Feedforward (ff) en Metaforische Transfer (mt) -Dimensies Van Technical Writers'

1984 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 116-124
Author(s):  
J.W. Broer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Identity ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
Writing Problems ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
The World ◽  
Technical Writer ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

A map of the world of 'technical' communication shows the (a, ß)-universe, flat country filled with language experts and scientists, including engineers. In the centre Technical Writing is situated, a territory in turmoil, on the border of α-land and ß-land. In the U.S.A. the territory is developing fast as the professional core of a new skill. As emigrants, many people of an α-type or ß-type nature end up in the territory. Having a problem of professional identity they possess a hy-brid personality. The attention paid to this problem causes them to lose sight of the two 'natural' forces of an emigrating individual, that is to say feedforward — an anticipative composition principle — and metaphoric transfer — 'as-if use of knowledge from the individual's professional past, to solve the communication problems met at present. Feedforward (Ivor A. Richards, 1893-1979) is a principle of creative action, proceeding from more generic to less (a top-down hier-archy); a number of 'formators' (Charles W. Morris and Bess Sondel), the tools for making text according to the feedforward scheme, are discussed. Nowadays visual elements as formators receive more emphasis. Text is seen as a distribution of three types of elements ('knowing', 'feeling', 'acting') glued into a unit, the communicative 'whole', by the formators. The textual whole should match the type of readers as originally anticipated by the technical writer (27 types, a classification based upon estimating three levels of knowing, feeling, acting; examples are included). Some prescriptions for solving Technical Writing problems found by metaphoric transfer are discussed. To illustrate the traffic of ideas arising from metaphoric transfer, a detailed map of the border area science/ technical writing is shown.

scholarly journals Han Yu (2015). The Other Kind of Funnies: Comics in Technical Communication. New York, NY: Baywood Publishing Company.

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 25-27
Author(s):  
Suzanne Rintoul
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
The Other ◽  
Graduate Courses ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Communication Challenges

Han Yu’s "The Other Kind of Funnies: Comics in Technical Communication" challenges the notion that technical writing is too “rational” or “serious” to accommodate the conventions of comics-style communication. She does this by illustrating comics’ unique ability to distill and reinforce information in ways entirely appropriate not just for complementing the purposes of many technical writers, but also for fulfilling the needs of their diverse audiences. The book’s major strength lies in Yu’s capacity to locate the productive nexus between two ostensibly dissimilar modes so that by the final chapter those connections seem not only probable, but natural. This text will be especially useful to scholars of rhetoric (particularly those invested in visual culture and/or technical writing) and practitioners of technical writing eager to embrace new (or in some cases re-embrace older) ways of seeing the relationship between textual and visual elements. The clarity with which Yu distils complex theoretical concepts makes this book appropriate reading for undergraduate or graduate courses as well as for non-scholarly audiences.

Career Opportunities for Teachers of Technical Writing: A Survey of Programs in Technical Communication

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul V. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Technical Communication ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Promotion And Tenure ◽  
Formal Study ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Technical Writer

In response to a mail survey of the career opportunities they offer teachers of technical writing, twenty-four programs that prepare students for careers as technical writers and editors indicated that their technical writing faculty enjoy about the same teaching loads, salaries, and chances for promotion and tenure as do equally qualified and experienced teachers of literature at their schools. The programs also indicated that they have a growing number of openings on their faculties for teachers of technical writing. Finally, the programs ranked and rated seventeen qualifications that might be offered by applicants for those positions; the most significant conclusion drawn from the rankings and ratings is that the programs look more favorably upon experience — both in teaching and in working as a technical writer or editor — than they do upon formal study of technical writing or the teaching of it.

Fictional Techniques in Technical Writing

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-98
Author(s):  
Richard S. Ruch ◽  
Jan C. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Technical Communication ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Technical Writer

Technical papers should be constructed as coherent wholes, using those organizational, stylistic, and informational devices necessary to communicate their intended message to the intended audience. Since messages and audience vary tremendously, so also must techniques of technical writing. The technical writer will find that techniques normally associated with the writing of fiction, including creation of hypothetical situations, composite characters, invented dialogue, and dramatic story lines, aid greatly in achieving improved technical communication.

Technical Writing in the Netherlands

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique M. W. De Vet
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
Text Quality ◽  
Writing Problems ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Global Profile

This article is about the profession of technical writing in the Netherlands. The data are mainly based on two studies. The first was directed at technical writers who work as freelancers (external writers). It was done with the objective of learning about the characteristics and backgrounds of external technical writers and about their wishes concerning the development of the profession. The second study was directed at technical writers who work inside organizations (internal writers) and focused on questions about text quality and the writing problems that threaten this quality. We will focus on three issues. After the introduction in the first section and the description of the design of our studies in the second section, we will give a global profile of technical writers in the Netherlands. In the fourth section we will give an impression of the writing problems internal technical writers have to deal with. In the fifth section opinions concerning more professionalism in the field of technical writing are discussed. Also attention is paid to current developments in professionalism.

Why Technical Writers? A Case for Training Technologists to Speak for Themselves

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol J. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Real World ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
The Real ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Technology Practice ◽  
Language And Communication

Why are technical writers needed to “translate” the work of technologists into accessible communication? This article looks briefly at the situation that creates the need for technical writers and then argues for a change in that situation so technologists can communicate for themselves. The argument is based on Martin Heidegger's philosophy of meaning, language, and communication. It recommends greater, active involvement of technologists with the “real world” in which their technology will be used, including involvement with people with whom and for whom the technology is being developed. Key concepts presented are that meaning lies in socially-agreed relations among things in the world, not in words or in the relations between words and things; that language actually manifests rather than represents reality; and that technical writers are incapable of fully appreciating and communicating the meaning of what technologists do because they come from a different discipline which constructs meaning differently. It argues that a change in technology practice will engender a new attitude and approach to technical communication that can make technical writers unnecessary except as communication teachers who help develop the communication skills of technologists.

Portrait of a Technical Writer: An Annotated Bibliography

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-303
Author(s):  
Heather E. Keeler
Keyword(s):  
Technical Communication ◽  
Annotated Bibliography ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Technical Writer ◽  
The Subject

This annotated bibliography identifies and summarizes sixteen current articles portraying the technical writer. Despite the abundance of literature on the subject of technical communication, there is scant literature that describes and humanizes the technical writers—the skills they value, products they produce, roles they play, or industries they serve. The sixteen articles listed here, all published since 1980, paint a picture which may be of use to practitioners, students, educators, authors, and researchers.

Does Clio Have a Place in Technical Writing? Considering Patents in a History of Technical Communication

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. John Brockmann
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Science Writing ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Writing Standards

Technical writers need a historical perspective in order to distinguish between enduring and transitory writing standards, to understand the variety of past styles in building future styles, and to give the profession a better sense of self-identity. To overcome the problems in developing a historical perspective, such as a dearth of artifacts to examine and the peculiarities in rhetorical time and place which undercut attempts to generalize on historical information, the 200 year-old federal collection of patents is offered as a solution. This collection of patents is also very often the only remaining written work of the ordinary mechanic of the nineteenth century, and this collection truly reflects technical not legal, business, or science writing.

The Relativity of Communication: Albert Einstein as Technical Writer

1980 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Baresich
Keyword(s):  
Technical Communication ◽  
Albert Einstein ◽  
Special Theory ◽  
Theory Of Relativity ◽  
Special Theory Of Relativity ◽  
Audience Analysis ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Technical Writer ◽  
Efficient Information ◽  
Relative Differences

Efficient information flow in technical communication depends upon accurate audience analysis. The presentation of information must be adjusted relative to the knowledge and interests of the writer's audience. Problems arise when the relative differences in audiences are slight, but nonetheless important. Albert Einstein's writing can be used as an example of skillful adaptation of material for audiences with subtle differences. A prime example is his special theory of relativity, which he published in three versions for technical, semitechnical, and nontechnical audiences. Students, teachers, and technical writers can learn much from the way Einstein uses tone, personal address, varying levels of diction, definitions, and concrete examples of each of the three expositions of his special theory of relativity.

Bibliography of Articles on the History of Technical Writing

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. John Brockmann
Keyword(s):  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Central Problem ◽  
Historical Approach ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Slow Evolution

This collection of thirty-six articles exposes the problem and the promise of historical research in technical writing. The central problem is that historical research in technical writing has too often been focused only on celebrated authors or scientists as technical writers. The central promise contained in some very recent essays is that historical research in technical communications is beginning to consider the slow evolution of technical communication taking place across a broad spectrum of both celebrated and uncelebrated writers. This historical approach, though more difficult to carry out, is immensely more accurate and meaningful.

Nurses as Technical Writers: What They Need to Know

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee A. Spears
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Nurse Managers ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
Nursing Documentation ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Problems ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Good Writing ◽  
Predominantly Female

Acquaintance with the writing of nurses would help instructors design assignments for nursing students who enroll in basic technical writing courses. Based on secondary research, samples of nursing documentation, and interviews with seventy-six bedside nurses, thirty nurse managers, and five nurse consultants, this study discusses the importance of writing tasks for nurses and describes the most common documents nurses generate. Good writing skills for nurses improve healthcare delivery and promote empowerment in a predominantly female profession. However, most of the bedside nurses and all the nurse managers and consultants believe nurses have significant writing problems. This article suggests instruction in six communication principles and several types of assignments that would help prepare nursing students in technical writing courses for future writing activities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document