Suggests that academics from professional communication programs can and should use their programs' connections with the workplace to influence practices in the field. Suggests ways to create more bi-directional educational exchanges. (RS)

Investigates the relationship of specific semantic and syntactic text characteristics to what information readers recall. Confirms that readers are more likely to recall more versus less important information and information in clauses, independent clauses, and first paragraphs. Suggests how writers can use these findings to help readers retain…

Considers some foundational, historical issues that led to the formation of a technical-communication pedagogy in the first place. Evaluates shifts in an engineering curriculum from roughly 1850 to 1960 that made possible the development of a technical-communication curriculum. (SC)

Analyzes the clinical protocol within the rhetorical framework of the drug development and approval process, identifying the constraints under which the protocol is written and the rhetorical form, argumentative strategies, and style needed to improve and teach the writing of this document. (SC)

Reviews economic, sociopolitical, and ideological factors that characterize the modern professions and argues that the technical communication field, at best, only partially meets the criteria. Argues that prospects for professional status might be improved by developing a critical consciousness of the processes of professionalization and…

Investigates how the purpose of three types of business and technical documents (instructions, annual reports, and sales promotional letters) affects the syntactical and rhetorical choices authors make in writing these documents. Outlines partial syntactical and rhetorical "fingerprints" of these documents to offer students norms they can go by in…

Argues that an effectively designed intranet can become a valuable medium for facilitating work processes and communication throughout a company, and that sound structure and visual appeal are important in attracting users to an intranet. Examines issues, such as creating form appropriate to function, determining audience needs, and implementing…

Explains the controversy surrounding the Office Assistant ("Paper-Clip") in Microsoft's Office 97. Discusses why actual readers rejected the default Office Assistant's role as implied writer and rebelled against the reader role implied for them. Notes users resented its intrusive behavior, rejected its implied writer role, and refused to…

Discusses how United States national policy regarding sexual harassment exemplifies the Foucauldian paradigm in its attempt to regulate sexuality through seemingly authorless texts. Proposes a user-centered approach to policy drafting that values the knowledge of workers as users and makers of workplace policy. Argues that regulation through such…

Examines selected texts by Ellen Swallow Richards, a 19th-century scientist who wrote for a variety of audiences. Finds that her audience awareness anticipates modern technical communication practices and alerts scholars to examine gender, class, and other social issues in historical documents as well as current pragmatic discourse. (PA)

Studies Flora Annie Steel, an uneducated woman who nonetheless became an Inspector of Female Schools in Punjab, India, in 1884. Focuses on her reports within the context of British imperialism and late 19th-century report conventions. Concludes that cultural expectations for women in imperialism influenced Steel's response to the genre; and the…

Describes the utility of effect size reporting and reports on a study that reviewed articles in three quarterly gifted journals and 40 articles in journals not directly associated with gifted education, published over the last five years. Effect sizes were generally not included in research articles, with results consistent across journals.…

States that the periodic engineering report (a fixture of engineering classrooms and engineering practice) can become a source of conflict when North American engineers collaborate with colleagues abroad. Relates experiences of a writing consultant on such a project. Finds differences in tone and reader expectations caused misunderstandings. Uses…

Discusses a study of the authors' initial semester matching technical communication students with teams of engineers in a capstone, client-based experience. Notes incredible growth in students' abilities to discuss design, teamwork, and client projects within the pre- and post-surveys. Concludes that there is the potential in moving toward a more…

Identifies 163 texts from a database of over 25,000 citations collected from five technical communication journals between 1988 and 1997. Notes that the texts--points of reference--represent the research, theory, and practice of technical communication. Concludes that the points of reference demonstrate that technical communication has an identity…