Technical Communicators and Writing Consultants: Identity and Expertise

This paper examines the roles of technical communicators and writing center consultants in regards to their identities and the expertise that they bring to what they do. Both fields have struggled with a lack of understanding surrounding what their positions entail and more importantly how they perform in their roles. With this in mind, the goal of this paper is to analyze how the growth of each field and the variations of each position contribute to the issue of identity. Furthermore, as a result of the identity problem that faces each position, I suggest using the theory of liminality, communication theory, and genre theory to examine more closely how technical communicators and writing center consultants approach the work they do. Technical communicators and writing center consultants perform very similar roles in their respective fields. Both positions have the ability to contribute to various fields through the work that they do. Technical communicators have the ability to communicate in multiple areas without necessarily being subject matter experts in the areas they participate in. The same holds true for writing center consultants who may, in one day, assist students in multiple subjects without necessarily having specific disciplinary knowledge of each area addressed. Outsiders do not understand how technical communicators and writing consultants can communicate within an unfamiliar field, which creates a main area of controversy for both roles. Using the three theories mentioned above, I make an argument for just how it is possible for them to perform in this capacity. By focusing on how technical communicators and writing center consultants perform in their roles instead of on their writing, their identity and expertise becomes clear and confusion surrounding each field can be banished. Although technical communicators and writing consultants both face similar challenges, their responsibilities differ in ways that affect how these theories apply. Still, all three theories illuminate how rhetoric provides the basis for expertise in both technical communication and writing centers

The Presidential Office and the President As Party Leader

Syftet med studien är att undersöka kommunikationsmönster hos fem biologilärare på gymnasiet och deras elevgrupper med fokus på frågor. Frågeställningarna avser att undersöka i vilken omfattning lärare och elever ställer frågor och vilka typer av frågor som ställs. Studien analyserar vilka ramfaktorer lärare och elever anser påverkar kommunikationsmönster i form av frågor. Kvantitativ och kvalitativ data har samlats in genom observationer i klassrum, intervjuer med lärare och enkätundersökning med eleverna. Kvantitativ data har analyserats med hjälp av en statistisk programvara, SIMCA-P+. Resultatet visade att frågor utgör en stor del av den kommunikation som sker i ett klassrum, vid jämförelse av olika lärare och elevgrupper är det stor skillnad i hur många och vilka typer av frågor som ställs. Kommunikationsmönstret styrs främst av vilken lärare eller elevgrupp som observerats, därefter kommer undervisningens utformning. Elevenkäterna visade att i vilken grad eleverna förstår, undervisningens utformning och klassrumsklimatet är viktiga ramfaktorer för kommunikation i form av frågor

Aesop’s Trumpeter, Aristotle’s Orator, and the Technical Communicator

This paper discusses the orator and the audience\u27s roles in both Aristotle\u27s rhetoric and contemporary rhetoric. Moreover, it argues that technical communicators should revive Aristotle\u27s rhetoric because it allows them to take ownership of their work

Author Support for Wiki Based Help Systems: Genre Conventions for Content Templates

Author support systems are critical in wiki help systems. I provide a critical review of existing research on author support systems, content strategy, content management, and how these intersect, as well as a structural content analysis of five content templates in an effort to define genre conventions

Technical communicator\u27s encroachment on public relations: a report from the field

A survey was conducted to focus on technical communicators and their roles within organizations. The study utilized public relations encroachment theory and survey research to investigate five research questions relating to technical communication encroachment of public relations. The research found that there may be some encroachment occurring in public relations by technical communicators, but only in two roles: Problem-Solving Process Facilitator and Communication Facilitator. Additionally, the study found that a technical communicator\u27s experience level was linked to encroachment. Less experienced technical communicators were more likely to perceive they encroach on public relations. Gender and education did not play a role in encroachment. Ultimately, the study and findings can be examined further to determine if curricular changes should be made in technical communication programs and also to better define the professional field of technical communication

Cookbook choice a matter of self-identity

Cookbooks have long been recognised as more than instructional texts rather as a literary genre with narratives beyond the functional. This paper discusses the influences which guide choices of cookbook and cookery writer for a group of thirtysomethings with particular attention to the role that their narratives of self-identity play within this choice. In the sociology of consumption the role of self and identity is a recurring one particularly among those who view consumption as an act of integration between external objects and self, often through a process of personalisation. Whether food consumption can take on such significance is well debated but cook books in common with other forms of literature, this paper contends, become well used and take on increased symbolism for their owners. Cookbooks have a heterogeneity of style from the instructional owner manual style of Larousse through to the lifestyle led work of Oliver and Slater so that they can embody not only representations of contemporary culinary culture but also extend far beyond the kitchen to create aspirational cultural narratives. Utilising narrative analysis of semi-structured interviews this paper explores the narrative construction of self, drawn in part from attitudes towards food and cooking, outwardly manifest through choices of cookbook in order to add to understanding of symbolic consumption practice

Improving Student Learning: An English Teacher’s Research, Planning, and Analysis Journey

This final portfolio was submitted to the English Department of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the field of English with a specialization in English Teaching. The projects contained in the portfolio exhibit the journey of research, planning and analysis. The portfolio contains: a substantive research paper, a teaching based project, a combination of a substantial research and a teaching-based project, and a literary theory paper

Collaboration in AEC Design : Web-enabling Applications using Peer-to-Peer Office Communicator

A market analysis conducted by Gartner Dataquest in August 2001 has shown the typical characteristics of the AEC design process. High volatility in membership of AEC design groups and members dispersed over several external offices is the common collaboration scenario. Membership is most times short lived, compared to the overall duration of the process. A technical solution has to take that into account by making joining and leaving a collaborative work group very easy. The modelling of roles of collaboration between group members must be based on a commonly understood principle like the publisher / subscriber model, where the individual that is responsible for the distribution of vital information is clear. Security issues and trust in the confidentiality of the system is a central concern for the acceptance of the system. Therefore, keeping the subset of data that will be published under the absolute control of the publisher is a must. This is not the case with server-based scenarios, sometimes even due to psychological reasons. A loosely bound Peer-to-Peer network offers advantages over a server-based solution, because of less administrative overhead and simple installation procedures. In a peer-to-peer environment, a publish/subscribe role model can be more easily implemented. The publish/subscribe model matches the way AEC processes are modelled in real world scenarios today, where legal proof of information exchange between external offices is of high importance. Workflow management systems for small to midsize companies of the AEC industry may adopt the peer-to-peer approach to collaboration in the future. Further investigations are being made on the research level (WINDS) by integrating the viewer and redlining application Collaborate! into a collaborative environment

Understanding audience understanding

Communication study has approached the issue of audience understanding of messages from the perspective of the message and from that of the audience. On the one hand, the powerful-message construct paints the audience as passive recipients of the meaning presented in the media. On the other hand, the active audience construct places most interpretive power in the audience, stressing their selectivity of messages, their use of the media, their social positions, and their ability to generate new messages based on the media. A middle position sees audience understanding emerge from an interaction between messages and audience members