In this discussion, we consider how the use of scenario-based assessment (SBA) can provide students with a way of developing the digital communication skills that business communication research has found they will need for the workplace, alongside other aspects of professional competence. This is because SBA can be employed to engage learners in…

The concepts of 'graduateness' and graduate attributes became contested terrain before COVID-19 destabilised even the most assured of shared learning constructions. Indeed, for those of us immersed in the delivery of work-based learning (WBL), this has long been the case. Promotion of reductive notions of 'skills' acquisition to comply neatly with…

This article explains how research "on" practitioners can be turned into research "for and with" practitioners (Cameron, Frazer, Rampton, & Richardson, 1992, p. 22) by including these practitioners in the research teams. Methodologically, it draws on two decades of multimethod research and knowledge transformation at the…

Recognizing that graduate students seldom have the opportunity to participate collaboratively, either in providing or receiving feedback to improve their academic writing skills, this study reports on the design of a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) system used to investigate how graduate students transform and construct their…

Over the last 2 decades, the nations that once comprised the Soviet Union have begun to play an increasingly important role in the global economy. As a result, today's technical and professional communicators could find themselves interacting with co-workers, colleagues, and clients in these nations. Being successful in such contexts, however,…

Most business communication classes teach students to use a writing process to compose effective documents. Students practice the process by applying it to various types of writing with various purposes-reports, presentations, bad news letters, persuasive memos, etc. However, unless students practice that process in other contexts outside of the…

In this article, the authors focus on the decision-making process that goes into professional writing and ways to emphasize ethical decision-making in writing classrooms. Professional writing has at its core an emphasis on action and audience. Certainly teachers want their students to write effectively--to serve their clients, organizations, and…

The intertextual nature of workplace writing is well attested, and the efficacy of intertextuality as a tool for investigating the ways in which genres are linked in workplace settings is also recognized (Berkenkotter, 2001; Bhatia, 2004). Intertextuality not only accounts for the links between texts, but is also an important factor influencing…

A writing workshop is a pedagogical tool that can create a more productive experience for teachers and students alike. Business students who have used this technique with experienced instructors agree that a well-planned writing workshop can be useful for dispelling writing fears, furthering understanding of business communication skills,…

A writing activity for business communications students--developing an instruction sheet to accompany a familiar product--teaches them that writing is a process that helps in achieving a product. (JOW)

Describes the elements of an effective style guide. Presents methods and techniques required to develop a style guide tailored to the specific needs of an organization. Focuses on two critical steps in the development process that are often ignored or overlooked: (1) conducting the Requirements Analysis; and (2) promoting the style guide. (SR)

A diamond-shaped model depicts the researcher/writer's progress from problem definition through preliminary research and major research to the stages of consolidating the data, writing, revising, rewriting, and final production. (RL)

Intended as a series of hands-on, step-by-step lessons, this book presents instructions, checklists, exercises, and examples to guide people who work in business, industry, science or government through all phases of manual preparation from planning to research to writing, all the way to getting the final piece printed. The first chapter shows how…

Applies speech act theory to business writing to determine why certain letters and memos succeed while others fail. Specifically, shows how speech act theorist H. P. Grice's rules or maxims illuminate the writing process in business communication. (PD)

Offers seven planning and prewriting tips for the writing of award-winning proposals. (SR)