The Communication Angle: Current Issues & Directions in Technical Communication Research

Marsha Durham

Tuesday 27 July at 11am

Abstract

Until relatively recently technical communication was largely an atheoretical field, focussed on production tips and techniques. A more critical approach has evolved since the mid-1980s, drawing on many disciplines and areas, particularly humanities (literature and rhetoric), design, and the social sciences. The resulting research is diverse, yet unified in its focus on the human aspect of technology, i.e. the human shaping of meaning. Analysis of technical texts may include attention to the needs and interests of users and readers; text production processes of writing teams; organisational pressures that affect writing standards and practices; and consideration of other communication issues such as cross-cultural communication. Increasingly, technical communication researchers are linking with work in other fields to enrich their understanding of technical texts and the contexts of production and use. My talk uses the example of on-line information to explore the research contributions of technical communication..

Short resume

Marsha Durham is Associate Professor in Professional Writing at the University of Western Sydney. She is a member of the University's Professional Communication Research Group. Marsha's latest project will evaluate university web sites from a communication perspective. Marsha is Vice-President of the Australia & New Zealand Communication Association, and a member of the Australian Society for Technical Communication (NSW); the Society of Technical Communication (USA); and the newly formed Association of Internet Researchers. She is on the editorial board of the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, and the Social Marketing Quarterly.

At UWS Marsha is Chair of the UWS Academic Senate.

Marsha's PhD is in linguistics. Her dissertation concerned linguistic and design elements in Australian computer manuals.

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