<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Background:</i></b> Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports are essential for companies to persuade stakeholders of their commitment to social, economic, and environmental responsibilities. This persuasion is to a large degree determined by how companies construct their stance in discourse. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Literature review:</i></b> Among efforts in academic discourse, stance analysis of shipping industry CSR reporting remains unexplored. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Research questions:</i></b> 1. How are stance resources distributed in COSCO Shipping and Maersk's CSR discourse? 2. How do similarities and differences between institutional speakers instantiate their stakeholder-oriented communication strategies? 3. Which stance markers show significant changes over time, and what factors drive these changes? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Methodology:</i></b> This study employed corpus linguistics and discourse analysis of CSR reports (2016-2022) of COSCO Shipping and of Maersk. Python and WordSmith 8.0 were used for stance feature retrieval and frequency analysis, and hierarchical clustering analysis was conducted on hedges and boosters. Chi-square tests evaluated differences in stance marker distribution, while diachronic analysis examined changes over time. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Results and conclusion:</i></b> Maersk employs more stance markers of hedges, attitude markers, and general self-mentions, reflecting a more personal communication style, while COSCO Shipping favors boosters and formal self-references, indicating an authoritative approach. We argue that these features are informed by the contrast between European rationalism and Eastern empiricism in corporate communication. Our novel four-category classification of self-mentions (general, specific reference, group, and affiliated) addresses the complexities of shipping corporate discourse. Diachronic analysis shows stance marker usage fluctuations, particularly during global events like the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings develop a stance framework, offering insights in terms of stance construction for effective cross-cultural CSR communication to foster global cooperation on shared social responsibilities.

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>About the case:</i></b> We suggest using Aristotle's rhetorical triangle, a tool for analyzing communication in terms of logos (logic), pathos (values), and ethos (identity), in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate classes. We investigate how the triangle can enhance students’ communication skills by developing awareness of pathos and ethos, and shed light on values, considerations, and professional identity at different stages of their studies. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Situating the case:</i></b> Developing communication skills among STEM students is imperative even in the age of AI-based tools. Although many books and platforms exist to help facilitate communication in general, STEM students require practical tools to foster the rhetorical skills needed for effective and persuasive communication. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Methods:</i></b> The rhetorical triangle intervention was implemented in two undergraduate courses to help students develop the other necessary elements of effective communication beyond logos: i.e., pathos and ethos. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Results:</i></b> Our results show that the intervention enhanced students’ ability to express shared values (pathos) with their audience and fostered the development of professional identity (ethos). Our findings also revealed notable differences in professional identity expression when comparing two different samples of future scientists and engineers in their freshmen and senior years. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Conclusion:</i></b> We suggest that incorporating the elements of the rhetorical triangle into STEM education can enhance students’ communication skills, particularly in expressing the value of their work and developing a strong professional identity. We recommend integrating these elements throughout various stages of the curriculum to deepen students’ understanding of effective communication and persuasion.

Background: The bulk of international trade has led to increasing demand for specialized professional communication texts in multilingual contexts. Persuasive language is required in promotional discourse to sell products. When transactions are carried out with foreign countries, translation becomes essential for successful commercial exchange. Literature review: Persuasion requires the use of positive evaluation to describe products. This article addresses the need to contrast the expression of positive evaluation in English and Spanish online promotional cheese descriptions. Research questions: 1. What are the linguistic resources used to express positive evaluation in English and Spanish in online promotional texts of the cheese industry? 2. What is the distribution across parts of speech and semantic categories and subcategories between these two languages? 3. How can semantic tags in bilingual comparable corpora provide useful information for translation practice? Methodology: Empirical data have been extracted from Online Cheese Descriptions (OCD), a semantically tagged English-Spanish corpus, and classified using the Appraisal Framework into the subcategories of appreciation, judgment, affect, and graduation. Results and discussion: Tests of statistical significance have revealed cross-linguistic differences, mainly in appreciation, thus leading to a qualitative analysis. The findings also include a large inventory of all evaluative items that express appreciation for cheeses in both languages and general guidelines for translators. Conclusions: This multilayer corpus-based analysis has yielded relevant data that can be used to enhance the second-language writing and translation processes required for marketing cheese in English and Spanish, thus supporting international professionals in their communication in multilingual contexts.

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research problem:</b> A considerable amount of scholarship has amassed over the last 20 years regarding the teaching of user experience (UX) design, but there has been no systematic attempt to review this literature. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research questions:</b> 1.What is the definition of UX pedagogy according to technical communication and adjacent fields? 2. What is the state of specific UX pedagogical approaches in technical communication and adjacent fields? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Literature review:</b> Our corpus contained 76 sources directly pertaining to the teaching of UX. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research methodology:</b> The theoretical framework of this study marries rhetorical theory and critical thinking. The former provides technical communication literature reviews with keen discourse analysis and the latter offers objectivity to the evaluation. To use this framework, we sought sources using journals related to technical communication and large databases from adjacent fields, including the ACM digital library and IEEE Xplore. We completed our search using Google Scholar to ensure broad coverage. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results and conclusions:</b> Our review of sources revealed a variety of trends and a remarkably diverse conversation on UX, including various definitions of UX pedagogy, and a large variety of theoretical orientations, educational models, instructional approaches, industry influences, methods, and ethical concerns. From this diverse corpus, we hazard a unifying definition centered on teaching the UX process through hands-on approaches such as engaged learning. We close our article with recommendations for continuing to refine UX pedagogy in the future.

Background: Early-stage accelerator programs teach new entrepreneurs how to identify and exploit venture opportunities. In doing so, they implicitly teach these new entrepreneurs how to develop and iterate claims. But since this function of teaching persuasion has been implicit and generally unsystematic, it is unclear how well it works. Literature review: We review related literature on the venture development process, value propositions, and logic orientation (Goods-Dominant vs. Service-Dominant Logic). Research questions: 1. Does an entrepreneurship training program implicitly teach new entrepreneurs to make and iterate persuasive claims? 2. How effectively does it do so, and how can it improve? Research methodology: We examine one such accelerator program via a qualitative case study. In this case study, we collected interviews, observations, and artifacts, then analyzed them with thematic coding. Results/discussion: All teams had received previous entrepreneurship training and mentoring. However, they differed in their problem and logic orientations as well as their stage in the venture development process. These differences related to the extent to which they iterated value propositions in the program. Conclusions: We conclude with recommendations for improving how accelerator programs can better train new entrepreneurs to communicate and persuade.

Background: The lab report is a commonly assigned genre in engineering lab courses; however, students often have difficulties meeting the expectations of writing in engineering labs. At the same time, it is challenging for engineering faculty to instruct lab report writing because they are often under-supported in writing pedagogies and usually unfamiliar with the extent of students' prior writing knowledge. Literature review: Literature on technical communication in engineering addresses the importance of a rhetorical approach to writing instruction, as well as an emphasis on genre. Extending this literature, research into writing transfer provides valuable insight for better understanding how undergraduates negotiate the engineering lab report as a new genre within this distinct rhetorical context. Research questions: 1. How effective is a transfer-focused writing pedagogy in supporting students' understanding of the genre conventions of engineering lab reports? 2. How does the transfer-focused writing pedagogy impact students' writing quality in five categories (rhetorical knowledge, organization, evidence, critical thinking, and disciplinary conventions)? 3. What are the rhetorical features that engineering students improve or struggle with the most with lab report writing? Research methodology: Four engineering instructors and two English instructors participated in this study to design and develop the lab report writing instructional module, and implemented the module materials into their engineering lab courses. The module, consisting of lab report writing instruction and assessment resources, shares a rhetorical approach and foundational writing terms with first-year composition courses to emphasize a writing-transfer pedagogy. We collected and analyzed undergraduates' lab report samples to evaluate the impact of the module on students' writing performance. Two sets of lab reports were collected for analysis: the sample sets before (control), during the 2015-2016 academic year; and after (experimental) implementation of the module, during the 2016-2017 academic year. Results and conclusions: Data collected via pre- and post-implementation writing artifacts show that a rhetorical approach to teaching lab reports helped students better understand the expectations of the lab report as a discipline-specific genre, and it developed students' understanding of the rhetorical features of engineering writing. The pilot module positively impacted the quality of students' lab reports, a finding that suggests that using a transfer-focused writing pedagogy can successfully support the transfer and adaptation of writing knowledge into gateway or entry-level engineering laboratory courses.

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</b> This research explores how controversial engineering decisions become the subject of widespread social media debates, using the prominent case of activism opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL). The #NoDAPL Twitter hashtag became the primary vehicle for activism, with Twitter users shaping the debate through how they framed the controversy. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Literature review:</b> Framing refers to how information is packaged and presented. Because framing shapes the interpretation of information, it plays a crucial role in scientific controversies. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research questions:</b> 1. Which framing strategies are present in the most influential (determined by the number of retweets and “likes”) posts using #NoDAPL on Twitter? 2. How do the framing strategies used in the most influential #NoDAPL tweets change in relation to major political events? 3. Do the framing strategies used in the most influential #NoDAPL tweets amplify the echo-chamber effect and polarization on Twitter? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Methodology:</b> The team collected daily data on the #NoDAPL hashtag and selected tweets with #NoDAPL that had more than 1500 likes or retweets, and categorized them by the frames that they exhibited. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results and discussion:</b> The most-used frames were conflict/strategy and morality/ethics, with no noticeable middle path frame, leading to the echo-chamber effect and online polarization. The scientific/technical uncertainty frame was used only sporadically, in contrast with project proponents who tried to emphasize the pipeline's safety. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Implications:</b> Engineers seeking to understand and participate in public debates about issues central to their profession should recognize and engage the frames being used by the public to understand information. The project proponents’ defense of the pipeline fell on deaf ears, likely because they focused on safety rather than broader questions of morality. While engineers should share technical information related to a project under fire, they cannot ignore the concerns expressed by their critics.

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Teaching problem:</b> The comparative/contrastive approach to teaching intercultural communication is based on the premise that global rhetorical practices are not mere indicators of the cultural proclivities of a people, but are also a framework for developing a working knowledge about how members of a culture communicate. However, this approach predisposes learners to contrasting those cultures against their own and reinforces their preconceptions about national cultural characteristics. Augmenting that approach with transliteracies—emphasizing the benefits of knowledge sourcing not limited to scholarly/academic sources—offers a multidimensional perspective to intercultural communication. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research question:</b> How can transliteracy inquiry be applied in teaching and learning global rhetorics? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Situating the case: </b> The approaches described here draw on the work of literacy researchers who delineate ways in which transliteracy broadens the scope of learning materials, including texts that are cultural and social (as opposed to linguistic) and that can be studied for what they convey about those cultures. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">How the case was studied:</b> This paper describes the experience of using transliteracies to teach intercultural professional communication. The material was collected informally over the course of two years of teaching the course through observation, student completed research reports, and reflections. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">About the case:</b> The shortcomings of contrastive and comparative rhetoric pedagogy in intercultural communication may be due in part to instructional materials selection and prioritization of what teachers deem to be scholarly. Reasoning that the basic architecture of a global rhetorics lies in its surrounding culture, artifacts, and communication systems, I designed an assignment that required students to describe how one culture's heritage, history, governmental systems, and value systems contribute to the development of persuasion and uses of rhetoric. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results:</b> Transliteracies opened up spaces that allowed students to gain an in-depth understanding of others’ rhetorical practices without contrasting them against their own and by approaching them as ethnographic objects of study. Students engaged the object of their scholarship more expansively. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Conclusions:</b> Transliteracies in intercultural professional communication served to move students toward a more immersive and empathetic understanding of referent cultures, a stance that enriches professional communication. Students displayed a more altruistic value system in representing their objects of study and were careful to recognize that their work might be accessed by a wider audience. Transliteracies offer a practical toolkit for comprehending and fashioning understandable and compelling arguments about other cultures.

Research problem: Despite the abundance of research into usability and user experience (UX), there is still debate about the relationship between both concepts. The user perspective is under represented in all discussions. This study examines the personal conceptions that users of electronic and software products have of usability and UX. Research questions: 1. How do users of electronic and software products conceptualize usability and UX? 2. What do they think is the relationship between both concepts? Literature review: We review the literature on conceptualizations of usability and UX and their relationship. The literature suggests that both concepts are still developing and that there are different views about their relationship. A personal-constructs research approach appears to be a fruitful way of shedding more light on this. Methodology: Twenty-one participants were asked to place up to eight products in a grid with two axes: usability (high-low) and UX (high-low). They then filled out a short questionnaire about the products. Finally, interviews were held about their decisions and their views on usability and UX. Results and conclusions: A weak positive correlation between products' usability and UX scores indicates that the relationship between both concepts is far from straightforward. An analysis of the four quadrants of the grid provides a first typology of products based on how users perceive their usability and UX. When reflecting on the relationship between the two concepts, most participants see usability as a part of or contributing to UX. Based on our findings, however, it seems risky to assume that usability is sufficiently covered by the overall concept of UX.

This book examines the multimodal rhetoric of scientific arguments as they have been expressed in professional journals over the course of the past century. Through a series of chronologically ordered case studies, the author applies and develops a syncretic model for understanding scientific argumentation, which he articulates in Part 1 of the book and which relies heavily on major concepts in rhetorical theory. By applying the model to the case studies, the author demonstrates how rhetoric can provide the analytical machinery needed to grapple with the multimodal means used to create scientific arguments. In Part 2, the focus is a groundbreaking 1912 publication in the field now known as X-ray diffraction crystallography, specifically a set of X-ray photogram images included in the article that would help scientists at the time gain a better understanding of both the nature of X-rays and the atomic structure of crystals. Parts 3 and 4 present the book’s more interesting (from a multimodal perspective) case studies in terms of how arguments are assembled, circulated, and reassembled over time. In Part 5, Chapter 12 examines the rise of Photoshop as a material affordance for scientific arguments and the ethical dilemmas that this rise has precipitated. Chapter 13 provides description and tabular analysis of the use of videos in published scientific arguments, from an era when VHS tapes were mailed with journal issues through the YouTube era. It is in these chapters where the salience of and potential for the author’s model becomes clearer: As the use of multimodality rises in scientific arguments through the use of new technologies, new and better means for understanding how arguments are conceived, assembled, and circulated are needed both for authors and for teachers. Both audiences would benefit from reading Assembling Arguments. The book does not have a specific engineering focus, but it does provide a broad framework for professional communicators, teachers, and students to consider and improve visuals and multimodality in document design.

Technical communicators, engineers, and designers in the automotive industry, as well as researchers with expertise and interest in this book. It provides provides a framework for better understanding and explaining the ecological, economic, and political stakes invested in contemporary culture’s use and valuation of automobiles. The book constructs an ANT-inspired framework for rethinking automobility. In the manner of similar projects, such as Thinking with Bruno Latour in Rhetoric and Composition that establish ANT as a primary mode of analysis, the book achieves its purpose of recovering terms from ancient rhetoric—techne, kinesis, energeia, hyle, logistikos, metis, tyche, and kairos—for the purpose of demonstrating how they always, already accommodated analysis of human and nonhuman agents involved in activities, such as transportation use and design. For this reason, the book could serve as useful reading in courses on professional communication as it pertains to transportation or ANT, and as food for thought for automobile industry professionals.

"Higher Education in the Digital Age" (edited by William G. Bowen) is divided into two sections. The first section includes adaptations of Bowen's presentations at The Tanner Lectures at Stanford University in 2012. The second section includes discussion responses from respected colleagues, and Bowen's response to the same. This unique structure enables the reader to be involved as an insider to this debate - a witness not only to the author's assertions but also to the lively discourse that ensues in response. The reviewer feels this book is provocative in addressing pressing issues that can no longer be ignored. Bowen's assertion that the time at hand to begin a transformation is supported by research, and the data support the dire need for a resolution to the student debt crisis and productivity problem in higher education. The gaps in the research he presents, particularly involving MOOCs, invite technical researchers to take advantage of this timely opportunity, not only to continue the conversation but to seek solutions to the viability he proposes. Bowen,s concern that public opinion of higher education matters and his insistence that institutions and educators must come together to lead the change while they can is an important call to action for IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication readers in particular.

Research problem: No study has observed the argumentative choices and appeals used by professional designers to support their claims as they engage in decision-making sessions. In particular, we do not know how user-derived data are applied by professional designers in their decision-making arguments. Research questions: (1) What kinds of evidence and appeals do advocates of user-centered design use when supporting claims within design decision-making sessions? (2) How do evidence and appeals used by professional designers compare to evidence and appeals used by previously studied novice designers? Literature review: Previous research of user-centered design that also incorporates data-driven personas has concluded that while some observed groups dedicated to user-centered design see personas as a way to further improve upon user-centered design methods, personas rarely become an integrated part of the design process and are often not incorporated in recommended ways. Prior research of decision-making within the design process has concluded that decision-making is a highly variable, but often deeply collaborative activity that can be assessed through a variety of argumentative lenses, including the Toulmin model of argument. Methodology: In this case study, a one-week, onsite exploratory observation was conducted in the workplace of professional designers. All meetings were recorded and subsequently transcribed. Postobservation interviews were also conducted with the participants. A discourse-based analysis was conducted on the transcriptions to identify the various types of rhetorical appeals and evidence used by the designers during their decision-making meetings. Results and conclusions: This onsite observation found that this particular group of designers supported about 50% of their claims with evidence, with 5.1% of the evidence in support of a claim referencing user data, and 33.4% of evidence in support of a claim referencing the designer's own opinion. These results suggest, among other things, that personas (the key user-centered design tool used by the observed group) are perhaps not necessarily a helpful rhetorical tool for persuasion in decision-making meetings, that designers who conduct user research are more likely to reference user data in support of claims, that these designers might have a broad notion of what constitutes user data, and that prior experience can serve as a powerful persuasive force. In addition, appeals to user data were the least common type of appeal employed by the novice and professional designers. However, this exploratory study is limited by the condensed observation time and its single group of designers. Future studies may use the methodology established here to explore the uses of evidence of additional groups.

Research problem: A construct mediated in digital environments, information communication technology (ICT) literacy is operationally defined as the ability of individuals to participate effectively in transactions that invoke illocutionary action. This study investigates ICT literacy through a simulation designed to capture that construct, to deploy the construct model to measure participant improvement of ICT literacy under experimental conditions, and to estimate the potential for expanded model development. Research questions: How might a multidisciplinary literature review inform a model for ICT literacy? How might a simulation be designed that enables sufficient construct representation for modeling? How might prepost testing simulation be designed to investigate the potential for improved command of ICT literacy? How might a regression model account for variance within the model by the addition of affective elements to a cognitive model? Literature review: Existing conceptualizations of the ICT communication environment demonstrate the need for a new communication model that is sensitive to short text messaging demands in crisis communication settings. As a result of this prefect storm of limits requiring the communicator to rely on critical thinking, awareness of context, and information integration, we designed a cognitive-affective model informed by genre theory to capture the ICT construct: A sociocognitive ability that, at its most effective, facilitates illocutionary action—to confirm and warn, to advise and ask, and to thank and request—for specific audiences of emergency responders. Methodology: A prepost design with practitioner subjects <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$({N}=50)$</tex></formula> allowed investigation of performance improvement on tasks demanding illocutionary action after training on tasks of high, moderate, and low demand. Through a model based on the independent variables character count, wordcount, and decreased time on task <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$(X)$</tex></formula> as related to the dependent variable of an overall episode score <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex Notation="TeX">$(Y)$</tex></formula> , we were able to examine the internal construct strength with and without the addition of affective independent variables. Results and discussion: Of the three prepost models used to study the impact of training, participants demonstrated statistically significant improvement on episodes of high demand on all cognitive model variables. The addition of affective variables, such as attitudes toward text messaging, allowed increased model strength on tasks of high and moderate complexity. These findings suggest that an empirical basis for the construct of ICT literacy is possible and that, under simulation conditions, practitioner improvement may be demonstrated. Practically, it appears that it is possible to train emergency responders to improve their command of ICT literacy so that those most in need of humanitarian response during a crisis may receive it. Future research focusing on communication in digital environments will undoubtedly extend these finding in terms of construct validation and deployment in crisis settings.

Research problem: Concurrent think-aloud (CTA) protocols are one of the dominant approaches of usability testing. However, there is still debate about the validity of the method, partly focusing on the usefulness and exhaustiveness of participants' verbalizations. The rise of eye-tracking technology sheds new light on this discussion, as participants' working processes can now be observed in more detail. Research questions: (1) What kinds of verbalizations do participants produce, and how do they relate to the information that can be directly observed using eye tracking? (2) What do eye movements reveal about cognitive processes at times when participants stop verbalizing? Literature review: Our study replicates an earlier study by Cooke (2010), who used a combination of CTA protocols and eye tracking in a small sample with experienced and highly educated participants to investigate the validity of CTA. Cooke's results suggest that the additional value of participants' verbalizations is limited: at least 77% of the verbalizations referred to things that could be easily observed with eye tracking. Methodology: We conducted a study in which 60 participants with different characteristics performed tasks on informational websites. During their task performance, they verbalized their thoughts, and simultaneously their eye movements were measured. The resulting think-aloud protocols were divided in verbalization units, which were coded into content types. Silences were registered, and eye movements during these silences were analyzed. Results and discussion: We found a different distribution of verbalization types than Cooke (2010) reported, with far more verbalizations where participants formulated doubts, judgments on the website, or expressions of frustration. In our study, verbalizations provided a substantial contribution in addition to the directly observable user problems. We measured a rather high percentage of silences (27%), during which participants most often were scanning pages for information. During these silences, interesting observations could be made about users' processes and obstacles on the website. The implication of our study is that we now have a better understanding of the types of verbalizations that a CTA evaluation might generate. Further, we know that relevant usability observations can be made during silences. A limitation is that we do not know yet the influence of specific characteristics of the evaluation setting on the types of verbalizations and silences. Future research should focus on the influence of evaluation settings on the outcomes of an evaluation, in particular, the influence of characteristics of the participants who are involved in the study.

Research problem: The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether style congruency on the dimensions succinct-elaborate and instrumental-affective influenced the persuasiveness of business newsletters in the Netherlands and Great Britain. Research question: Is a writing style more persuasive in a country with cultural preferences that are congruent with this writing style? Literature review: The purpose of the literature review was to present two theoretical frameworks for investigating cross-cultural differences in style preferences. Theories about cross-cultural differences in value orientations show that value orientations can be linked to cross-cultural differences in persuasion. Theories about cross-cultural differences in communication styles show that preferences for particular communication styles can be linked to cultural value orientations. Methodology: Two quantitative experimental studies were conducted among 344 business-to-business customers of a company in the Netherlands and Great Britain. Using seven-point scales, participants evaluated different versions of a newsletter on comprehensibility, attractiveness, and intention to order goods. Statistical analyses included general linear model (GLM) repeated measures and two-way ANOVAs. Results and discussion: Findings reveal limited differences between the Dutch and British participants in preferences for communication styles. Consequently, it may not be worthwhile for organizations to adjust the style of their documents to preferences in different cultures. A limitation of the current study was that it only investigated style preferences for one particular business genre (i.e., newsletters). Future research should investigate stylistic preferences in other business genres and in other cultures.

How might the rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos play a mediational, intervening role in the successful administration of online surveys? What are the general costs and benefits of conducting survey research? Based on the activity of administering an online survey ( <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">N</i> = 334) testing knowledge and understanding of US copyright law among digital writers (both students and teachers) in US technical and professional writing (TPW) programs, I blend Rhetorical Theory with Activity Theory by conducting a rhetorical analysis within an Activity Theory paradigm. I posit that a rhetorically informed heuristic mediates between the researcher and potential participants when the researcher attempts to recruit individuals to respond to an online survey.

Acknowledgements Preface The Writing Process Research and Information Management Style and Effect Business and Technology Journalism Writing for the Digital Media Reports and Proposals Critical Thinking Business Document Formats Working in Teams Job Applications Writer's Reference A Final Note... References Bibliography Index

This short book about listening is intended for use as either supplemental reading in business and professional communication course, or as the text of a listening module in such courses. The book aims to provide guidance about how to listen, theoretical background of interest to a person engaged in another professional field, and elements of persuasion about the importance of listening as a communication skill.

This tutorial on how to teach report writing is based on the premise that decision-making is a complex process that derives from both rational and quasi-rational ways of knowing the world. The author defines quasi-rational to include consideration of hunches, intuition, and tacit knowledge often embodied in stories that have meaning to the decision-maker. Thus, report writing can be approached as a systematic evaluation of options available given goals and constraints, but also as an uncovering of the narratives that decision-makers see surrounding their own lives. The tutorial explains a course curriculum structured in three sections with the following goals and strategies: (1) helping students face personal or family decisions through a traditional decision-matrix process that also incorporates elements of rhetorical stasis theory, (2) using big case studies to reveal the interplay between rational and quasi-rational thought in decision-making, and (3) finding case studies in the students' local geographic regions in order to further explore this interplay. The paper concludes with a brief assessment of how the author's students responded to such a course

This article uses Aristotle's concept of ethos, the audience's perception of a speaker's character, to analyze a set of documents relating to a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This analysis shows how the features of a successful persuasive ethos remain consistent through several genres, including scientific articles, reports, and press releases. Three major elements of a persuasive ethos include discussions of the practical implications of technical information, consistent efforts to make information accessible to the public, and a forthright representation of scientific uncertainties associated with complex technical information. By incorporating these elements into their texts, technical communicators can craft more persuasive documents dealing with controversial, high-stakes issues

Explanation is the bread-and-butter activity of any technical communicator. We explain things for a living, but how well can any of us explain the nature of explanation itself? What makes technical explanation different from persuasion or narration? Web-based instructional systems have pushed us away from traditional kinds of paper-bound explanation. In these new realms, anything better than hit-and-miss success requires a clear sense of basic principles. With that in mind, I discuss the basic logic of explanation first proposed by the philosopher C.S. Peirce in the 1870s, and more recently extended by J. Hintikka (1998).

The article analyzes the behaviors and mechanisms in aerospace proposals written by a company over 10 years. It asserts that persuasion and negotiation, schedule tracking, and designation of neutral project space all contributed to success.

Uses a qualitative methodology to examine how discourse norms and socialization processes affect the development of technical requirements. Our exploratory investigation of how government personnel develop and review technical requirements indicates that discourse norms and academic technical writing socialization processes affect the technical writing process. Technical writers perceived that requirements in work statements became less precise as more requirements were coordinated in team-based designs. In essence, we found that, in team-based designs, interpretation conflict and technical diffusion were important dimensions when writing and coordinating technical requirements. Our findings suggest that collaborative technical writing is a complex and difficult process in team-based designs where integration and persuasion skills dominate.

Technical writing tries to be "objective" and "audience-oriented", but it neglects an element of persuasion known in ancient rhetoric as "ethos". This concept translates from the Greek as "character", but that English word does not convey the concept's richness; nor does the Latin "persona", a term sometimes used to describe the narrative voice in technical prose. "Ethos" is the root of "ethics", which tends to objectify values and choices, alienating them from the people making them. In this paper, I suggest that an understanding of "ethos" in all its richness can help writers of technical prose to produce work that, in relation to traditionally "objective" prose, is both more readable and more ethical.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Two recent books that extend the claim that scientific inquiry is rhetorical are compared and contrasted: Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society by Bruno Latour, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1987, and The Rhetoric of Science by Alan G. Gross, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990. Latour argues the importance of social networks in science: claims become facts when numerous resources and allies are gathered to support them. Gross applies rhetoric as defined by Aristotle to scientific texts and argues that the claims of science are solely the products of persuasion.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

In 1989 a bipartisan group of US congressmen attempted to use high-definition television (HDTV) as a vehicle to redirect government policy toward the consumer electronics industry. The authors explore why that effort ultimately failed. It is noted that important technical issues were rarely reflected accurately in the public policy debate. In spite of efforts by the IEEE, engineers were largely absent from the debate and failed to influence it. Technical arguments were carried on primarily by those who did not understand the technical issues involved or who distorted them to fit an established political philosophy. How technical information about HDTV was used by the participants, and how political factors set the terms by which technical information could or could not be presented are examined. How engineers might have made a more effective technical case for HDTV is considered.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Social constructionist theories suggest that scientific knowledge is the product of socially created conceptual frameworks. These theories have influenced the study of scientific writing because of their emphasis on persuasion and consensus. These issues are developed by the authors of three recent books: Gould demonstrates the social nature of science; Bazerman shows the social nature of the development of scientific genres; and Myers explores scientific writing as socially mediated narratives.

The author examines the fundamental conflict between controlling the dissemination of scientific and technical data and promoting openness and peer review of the data. She focuses on the control of unclassified scientific and technical data for national security purposes. She explains the reasons for such controls, the federal government's policies, and how some foreign governments deal with this problem. She summarizes and evaluates the arguments for and against controls and presents some recommendations for the current administration.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

As the means by which written communication is conveyed, typography is in many respects analogous to classical rhetoric. The elements of persuasion, emotion and pleasure, balance, perception, dynamics, style, form, and shape are discussed as they apply to both the concept being communicated and the typographic medium.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

The author suggests that answers to some of the more difficult questions in the readability-formula debate may be found in W. Gibson's book, Tough, Sweet, and Stuffy (1966). Gibson, in his analysis of style, develops a set of quantifiable characteristics of language that will produce tough talkers, sweet talkers, and stuffy talkers. In specifically analyzing these three familiar American voices, he is able to combine two necessary attributes of readability for technical communicators: a set of specific rules and a rationale for applying them, providing another slant on the readability issue.

Technical communication may be chiefly informational in intent, but there are persuasive elements in almost all communications. Sometimes, even in technical matters, persuasive communication skills are very important. The author provides arguments for improving these skills, discusses a number of mini-strategies that can be used to persuade the recipients of written communication, and touches on the ethics of using persuasion tools.

Not too long ago, publication tasks such as layout, font selection, merging of text and graphics, and copyfitting were addressed only by communication professionals. Now, programs like Pagemaker by Aldus and Ventura Publisher by Xerox make these issues just another personal computer application, like spreadsheets, calendars, and word processing. The impact of desktop publishing (DTP) is already being hotly debated, and we open this new IEEE Transactions section on communication technology with an article that has significant implications for this debate.

Writing last year in a Carnegie Foundation special Report, Nell Eurich reported that “more and more companies are teaching analytical skills and critical thinking” in corporate training classrooms (Corporate Classrooms, p. 77). A recent Associated Press story tells of Xerox Corporation's decision to spend $5 million to start a nonprofit institute at its Palo Alto Research Center that will “study how people think and learn and … try to develop new, more effective ways of teaching.” David Kearns, Xerox chairman and chief executive officer, is quoted as saying that “one of every three major corporations now is teaching new workers basic reading, writing, and mathematics.”

Personal-computer-based communications media-electronic mail, bulletin boards, and computer conferencing-have great potential for integrating scholarly and scientific research networks. Research networks, or information organizations of faculty who share an interest in a research area, are central to scholarly and scientific progress. They have been critized, however, for their exclusion of young researchers and of faculty at isolated or low prestige institutions. Studies show that computer networking opens network access by obliterating social barriers and status distinctions. It has often been argued that, if used as a medium for research network communication, computer networking could democratize research networks. Personal computer information services designed for personal computer uses, as well as personal-computer-based bulletin board systems, represent the most promising avenue for research network communication owing to their low cost, flexibility, and egalitarian ethos.

THERE are four forms of writing: exposition, which informs the reader by presenting facts and figures; description, which helps the reader visualize an idea or situation; narration, which tells a chronological story; and persuasion, which tries to convince the reader to accept the writer's perspective. Most writing is predominantly one of these forms. Proposal writing may require all four forms. Perhaps this explains why many proposals are not effective.

The communication process has three main elements: the sender, the message, and the receiver. The sender's credibility and background relative to the message can affect the receiver. Differences between sender's and receiver's experiences and attitudes are also important in how a message is received. The words that comprise messages and the tones used to express them can vary the meaning and interpretation of messages. People differ in their susceptibility to persuasion. Emotion has an effect in persuasion but more important are the order of presentation and the believability and effectiveness of the sender. Those who know how to listen and pay attention not only stand out as beacons of courtesy but also have an advantage — by understanding what is expected of them — in preparing their messages for others.

Persuasion is the art of being heard effectively. It is important that the manner of communication does not distract attention from the content. The personal communication styles of both participants in a dialog can be analyzed in common terms as a practical approach to an effective communication strategy. The personality characteristics used are intuition, thinking, feeling, and sensation. Discussion of these descriptors creates awareness of negative interactions which can be overcome by conscious style modification.

The current journal publication system has four immediate participants: researcher-writers, publishers, libraries, and readers. In response to technological developments which facilitate copying, publishers have increased their demands for additional revenue from libraries. The logic of the publishes' arguments threatens the very existence of institutions which purchase items with the intention of providing them to more than one reader. Society at large does have some interest in the spread of scientific principles and technological information, and the current thrust of the publishers broadens the concept of the ownership of ideas, since publishers entitled to a new payment for each reader may have the right to price large segments (e.g. students, docturs caring for the inteligent, etc.) of an interested public out of the market. In addition, increased restriction on the flow of scientific and technical information may have a significant impact on the advance of science and technology itself.