Annotated Bibliography, Epistemological Alignment (PAB3b, ODU810, H. Gold)

Rhetoric > Technical Communication

Annotated Bibliography of:

Price, Tiffany E., and Chambers, Mary-Lynn. "Globalization and the Cultural Impact on Technical Communication." European Scientific Journal (2016): 93+. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

This week’s second annotated bibliography on epistemological alignment looks at the 2016 article by Tiffany Price and Mary-Lynn Chamber, “Globalization and the Cultural Impact on Technical Communication." They open the essay by saying that, “Technology has thrown open the academic doors to new learning strategies that will positively impact the global communication experience.” In an era of increasing dystopian writing (fiction and non-fiction), I find this refreshing view placing our technical communication discipline as a force performing worldwide good.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) defines epistemology as a science identifying the learner’s perspective of what they know, how they know it, why they know it, and if they care why they have the knowledge (Kong). As an aside, NLP is also a growing commercial market serving corporate training needs (Vansson). To simplify the issue of NLP for most non-academics, then-Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld summed it up best (Graham):

Donald Rumsfeld's book

As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know. 

This brings us to our two epistemological issues: (1) teaching technical communicators to effectively work and to train new global communicators, and (2) fulfill international learners’ gaps in knowledge.

Global Competence

Measuring the ability for intercultural instructors and students to communicate has been defined by Han Yu as the ability for each to:

Hu's Book

·         communicate effectively and appropriately in across cultures based on one’s intercultural knowledge, silks, and attitudes;

·         suitably shift point of view and adapt to cultural context;

·         identify mannerisms guided by culture, then engage in new, unfamiliar behaviors from other cultures.

Multilayered Literacies

Kelli Cargile Cook (whose paper I annotated in PAB3) acknowledges the urgency of making technical communication “multilayered, possessing a variety of literacies that encompass the multiple ways people use language in producing information, solving problems, and critiquing practice.” Towards that end, she offers “six layered literacies” for technical communicators (Cook):

1.      Basic literacy is the ability to read and write, and now extends to business writing and “codified skills and forms.”

2.      Rhetorical literacy is audience-facing needs; analytical skills to respond to the audience through specific communication purpose; choosing applicable strategies based on audience, purpose, and writing; and an awareness of your cultural point of view and that of the audience.

3.      Social literacy is used to reach learners in a classroom or workplace practice environment.

4.      Technological literacy is a newcomer to the pedagogy, but includes knowledge of technology to produce content; awareness of how to use technology for collaboration; research using technologies; and to critique, make decisions, and produce audience-facing content

5.      Ethical literacy combines the “communicators’ knowledge of professional ethical standards [and] their abilities for all stakeholders…”

6.      Critical Literacy is an “isolated” literacy, “deeply embedded in situations requiring other forms of literacy.” It promotes reflection, critique, and action.

Next Steps

Global and cultural implications of creating online content, as separately defined by Kong and Han, can be applied to Cook's literacies for preparing new curricula to clearly teach the discipline to new technical communicators. As described in PAB3a, this may further help me identify and perhaps contribute to a growing integrative pedagogical frame for technical communication.

Works Cited

Cook, Kelli Cargile. "Layered Literacies: A Theoretical Frame for Technical Communication Pedagogy." Technical Communication Quarterly 11.1 (2002): 5-29. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

Graham, David A. (27 Mar 2014). "Rumsfeld's Knowns and Unknowns: The Intellectual History of a Quip." The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/03/rumsfelds-knowns-and-unknowns-the-intellectual-history-of-a-quip/359719/ (11 Oct 2016)

Kong, Eric. "The Potential of Neuro-Linguistic Programming In Human Capital Development." Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management 10.2 (2012): 131-141. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. (11 Oct. 2016).

Price, Tiffany E., and Chambers, Mary-Lynn. "Globalization and the Cultural Impact on Technical Communication." European Scientific Journal (2016): 93+. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. http://www.eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/7669/7409

Yu, Han. "Intercultural Competence in Technical Communication: A Working Definition and Review Of Assessment Methods." Technical Communication Quarterly 21.2 (2012): 168-186. Education Source. Web. (11 Oct. 2016).

Vanson, Sally. (22 Aug 2014). "What on earth are Ontology and Epistemology?" The Performance Solution. http://theperformancesolution.com/earth-ontology-epistemology/ (11 Oct 2016)