. “The New Historicism and Studies in the History of Business and Technical Writing.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 11.1 (1997): 60-73. Web.
Dillon argues that, despite the academy’s push for research that can be directly applied to student outcomes, research in Business and Technical Writing should use a new historicist lens. New historicism, which takes a step further from historicism by shining a light on how historical texts have a direct impact (or legacy) in our present practices. Thus, part of learning history (according to new historicism) is understanding how it has shaped the present. Such theory is traditionally applied in literary theory, but Dillon claims that studying/examining Business and Technical writing through this lens not only shows “that their [students’] writing continues a rich, complex, and very old cultural tradition…but also [enables] them to frame more usefully the writing they produce and receive in terms of power, authority, culture, and economic necessity” (72).
For those of you interested in Technical Communication pedagogy, this is an article worth reading. How might we incorporate such examination in our classrooms? Where do students have the opportunity to deconstruct texts and look at it in theoretical ways or should this be the role of Tech-Com at all? These are some questions I’ve been pondering as I conceive of how to teach students both practical instruction of technical writing, but also providing a contextual framework for the work they do in our field.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Association of Teachers of Technical Writing: The Emergence of Professional Identity
Annotation by Joshua Barron
If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.~Aristotle1
While I thought I was being original by seeking to examine Technical Communication from its historical roots, I now realize that I'm only emulating Aristotle. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose, but it does bring my ego down to size a bit. [grin]
In this article the authors lay out the 36 year (at the time of publication) history of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. The history related in the article provides a thumbnail sketch of technical communication, evolving substantially over time. What began as primarily a body of tips and strategies for improving one's teaching in introductory composition courses has now become a full-fledged scholarly academic discipline with its own research exploring the theoretical foundations and practical applications of the discipline. Pearsall wrote, "[I]f communicators were going to be not only writers but men and women who understood and appreciated all the processes of communication...," then their discipline would obviously extend far beyond its origins in the technical writing classroom (as quoted in Kynell, 2009).
The article unashamedly reveals the role of self-serving political camaraderie between academe and journal publication, openly articulating one purpose of increasing the scholarly research in the discipline as a direct means to getting faculty members published and tenured. I was also interested to learn that the positioning of the discipline in human sciences resulted largely sale of the publishing company of the TCQ Journal to a human sciences-focused publishing house.
Each progressive section in the Rutter article closely aligns (and parallels) the major pieces of the ATTW society timeline.
History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that's worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today.~Henry Ford
In contrast to the opening quote from The Philosopher, I also ran across the other quote by Henry Ford. His straightforward challenge to the appreciation of history startled me, but it also got me thinking about potential drawbacks to defining TC from its history. Maybe I'll include these in the program analysis assignment.
Kynell, T., & Tebeaux, E. (2009). The Association of Teachers of Technical Writing: The Emergence of Professional Identity. Technical Communication Quarterly, 18(2), 107-141.doi:10.1080/10572250802688000. Retrieved online Wednesday, September 15, 2010, fromhttp://j.mp/ATTWhistory.
1Szasz, Ferenc M, ‘The Many Meanings of History, Parts I‐IV’, p208.
If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.
~Aristotle1
History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that's worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today.
~Henry Ford
CFP: Technical Communication Special Issue
Thought this CFP actually ties in well to our class discussions-- alb
Call for Proposals:
Technical Communication, the journal of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), is soliciting article proposals for an upcoming special issue that will examine current issues surrounding our struggle for professionalization. This special issue will be published in November 2011, and the guest editor is Nancy W. Coppola, New Jersey Institute of Technology.
SPECIAL ISSUE DESCRIPTION
Studies show that professions emerge in processes of struggle for market control and closure, for definition of a coherent body of knowledge, and for development of a professional history that will give the field a unifying identity. These ideological, economic and political processes for professional identity are already in play for technical communication – but are we there yet?
No one has articulated the issues and strategies for professional status in any meaningful way since Theresa Kynell-Hunt and Jerry Savage’s volumes Power and Legitimacy in Technical Communication in 2003 and 2004. No one has picked up a researched perspective of certification since Ken Rainey’s last work in 2004. Much of the discussion regarding professional status is now taking place sub rosa in conference hallways and on professional organization listservs.
Yet, exigency for examining professional status exists anew. STC is already developing two elements of professionalization: its certification program for practitioners, and sponsorship of a body of disciplinary knowledge for technical communication. Some scholars have argued against professionalization as an outdated or elitist path for legitimacy and status. However, all call for critical engagement of the full cultural, political, and sociological implications of professionalization.
This special issue of Technical Communication will provide an opportunity for public debate as it incorporates a range of contending perspectives and voices.
POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR THIS SPECIAL ISSUE
The guest editor invites proposals for papers on applied research or theory, case histories/studies, tutorials, and/or annotated bibliographies that address these or other issues:
- Why should technical communicators attend to professionalization issues? Why not?
- Is professional status necessary or desirable? Why or why not?
- Who should set standards and minimum qualification for practice? How should the standards be established? Should the knowledge base be determined by experience of practitioners and/or academic research?
- What are the cultural, political, and sociological implications of professionalization?
- What does our history predict about professionalization?
- How can our professional organizations come together to create consensus for both academics and practitioners and build political support for professionalization?
- Should students in technical communication programs be taught how to be public advocates for their careers? If so, how?
- What can we learn from other professions that have achieved a professional identity?
- How can we resolve the contradiction of ethical practice for the good of society and elitism based on controlling knowledge and restricting access?
- What impact would professionalization have on academic programs and academics? Is accreditation of technical communication programs tied to certification? How?
- What might be the complementary research questions that could lead to a coherent body of knowledge?
- What can we learn from international organizations that have already set standards and established a code of good practices?
- What theories inform our authority and professional status? Is rhetoric the only model that we can apply to our role as professional?
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Proposals should be no more than 400 words in length. All proposals should include submitter name, affiliation, and email address as well as a working title for the proposed article.
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
The schedule for the special issue is as follows:
30 October 2010 – 400-word proposals due
30 November 2010 – Guest editor returns proposal decisions to submitters
15 February 2011 – Draft manuscripts of accepted proposals due
30 March 2011 – Guest editor returns reviewed manuscripts
16 May 2011 – Final manuscripts due
November 201l— Publication date of special issue
CONTACT INFORMATION
Completed proposals or questions about either proposal topics or this special issue should be sent to Nancy Coppola at coppola@njit.edu
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
cfp for TTU Women's Studies' Fall Colloquium
(follow this link for full details)
The Women's Studies Program and the Conference Program Committee at Texas Tech University proudly announces a public colloquium, which will take place on the campus of Texas Tech University, Friday, October 29th, 2010.
We invite papers and full panel proposals highlighting feminist research, in progress or completed, on gender and gender identity exploring meanings of movement and change as connected to, created by, and/or caught up in the presence of women's, gender, and identity issues, in both contemporary and historical frameworks. Undergraduates, graduate students, staff and faculty from all disciplines are invited to participate and to attend. We especially welcome feminist research on:
* gender and media (literatures, the press, and printing of all kinds)
* regional feminist issues and concerns on the South Plains
* gender and the environment (e.g., ecofeminism, indigenista, urban planning, architecture)
* gender and political activism (e.g., government, war/peace)
* gender in sports
* embodiment (e.g., ability, genetics, inscribing)
* cultural constructions of gender
* psychology of sex roles
* social constructs of gender relations
* gender in science and cyberspace
* gender in art, art criticism, art instruction and learning
Deadline for submissions Friday, October 15, 2010
Please send submissions to: patricia.a.earl@ttu.edu
Note: include the words "2010-Gender Colloquium Submission" in the subject line for easy identification.
* regional feminist issues and concerns on the South Plains
* gender and the environment (e.g., ecofeminism, indigenista, urban planning, architecture)
* gender and political activism (e.g., government, war/peace)
* gender in sports
* embodiment (e.g., ability, genetics, inscribing)
* cultural constructions of gender
* psychology of sex roles
* social constructs of gender relations
* gender in science and cyberspace
* gender in art, art criticism, art instruction and learning
Deadline for submissions Friday, October 15, 2010
Please send submissions to: patricia.a.earl@ttu.edu
Note: include the words "2010-Gender Colloquium Submission" in the subject line for easy identification.
Monday, September 13, 2010
An approach for applying cultural study theory to technical writing research.
Annotation by Harrison Ownbey
Longo, B. (1998). An Approach for applying cultural study theory to technical writing research. Technical Communication Quarterly, 7(1)
In this article, Longo reiterates many of the points that Miller and Dobrin made in their articles, and argues that technical writing studies should be approached using techniques applied in cultural studies. Longo lists five specific methods for studying technical writing as an object:
1. Technical writing as discourse
2. Technical writing as practiced within a cultural context
3. Technical writing as practiced within an historical context
4. Technical writing as ordered by language
5. Technical writing in relation to the researcher.
In forming these subcategories, Longo makes several assumptions, which she discusses later in her article. She asserts, “good technical writing is so clear that it is invisible” and technical writing is “often characterized as a collaborative effort in which writers mediate technology for users.” Dobrin would agree with the latter statement, but Miller would disagree with the former, stating that the-tech-writing-as-windowpane analogy is inadequate.
Longo’s main point is that study methods centered around the scientific method are not as well suited for studying technical writing as study methods rooted in cultural studies. Overall, I thought this article lacked an original perspective compared to other readings we’ve done in the class.
Longo, B. (1998). An Approach for applying cultural study theory to technical writing research. Technical Communication Quarterly, 7(1)
In this article, Longo reiterates many of the points that Miller and Dobrin made in their articles, and argues that technical writing studies should be approached using techniques applied in cultural studies. Longo lists five specific methods for studying technical writing as an object:
1. Technical writing as discourse
2. Technical writing as practiced within a cultural context
3. Technical writing as practiced within an historical context
4. Technical writing as ordered by language
5. Technical writing in relation to the researcher.
In forming these subcategories, Longo makes several assumptions, which she discusses later in her article. She asserts, “good technical writing is so clear that it is invisible” and technical writing is “often characterized as a collaborative effort in which writers mediate technology for users.” Dobrin would agree with the latter statement, but Miller would disagree with the former, stating that the-tech-writing-as-windowpane analogy is inadequate.
Longo’s main point is that study methods centered around the scientific method are not as well suited for studying technical writing as study methods rooted in cultural studies. Overall, I thought this article lacked an original perspective compared to other readings we’ve done in the class.
"A Contrary View of the Technical Writing Classroom: Notes Toward Future Discussion."
Jeremy Huston
Bushnell, Jack. "A Contrary View of the Technical Writing Classroom: Notes Toward Future Discussion." Technical Communication Quarterly 8 (1999): 175-88.
Since Thayer had an opinion on Allen that I didn't find completely accurate, I decided to see how well he characterized Bushnell, seeing how I was interested in his definition of TC. So here we go.
In this article, Bushnell advocates for a separation between corporate interests and TC practices as they are taught in the classroom, pushing for a change that includes what is effective in the workplace as opposed to the hegemony of “what the boss wants” that is often taught in the classroom. Speaking from his experience in the industry, he details how the hegemony is perpetuated through scholarly work and states that a better model would be one that recognizes TC documents not as neutral manifestations of truth, but as structured, value-laden artifacts of a specific discourse community. He argues that we should teach students to question these paradigms so that they will not just learn how to belong to a discourse community, but “how to shape that community” (184, emphasis in original).
Contrary to Thayer’s commentary, I think Bushnell is not just trying to define TC at industry’s expense; Bushnell’s admits that a radical separation from the corporation is not completely possible because of the demands, exigencies, and expectations of academia, the professional world, and students. Rather, I think that Bushnell is pushing for a different definition of TC so that students can function better in the workplace by being able to recognize, question, and manipulate paradigms in the workplace. I also think he even advocates for a critical pedagogy that might even advance future evolution of the field in case the structure changes around that definition. I don’t think Thayer gives Bushnell enough credit. And I know I just commented on my own annotation, but I think it was justified, given that this is a primary source that we have already read about.
Sorry about the missing hyperlink. I’ll fix that soon. Also, please forgive any wacky formatting. I am trying to learn HTML for another class and am using this as an additional trying ground.
(Re)Appraising the Performance of Technical Communicators From a Posthumanist Perspective
Annotation by Joshua Barron
In the pursuit of a clear and unifying definition of Technical Communication, the article analyzed the performance evaluation process of professional technical communicators in their respective fields of practice. By facilitating a review of expected work performance, the article provided this reader with a useful guide map for the reverse-engineering of the discipline, drawing particular attention to the concept of agency. Indeed, the authors' stated intent is to prompt "a repurposing of the genre." (p. 13)The authors introduce the importance of "distributed cognition" to the modern industrialized world, focusing on the interaction between the workers, the artifact (technical communication) of their evaluations, and the work environment in which they were evaluated. Following the introductions, an analysis of the performance evaluation process via Foucault's concept (note: not definition) of discourse. This approach leads the reader to formulate a definition of Technical Communication that deliberately includes the unwritten (human) components and interactions in the process of clearly transmitting messages as information. By examining Technical Communication simultaneously through the three "performances": organizational, cultural, and technological, readers are lead to systematically and more thoroughly consider the intangible, harder-to-examine elements of discourse, particularly in Technical Communication. This approach is useful when evaluating Lay's assertions on Feminism and Sullivan's examination of social action.
Henry, J. (2010). (Re)Appraising the Performance of Technical Communicators From a Posthumanist Perspective. Technical Communication Quarterly, 19(1), 11-30. doi:10.1080/10572250903372975. Retrieved online Monday, September 13, 2010, from http://j.mp/tcappraisal.
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