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With the growing interest in real-world (nonacademic) writing, critics are suggesting that the composition skills taught in schools may have little to do with the written communication skills students later need in their careers. There is a need for studies that examine writing in nonacademic contexts and that look at writing from a social perspective in order to examine the interrelationships among writing processes, texts, readers, and the functions writing serves within specific organizational settings. This volume is an attempt to increase our understanding of the nature of technical writing within an R&D organization by analyzing the three-match among writer intentions, texts, and reader expectations. Part One traces the interest in real-world writing and explores the differences between writing in an academic versus a real-world setting. Part Two provides a theoretical and conceptual background by discussing traditional and emerging models of technical communication, and by exploring different theories about the nature of science, technology, knowledge, information, language, and progress. Part Three describes the objectives, methodologies, findings, and conclusions of the study which investigated the match among the types of information that researchers (scientists and engineers) intend to include in their technical progress reports, the types of information actually contained in their reports, and the types of information that their supervisor readers expect in these reports.
Table des matières
List of Tables
List of Appendices and Figures
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Preface to the Series
Introduction
PART I. WRITING IN ACADEMIC VS. REAL-WORLD SETTINGSThe Growing Interest in Real-World Writing
Academic Views of Writing: Product, Process, and Context
Culture, Community, and Communication
Written Communication and Organizational Culture
PART II. EXPLORATIONS IN SCIENCE: TECHNOLOGY, AND COMMUNICATIONScientific and Technical Writing: What We Know and What We Need to Know
Theoretical Background
Toward a Conceptual Framework for the Present Study
PART III. A STUDY OF PROGRESS REPORTS IN AN R&D ORGANIZATION: WRITER INTENTIONS, TEXTS, AND READER EXPECTATIONSOverview of the Study
Phase 1: Interviews with Writers and Readers
Phase 2: The Informational Content of Progress Reports
Phase 3: Identification and Evaluations of Information in Progress Reports
Conclusions
References
Author Index
Subject Index
A propos de l'auteur
Christine P. Barabas
