Functional Teaching: Using Obsolescence to Teach Definition

Robert E. Smith University of South Carolina

Abstract

The student new to technical writing frequently has difficulty, on two counts, with technical definitions: grasping their essentiality and learning how to create them; matters are not made easier by some of the ways in which we approach the subject. Exercises centered around a term that is lapsing into obsolescence offer some productive solutions to this common instructional problem, particularly so if the term is even indirectly related to the student's field.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1991-04-01
DOI
10.2190/88fh-kjtu-mtuf-587m
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

References (5) · 1 in this index

  1. Encyclopedia Americana
  2. Aircraft Technical Dictionary
  3. The Elements of Style
  4. Smith R. E.III, Review: I. A. Richards: His Life and Work, South Atlantic Review, forthcoming.
  5. Rhetoric Society Quarterly