The Impact of Discourse Communities on International Professional Communication John Webband

Author(s):  
Michael Keene
Author(s):  
Elaine G. Toms ◽  
D. Grant Campbell

Documents have conventions which have evolved within discourse communities and which facilitate document use. These conventions are represented in a document by visual cues that define a shape and serve as an interface metaphor in a user's interaction with a digital document. In this paper we report on the results of two studies, one of which examined the impact of . . .


2021 ◽  
pp. 004728162110419
Author(s):  
Gustav Verhulsdonck ◽  
Tharon Howard ◽  
Jason Tham

Technical and professional communication (TPC) and user experience (UX) design are often seen as intertwined due to being user-centered. Yet, as widening industry positions combine TPC and UX, new streams enrich our understanding. This article looks at three such streams, namely, design thinking, content strategy, and artificial intelligence to uncover specific industry practices, skills, and ways to advocate for users. These streams foster a multistage user-centered methodology focused on a continuous designing process, strategic ways for developing content across different platforms and channels, and for developing in smart contexts where agentive products act for users. In this article, we synthesize these developments and draw out how these impact TPC.


2011 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 68-89
Author(s):  
Andreu van Hooft

Abstract Cross-cultural studies (Hofstede, 1984, 1991, 2001; Hall, 1959, 1976) posit that Mexico is a more collectivistic and high context culture than the United States of America and therefore it could be claimed that Mexicans will communicate and perceive professional communication in a different way than US Americans. In contrast, professional communication and social (psychology) studies argue that in order to communicate in a truly intercultural way it is necessary to go beyond the frame of cultural dimensions, since shared professional and educational frameworks could override the impact of cultural differences in professional settings. While empirical evidence so far has shown mixed results, the results of this article provide additional evidence to support the view that the two cited cultural dimensions have been overridden, since the Mexican (N=280) and US American (N=300) student samples showed a rather similar perception of professional dialogues in a monocultural as well as in an intercultural communication setting. A shared framework of knowledge and skills, the impact of the new media and technologies, the virtual and real intercultural encounters between Mexicans and US Americans, their shared educational level, and the fact that nearly all of the Mexican participants reported to speak English as a foreign language and that a majority of the US American participants reported to speak Spanish as a foreign language, could explain, at least for the studied samples, the observed convergence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. p312
Author(s):  
Eustard Rutalemwa Tibategeza

English is a medium of instruction in higher learning institutions in Tanzania. Some institutions put in place some strategies to help students improve their English. This paper is a result of the study conducted at Archbishop Mihayo University College of Tabora. The objectives of the study were to assess the impact of the Basic English course on the students’ English, to scrutinise the course contents and to analyse the teaching methods and techniques to see if they help students to outshine in the English language. The study employed questionnaire, interview, focus group discussions and documentary review as instruments of data collection. The findings indicate that Basic English course has not helped students to improve their English for academic and professional communication and the course content is beyond what ought to be included in a basic course. It was further established that due to large classes, Basic English course is taught through lecture method, which does not give the students an opportunity to interact. The paper recommends that a serious review for Basic English course be done and be taught by qualified staff with appropriate teaching and learning materials in manageable groups to allow meaningful interaction and language usage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. pp209-219
Author(s):  
L Square ◽  
V Van der Heyde ◽  
D. Smith

Nuclear power forms part of the first-year physics undergraduate course work in the extended curriculum program at the University of the Western Cape. This investigation intends to assist students in mastering their understanding of how nuclear power works through the development of critical thinking skills around the topic and to create awareness among students of the implications of expanding a nuclear power footprint. Through debate, students in this course investigate the impact of South Africa increasing its nuclear footprint within a global context. In this work, students were encouraged to explore publications and reputable websites surrounding this topic and based on their findings formulate arguments. The authors conceptualized and developed a Sakai tool (based on Learning Tools Interoperability), called Reference Register (RR) to compliment the work. RR stores the reference uploaded by each student, shares uploaded literature resources to the group members, and quantifies the number of times a student uses a reference when presenting their argument. The incorporation of the RR was intended to encourage students to formulate arguments based on well-founded literature. Authors sort to investigate in which ways and to what extent does an online discussion forum facilitate students becoming ethically, environmentally, and socially aware in the area of nuclear energy and to assist students in becoming better in their professional communication skills. The outcome of this student engagement included students becoming familiar with what constitutes a well-formulated scientific argument based on a literature review, group engagement, becoming aware of South African current affairs regarding nuclear power, and its social and economic impact.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
pp. C01
Author(s):  
Dirk Hommrich

While most researchers still primarily use emails and simple websites for professional communication, the number of specialised online portals, information services and scholarly social online networks is constantly growing. This development led to the 6th workshop organized by the team of openTA, an online portal for technology assessment. This issue of JCOM pools commentaries on the workshop which deal with questions such as: what are the criteria of successful digital infrastructures? Which potential for changing workflows or scholarly interaction and collaboration patterns do we ascribe to digital infrastructures?


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-414
Author(s):  
Godwin Y. Agboka

Understanding the law and its impact on the practice of technical communication has been an important scholarly thread in technical and professional communication (TPC) for more than two decades. Technical communicators recognize the impact of their work on stakeholders as well as the potential liability issues associated with composing technical communication documents. While this scholarship is widespread, relatively few pedagogical resources are available to prepare students for success in a litigious world or to guide instructors in teaching legal writing. This article offers a case study of a legal writing course that prepares TPC students to develop legal literacy and succeed in the workplace.


Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Tracey DelNero ◽  
Deepti Vyas

Early provision of interprofessional education (IPE) is imperative to ensure effective communication between healthcare professionals. However, there are several barriers to offering adequate IPE, including space restrictions and lack of human resources, prompting exploration of alternative modalities. In 2019, an IPE activity was offered in person with 213 pharmacy and 45 physician assistant (PA) students participating in one-on-one team huddles focusing on managing an acutely ill patient. In 2020, the same IPE activity, including 194 pharmacy and 45 PA students, was offered virtually. Peer evaluations, an attitudes survey, and confidence surveys were administered to evaluate the impact of the IPE activity. A student t-test and descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze the data. On average, PA students in the virtual group rated their peers higher than PA students in the in-person group, with little difference in the pharmacy peer evaluation of their PA partner. Ninety percent of pharmacy students and 91% of PA students in the virtual group felt that “they learned something new regarding therapeutic management” from their partner versus 84% of pharmacy and 81% of PA students in the in-person group. In conclusion, using a virtual modality for a communications-focused IPE was not detrimental to student attitudes and did not adversely affect peer perceptions.


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