Examines a study that suggests that quantification, defined as numerical data, increases textual difficulty and thereby discourages resolving scientific problems through public action. (MH)

Some principles that are imporant in both legal drafting and expository writing are discussed, including the value of beginning to write before completing all necessary research, and of developing a hierarchical structure, or outline. These steps encourage feedback as to what further information is needed and allow uninterrupted thinking. (JMD)

Describes ways to use the job interview as a topic in college technical writing assignments, including role-playing either the interviewer or interviewee, observing a professional interviewer at work, and generating business correspondence as a result of an interview. (RL)

Argues against the notion that translation is prone to indeterminacy, and presents a systematic approach to translation criticism. (AM)

Discusses the process of observation and presents a systematic approach for incorporating behavioral observations into evaluations and written psychological reports, based on Robert Carkhuff's Human Resource Development Model. Using this framework and drawing on the experiences of the authors, several principles of report writing are discussed.…

Describes techniques used to help technical writing students eliminate jargon, verbosity, syntactical intricacy, and overuse of the passive voice from their writing. (GW)

Suggests some specific areas in which original work on the rhetoric of scientific and technical communication is needed and points out ways in which this work might be carried out. (Author/GW)

Cites examples of technical writing that demonstrate "cobblestone rhetoric" (the listing of hard, concrete ideas, all of which have the same weight and configuration) and outlines approaches for helping technical writers learn to use narrative flow and full interpretation of detail in their writing. (GW)

Describes a year long course developed at Michigan State University by the English and science departments to develop the writing abilities of science students. (SL)

Reports on two research projects are presented, one on the compilation of an Indonesian dictionary and the other on developing the reading skills of science students in Thailand. (Author)

Emphasizes the need for proofreading instruction in a college technical writing class. Provides the locations of frequently undetected proofreading errors and a strategy for when and how to proofread. (RL)

Examines one approach to tracking discourse level "functional" features for computer-based writers' aids by comparing the grammatical base and approach to parsing embodied in an ATN parser with that of a systemic parser, which makes an analysis of discourse-level features explicit. (HTH)

Introduces the idea of a smart documentation system (SDS). Argues that an SDS will be more useful for providing interface that allows the user to describe problems using natural language. Describes a computational linguistic system that could provide the basis for such an interface, and the basic design of an SDS that would incorporate such an…

Describes a summer internship as a faculty technical writer with a business corporation, revising installation manuals based upon information from computer programers--an experience that highlighted technical writers' need for interpersonal skills. (HTH)