Offers resources on technical writing that were published in 1980. Arranges the citations under 12 categories: bibliographies, books, reviews, and articles on theory and philosophy; pedagogy; writing technical articles and reports; research; technical writing and the computer; graphic/visual aids; correspondence; technical speech; and designing…

Hypotheses stated in 98 articles from 10 journals were classified as follows: explicit--26; clearly implied--22; loosely implied--22; and nonexistent--28. A trend toward clearer statements from 1966 to 1976 was confounded with a trend toward more experimental studies. There were four null statements and no statistical statements. (CP)

Presents a "Heuristic of Professional Communication Goals," which enables the communicator to identify the goals that pertain to a particular communication situation and to generate subject matter that will achieve those goals. (FL)

Presents three ideas for use in business communication courses: (1) using advertisements to teach sales writing, (2) establishing strong student-teacher relationships, and (3) using proposal writing to increase student interest in business communication. (FL)

Relates a teacher's experience in teaching technical writing to gifted tenth grade students. Applies this teaching experience to a discussion of the place of technically oriented writing in college writing courses. (RL)

Expounds Firth's views on the problems of translation and surveys theories of translation by some Firthian linguists. Defines the concept of meaning and the concept of varieties within a language, discussing various dialect categories and other categories that relate to constant features of speakers' and writers' use. (MES)

Applies three major points of American pragmatism to the development of technical writing assignments: (1) restricting the writing environment to the practical, workaday world, (2) emphasizing the complex contexts of purpose and audience, and (3) verifying the effectiveness of any piece of writing by its intentions. Offers criteria by which both…

Notes the apparent lack of attention given to social and behavioral sciences in science communication courses. Urges teachers of science writing to expose their students to some of the problems and challenges inherent in the social sciences. (RL)

A distinction is made between legal research instruction and instruction in the art of drafting legal papers. The need for the latter is outlined, and efforts to implement such a course at the Indiana University School of Law are described. Available from University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843. (MSE)

Comments on the rationale and methodology of the textual cue experiments of L. T. Frase and B. J. Schwartz (see EJ 203 980) and describes two studies that attempted to replicate and extend their findings using a different methodology. (Author/GT)

Quality research is vital to the well-being of any academic discipline. Rather than discourage research and its subsequent publication, every effort should be made to encourage quality production and to disseminate findings in the most feasible and practical manner possible. (JD)

Notes the differences between poetry and technical communication. Charges English teacher/humanists with confusing students about emotional writing, style, and effective technical communication. Offers five concepts that technical writing teachers can use to place "style" on a rational basis and to make students understand the true purposes of…

Outlines a three-part diagnostic unit that tells the technical writing teacher what students need to know while showing students what technical writing is. Divides the unit into (1) troubleshooting a poor report, (2) exchanging and comparing revised reports, and (3) followup activities. (RL)

Describes the experience acquired in a large industrial translation facility and the problems encountered in high-quality translation of scientific and technological texts. The inadequacies of fully automatic translating systems are specifically discussed, as well as the use of terminology data banks for machine supported human translating. (MES)

Describes a three-step communications loop involving student self-descriptions that promote greater audience awareness. (RL)