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As teachers integrate social theory into the technical communication classroom, it is clear that they interpret the connection between writing and culture in different ways. The result is a range of socially based pedagogies rather than a single paradigm for writing instruction. This essay describes four of these social pedagogies—the social constructionist, the ideologic, the social cognitive, and the paralogic hermeneutic—distinguishing them by their pedagogic aims and classroom practices. The essay closes by discussing the implications of the differences among socially based pedagogies for both _ teachers and programs in technical communication.

Although communication is widely accepted as central to the construction of organizational culture, researchers in organizational theory and in rhetoric and professional communication have focused primarily on traditional spoken and written texts, overlooking the vital role that new technologies—especially film and video—are now playing in socializing members of organizations to organizational life. This article examines corporate videos as cultural texts and develops the claim that videos function as rites and ceremonials in modern organizations, facilitating organizational socialization. Drawing on videos produced by a major national financial services firm, the article defines and analyzes four types of rites: integration, passage, renewal, and enhancement.

Although research in composition and in instructional design suggests that film and video can be useful pedagogic tools in writing instruction, little research has been directed toward discovering how film and video can be used to teach the kinds of documents produced in professional-writing courses. Because of important similarities in written instructional materials and training videos—the expository and “how-to” tapes being produced for business and industry—training videos can help developing professional writers learn how to write effective instructions. These videos provide writers with a visual model of certain information-processing strategies, cultural themes, and learning objectives important to written instructions. Professional-writing instructors interested in using these training videos will find many sources for appropriate videos, both on and off the university campus.