This thesis is a study of the published scholarship in international technical communication from 1950 to 1989. It provides insight into the four decades\u27 worth of scholarship as well as a resource for the development of present and future scholarship in international technical communication. It attempts to answer the following research questions: What did scholars of international technical communication study in each decade? What are the similarities and differences among the four decades in terms of scholarship in international technical communication? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the relevant scholarship in the four decades? What can we learn from the scholarship in these four decades? To answer these questions, I reviewed articles collected from the main journals and conference proceedings in technical communication published in the United States. I summarized and coded these articles according to their major subjects. Based on my review of this literature, I drew conclusions about the character and value of the published scholarship in international technical communication from 1950 to 1989 --Abstract, page iii