Reflections on 8011 readings for November 1
This week’s readings focus on case study research and Internet research. First, there are method “how-to” notes from Gurak & Silker, Marshall & Rossman, and MacNealy. Then two studies, one by Gurak and one by Ding. Gurak and Silker Gurak, L. J., & Silker, C. M. (2002). Technical communication research in cyberspace. In L. J. Gurak & M. M. Lay (Eds.), Research in Technical Communication: Ablex Publishing. The authors take up issues of TC research in cyberspace, but as the book is from 2002, it seems some of the observations may be a little dated. Their stated purpose is “to Read More …
Reflections on October 18 readings for 8011
I didn’t think I’d have time to write a reflection on this week’s readings, as we have a big assignment due in 8011 tonight. As it happens, though, I’ve managed to get the assignment mostly completed and I’ve managed to get through this week’s readings to boot. So, here are my reflections: MacNealy, Chapters 4 & 5 MacNealy, M. S. (1998). Strategies for Empirical Research in Writing. Longman. I feel like my feet are touching ground again, after a couple of weeks focused on cultural studies and critical methods. MacNealy offers a very practical overview of basic issues in quantitative Read More …
Reflections on October 11 readings for 8011
This week, we’re having a visit from Dr. Bernadette Longo. In preparation for that, we are finishing her book Spurious Coin and reading some things she sent along in advance of her visit. I’ve taken copious notes on these six chapters of Spurious Coin but if figured I’d just share a couple items of interest to me, and a few questions I have for Professor Longo. Longo, B. (2000). Spurious Coin: A History of Science, Management, and Technical Writing. State University of New York Press. Chapter 3. Longo’s stated purpose: To trace “the development of the textbook and standardized education Read More …
5531 Readings for October 6
I thought I’d post a couple quick notes about the readings for 5531 this week. This is briefer than posts for 8011, because they are not required for 5531… This week, we handled the following: Gage Gage, J. T. (1991). On “Rhetoric” and “Composition”. In E. Lindemannn & G. Tate (Eds.), An Introduction to Composition Studies (pp. 15-32). New York: Oxford University Press. This study tackled the meanings of “rhetoric,” “composition,” and “rhetoric and composition.” He comes to a conclusion that seems altogether commonplace: Rhetoric is “reasoning down from wholes to functional parts” (30) Composition entails the process of “reasoning Read More …
Reflections on October 4 readings for 8011
A critical turn Most of this week’s readings come out of the cultural or critical studies orientation. (Blyler and Thralls and Blyer explore this orientation in general terms; Longo employs it in her history of technical writing.) The only exception is Smagorinsky. I’ll share some observations about the first three, along with some questions I have about the critical/cultural orientation. Then I’ll consider Smagorinsky briefly. Blyler Blyler, N. (1998). Taking a political turn: The critical perspective and research in professional communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 7(1), 33-52. (Page number here refer to Johnson-Eilola, J., & Selber, S. A. (Eds.). (2004). Central Read More …
Reflections on this week’s readings for 8011
Thralls and Blyler Thralls, C., & Blyler, N. R. (1993). The Social Perspective and Professional Communication. In C. Thralls & N. Blyler (Eds.), Professional Communication: The Social Perspective (pp. 3-34). Newbury Park, C.A.: Sage Publications, Inc. Describes three strands of social theory in professional communication research: Social constructionist: “the social constructionist approach focuses on community, viewing communal entities as the sources of knowledge maintained by consensual agreement; as the respositories of discourse conventions by which communities are defined and shaped; and as the bodies to which nonmembers must—through collaboration—be acculturated.” (p. 131) Ideologic: “ideologic crictics have differed significantly with the Read More …
Tripped up by “structuralism”
In what is likely to be another blow to my classroom ethos, I need to correct an error I introduced into the discussion in 5531 Composition Pedagogy last Wednesday. A classmate asked about what “structuralism” is. I confidently described it as arising from the linguistics of the Frenchman Ferdinand de Saussure, embodied famously in the work of the Prague School (a movement, not an institution) of linguistic theory, a leading figure of which was Roman Jacobson. So far, so good. But then I characterized it roughly as the notion that we can understand a subject (like language or culture) by Read More …
Speech Acts 101 from Argumentics
A nice summary of Searle’s conception of speech acts (after Austin) on Argumentics, including an amusing embedded video. Cheers! -B
Reflections on this week’s readings for 8011
This is my reflective memo for this week’s readings in 8011 Research Methods in S&TC. Barton & Eggly Barton, E., & Eggly, S. (2009). Ethical or Unethical Persuasion?: The Rhetoric of Offers to Participate in Clinical Trials. Written Communication, 26(3), 295-319. One conclusion of this study: That researchers seeking informed consent from cancer patients to take part in clinical trials make “regular and rhetorical use of unethical persuasion” from the perspective of bioethics. This is a broad conclusion in light of the researchers’ methods: They coded written transcripts of 22 interviews between patients and their oncologists that were recorded with Read More …
Reflections on training I’ve had in writing
So, in my 5531 Composition Pedagogy class, I was given the following prompt: “[P]lease write a short version of your experiences with writing instruction in your schooling. In narrating your experiences, consider how your experiences were a product, to some degree, of what we have been reading about in Berlin [1987].” I’ve viewed this question broadly. I’ll ID anecdotes from applicable contexts: My earliest memory of being trained how to write was a sixth-grade teacher (Mr. Pethoud), who insisted that students know how to spell words well beyond the sixth-grade level and also insisted on good penmanship. The former was Read More …