(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.

Conservation Writing: An Emerging Field in Technical Communication.

Annotation by Joshua Barron

Recognizing the growing public interest in (and demand for) conservation of the earth's ecological systems, this article examines "conservation writing" as a new realm within the larger technical communication discipline. The formation of environmental policy is explored through the discussion of curriculum development and the identification of potentially beneficial pedagogical methods. The article also provides helpful definitions and descriptions of appropriate written communication forms used within the genre.

Based on the article, it appears that the development of this new domain is running in step with the relatively recent reform of engineering writing instruction during the mid-twentieth century. Specifically we note the public interest in (and demand for) immediate improvement in the technical writing of each particular discipline and, in response, a scramble of writing professionals and university faculty staking their claim in the new academic territory. Because of its new-ness, the act of reading this article may provide the reader with a pseudo-romantic appreciation (or at worst a vague understanding) of the larger discipline's key principles. Digging a little deeper and reading more responsibly reveals a fair treatment of the area's own opportunities to invest in (and potentially shape) the future of ethical interactions and behaviors. This topic relates closely to other assigned readings related to policy development and the praxis of rhetorically-based technical communication.

Johnson-Sheehan, R., & Morgan, L. (2009). Conservation Writing: An Emerging Field in Technical Communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 18(1), 9-27. doi:10.1080/10572250802437283. Retrieved online Monday, September 6, 2010, from http://j.mp/conservationrhetoricarticle.