Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

Comparison As A Mode Of Inquiry: Rearticulating The Contexts Of Intercultural Communication, Lance Cummings

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Comparative inquiry has a long history in the scientific, sociological, and linguistic traditions that embody much of the work being done in English studies, including technical, professional, and intercultural communication. Generally speaking, comparative methods are often used to explain variation in human behavior, often with the assumption that there is a common source from which this variation springs, whether it be historical change, cognitive structures like universal grammar, social entities, or just “human nature.” As we move into what Wendy Hesford (2006) called the “global turn” in English studies, the phenomena of globalization and shifting classroom, cultural, and communicative ecologies …

Towards A Cultural Rhetorics Methodology: Making Research Matter With Multi-Generational Women From The Little Traverse Bay Band, Andrea M. Riley Mukavetz

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Almost five years ago, I started working on two oral history projects with a group of multi-generational, urban Odawa women from Lansing, Michigan. I met these women while working with one of the community elders on developing her life history into a book for publication. About four weeks into the project, the elder, Geri, suggested that we do another oral history with more Odawa women from the area. Together, we developed and organized three talking circles where the women shared stories about their lived experiences and their roles and responsibilities at work, in the community, and while pursuing a formal …

Methodological Journey: Lessons Learned From A Student-Led Intercultural Pilot Study, Ryan James Price, Rebecca Walton, Matthew Petersen

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

New technical communication scholars face the challenge of developing cultural competence in order to effectively and appropriately carry out intercultural research. With interculturally competent technical communicators in increasingly high demand, instructors wrestle with the challenge of preparing students for cross-cultural work environments (Melton, 2011; Smith & Mikelonis, 2011; St.Amant, 2011). The field has adopted a wide variety of globalization-driven, culture-conscious educational practices over the past few decades, but a knowledge gap still persists regarding how to equip new scholars with training and tools that are necessary for building cultural competence, particularly as it relates to designing and conducting research. In …

Digital Ethnography For Intercultural Professional Communication: Some Best Practice Principles, Michael Madson

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

With global compressions of time and space, intercultural contact is heightening. Digital networks are converging. Perhaps more than ever before, professional communicators require cultural and technical savvy, allowing them to navigate, in a principled manner, digitally-mediated contexts (Spilka, 2010). Since no mediation is value neutral, digital technologies can spark intercultural friction (Thatcher, 2004; Warshauer, 2003, p. 6), blur ethical codes (Capurro, 2008; Himma, 2008), and perpetuate colonial relations (Ess & Sudweeks, 2012, p. xvi). How to operate in such complex, power-laden environments is a central concern in intercultural professional communication (IPC) and merits additional inquiry.

Designing For Engagement: Intercultural Communication And/As Participatory Design, Guiseppe Getto

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Within rhetoric and professional communication, intercultural research has most often focused on such elements of communication situations as languages, issues regarding translation, and adaptation to culturally situated value systems of interlocutors (Maylath, 1997; St.Amant, 1999; Thatcher, 2010; Wang, 2010). Technological infrastructure for intercultural situations, however, is largely conceived of as a material base upon which communication runs. If we consider an infrastructure as a dynamic meeting of communicators, modes of communication, and technologies, however, it is unclear how we might apply existing intercultural research methods and findings to the design of such communication systems. As a heuristic for moving toward …

Methods And Meanings: Reflections On Reflexivity And Flexibility In An Intercultural Ethnographic Study Of An Activist Organization, Natasha M. Jones

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

In this article I argue that organizations are cultures and, as such, when we study organizations, we should employ integrative intercultural ethnographic research methods that are reflexive and flexible. More specifically, through an intermingling of narratives, my personal reflections, and secondary scholarly research, this article briefly details my ethnographic study and explores the importance of viewing organizations through an intercultural lens. I also argue for including the study of organizations in considerations of intercultural communication. In addition, I examine two concepts that are important for intercultural communication studies, the concepts of reflexivity and flexibility in ethnographic research, and I thereby …

Editor’S Introduction To The Special Edition On Methodology, Rebecca Walton

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Intercultural professional communication (IPC) is a burgeoning research area. New venues have been created to publish work in IPC, including this journal, Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization, in 2010 and connexions international professional communication journal in 2013. More broadly scoped venues in technical and professional communication also recognize the importance of intercultural work. See, for example, Ding and Savage’s special issue of Technical Communication Quarterly on new directions in intercultural professional communication (2013) and the topics of interest for the ATTW Book Series in Technical and Professional Communication, topics which include the globalization of technical and professional communication, intercultural communication, …

Review Of The Megarhetorics Of Global Development. Eds. Rebecca Dingo And J. Blake Scott. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press, 2012, 266 Pp., Massimo Verzella

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

“Development” is an insidious word in that it often provides moral justification for aggressive neoliberal policies. When imposed from above and orchestrated by financial and corporate elites with no understanding of the real needs of ‘undeveloped’ communities, development sanctions a covert form of imperialism that relies on the world accepting the credo of free trade in primis, but also American forms of democracy, law, and governance. With the aim of questioning neoliberal orthodoxies and challenging colonial arguments (accepted as commonsense) about saving the “natives” from their backwardness, a group of scholars have joined forces in the anthology reviewed here to …

Writing In Crisis: Rhetorical Considerations In Child Advocate Reports, Melody Bowdon, Melissa Pompos, Anna C. Turner

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

One aspect of human rights often overlooked in and beyond professional communication involves the rights of minor children whose parents or guardians are accused of abusing, abandoning, or neglecting them. Children in the United States who enter the dependency court system, where such matters are adjudicated, have few legal protections because of their status as minors, and parents or legal guardians under investigation are seldom appropriate advocates for such children due to real, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest (Litzelfelner & Petr, 1997; Minow, 1995; Reynaert, Bouverne-de-Bie, & Vandevelde, 2009). Many state and county governments have established programs designed to …

Rhetorically Navigating Rwandan Research Review: A Fantasy Theme Analysis, Rebecca Walton, Ryan Price, Maggie Zraly

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Research ethics review is foundational to protecting the rights of research participants, particularly vulnerable populations (e.g., members of socially/economically marginalized groups, people who do not speak the dominant language, illiterate/semi-literate people, pregnant women, prisoners). Internationally, the review of human subjects research is influenced by shared ethical codes such as the Belmont Report and the Declaration of Helsinki, but national and institutional contexts also frame research ethics review. Rwanda’s in-country human subjects review processes are situated within a context that includes factors such as the historical impacts of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi1 ; rapid urbanization; youth population growth; and …

Singapore’S Quarantine Rhetoric And Human Rights In Emergency Health Risks, Huiling Ding, Elizabeth A. Pitts

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

When Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) began spreading in Asia in March 2003, many affected countries and areas scrambled to mobilize public health resources and rushed to find effective ways to contain the virus within their territories. In late March and April of the same year, the World Health Organization (WHO) added numerous East and Southeast Asian countries and regions to its list of areas affected by SARS: mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, and Taiwan. Singapore was among the first countries to eradicate SARS and was taken off the WHO list on May 30, 2003.

Minga Perú’S Strategy For Social Change In The Perúvian Amazon: A Rhetorical Model For Participatory, Intercultural Practice To Advance Human Rights, Lucia Durá, Arvind Singhal, Eliana Elías

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Deep in the Peruvian Amazon, when Minga Perú’s radio production team receives a letter about spousal abuse, or any other burning topic, the letter is catalogued based on subject, audience relevance, and urgency. Listeners’ letters serve as the basis for creating the program scripts of Bienvenida Salud (Welcome Health), Minga’s long-running socio drama broadcast three times per week by ten jungle-reaching radio stations. In the program, Emira, Doñita, Peta, and Pasionaria bring social issues to life in a seriously playful and culturally-relevant manner, spurring conversation among listeners and subsequent decisions and actions. Minga has created a listener-as-producer feedback loop whereby …

Global Intellectual Property Law, Human Rights, And Technical Communication, Tyanna Herrington

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

International trade in intellectual products has increased in recent years, leading to a dramatic rise in the U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) caseload (USITC 2012, pp. 20-25). As individuals interact globally through travel and internet access, they also more frequently use and create intellectual products that are accessible on a global scale; thus, nation states' treaty negotiations on intellectual products have an important impact on their own citizenries as well as those of others. When technical communicators author intellectual products they may enter into a process of communicative interaction that leads to self-actualization , the state of having achieved personal …

After The International Bill Of Human Rights (Ibhr): Introduction To Special Issue On Human Rights And Professional Communication, David Sapp, Gerald Savage, Kyle Mattson

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

If published work is at all a reliable indicator, the issue of human rights has not yet emerged as a consistent thread in professional communication scholarship: but over the past decade the literature has addressed themes related to the larger issue of human rights. Such themes include, among others, social justice and globalization; critical responses to development and globalization; critical race theory and whiteness studies; and discourses of diverse publics and indigenous knowledges (Agboka, 2013a, 2013b; Bowdon, 2004; Broadfoot & Munshi, 2007; Haas, 2012; Johnson, Pimentel, & Pimentel, 2008; Lipus, 2006; Mattson, 2013; Nugent, 2013; Savage & Mattson, 2011; Savage …

Incorporating Digital Health Literacy Into Adult Esl Education On The Us-Mexico Border, Erika Mein, Brenda Fuentes, Francisco Soto Más, Andrés Muro

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

The increasing digitization of information and communication has undoubtedly impacted the ways in which people in the United States access and interpret health information. Although the traditional emphasis of health literacy research has been the comprehension of health-related texts such as patient information forms, prescriptions, and medicine labels, the increased use of electronic means to locate health information requires more critical engagement with texts beyond basic comprehension. In accessing electronic health information, patients need to be able to navigate the vast amount of online health information and to interpret and synthesize health information across multiple sources (i.e. websites) while also …

An Intercultural Analysis Of Sources Of Medical Information In Spanish-Speaking Diabetes Patients, Marta Antón, Ulla Connor, Kathryn Lauten, Stephanie Balunda

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Understanding and improving health literacy have become important goals in health communication. Research has shown that limited health literacy is associated with poor health outcomes and that it is more prevalent in culturally and linguistically diverse populations. The goals of this study are to describe English-speaking (ES) and Spanish-speaking (SS) diabetic patients’ perceptions of sources of health information, to identify the actions patients report taking in seeking that information, and to test reading comprehension of medical information among SS patients.

Data for this study were based on semi-structured interviews, life-story narratives, and a reading comprehension test with diabetic patients (43 …

The New Scarlet Letter A: An Exploration Of The Power Of Online Informational Websites To Influence And Brand Those Impacted By Autism Spectrum Disorders, Barbi Smyser-Fauble

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Technical communication is often perceived by the public as containing objective information that is supported by scientific data. Audiences of such products are unaware of the rhetoric employed within its content that works to perpetuate social constructions of dominant ideologies, including digital texts such as informational websites. This article presents a comparison of the rhetoric employed on two national websites, Autism Speaks and Generation Rescue that convey similar information on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), but present ASDs differently in terms of language, tone, and lens. Through the acknowledgement of these differences, I posit that web sites affiliated with the medical/scientific …

Fotonovelas And Anglo Designs In Health Communications For Spanish-Speaking Residents Along The U.S.-Mexico Border, Barry Thatcher

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

This study compares the intercultural instructional designs, based on eight intercultural value sets, of two types of health communications for Spanish-speaking U.S.-Mexico border populations. The first design is the fotonovela, or photo drama pamphlet, an approach that is well developed in Latin America and modeled after the famous Latin American television soap opera genre of telenovelas. This design dramatizes health information in culturally appropriate ways. The second design is Anglo dominant, representing predominant rhetorical and cultural preferences of the United States. Grounded in a Texas Health Equity project, the research team created a fotonovela for septic maintenance for border colonias. …

Translating Health Care: Stories From Refugees, Providers, And Friends, Kevin Brooks, Miriam Mara

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Drawing on interviews and participatory observation, this article weaves stories of translating healthcare told from the perspectives of refugees, health care providers, and friends. The research finds that while literal translations of documents and information are important to the health care process for refugees of New Americans, cultural translations of concepts like health care and preventive care are perhaps even more important. That translation, however, is not simple or literal either; refugees and New Americans may resist, or remain suspicious of, these concepts even once understood. Friends of refugees can provide an important role in helping with cultural and institutional …

The Hispanic Social Media Revolution: Spanish-Language Healthcare Pages On Facebook Introduction, Nicole St. Germaine

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Although many Hispanics living in the United States do not have a regular health care provider, they are getting healthcare information from the media. The internet is increasingly becoming the place where Hispanics get healthcare information. The number of Hispanics, both Spanish and English speaking, who go online is increasing every year. However, the Hispanic population as a whole is more likely to view videos online and to browse the internet from their mobile phones. The use of social media sites by Hispanics is also growing rapidly. Hispanics look for healthcare information on social media sites such as Facebook and …

Grassroots Emergency Health Risk Communication And Transmedia Public Participation: H1n1 Flu, Travelers From Epicenters, And Cyber Vigilantism, Huiling Ding

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Grassroots risk reduction tactics took new forms in the era of social media. Chinese netizens mobilized human flesh searches (HFS), or cyber vigilantism, to reduce the risks posed by international travelers who might import the H1N1 flu virus into China. My study suggests that at the beginning of the H1N1 flu epidemic, rigorous transmedia intervention efforts were made to discipline the early irresponsible overseas Chinese who traveled extensively after arriving in China, but much less attention was paid to risks posed by foreign travelers. The grassroots risk tactics employed emotional appeals, valuative judgment, and moral condemnation to criticize the irresponsible …

Editor's Introduction, Nicole St. Germaine

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Busy physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators do not have the time to conduct focus groups or in-depth interviews with patients. Researchers in the communication fields, such as the authors whose work is featured in this edition of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization, can help fill in these gaps of knowledge and provide insight into some of the best practices and issues that our healthcare professionals need to address to serve these populations more effectively.

Review Of The Craft Of Scientific Communication. Joseph E. Harmon And Alan G. Gross, Chicago: The University Of Chicago, 2010. 225pp., Matthew Mccool

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Science is a truly global endeavor, one that traffics in the world of abstract theory and practical implications. Bridging the chasm between theory and practice is one thing but communicating it from one mind to the next takes clarity and concision. Harmon and Gross’ latest book, The Craft of Scientific Communication (Chicago: The University of Chicago), helps scientists and laypersons alike do just that.

Review Of The Global M&A Tango: How To Reconcile Cultural Differences In Mergers, Acquisitions, And Strategic Partnerships. Fons Trompenaars And Maarten Nijhoff Asser. New York: Mcgraw Hill, 2011, Harrison Ownbey

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

The cultural clashes and communication failures that often occur during international business mergers and acquisitions (M&As) revolve around rhetoric. However, many business experts facilitating M&As neglect rhetorical issues, which then exponentially compounds other problems. A large majority of mergers and acquisitions fail primarily because of cultural differences. Dutch authors Fons Trompenaars and Maarten Nijhoff Asser offer The Global M&A Tango as a baseline method for realizing new strengths and delivering business benefits by connecting different viewpoints. The book aims to enable M&A executives to create a dialogic foundation for new communication frameworks. It suggests several key processes to help frame …

Review Of Intercultural Rhetoric In The Writing Classroom. Ulla Connor. Ann Arbor, Mi: The University Of Michigan Press, 2011., Dobson Kate

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

For the better part of its life span, intercultural rhetoric research has been dominated by Ulla Connor. This book is a follow-up to her 1996 book Contrastive Rhetoric: Cross-Cultural Aspects of Second-Language Writing, in which she described the developing research methods for the field at the time. Upon the book’s release, some critics warned that the act of comparing the writing style of one person from a particular national culture to that of someone from another national culture may result in stereotypes. This book is the response to these criticisms by way of redefining the field.

How Change Management Is Influenced By Differences In Professional Discourses: A Conceptualizing Study On The Adoption Of An Ict Tool For Service Engineers In A Global Perspective, Jos Pieterse, Jan Ulijn, Thijs Homan

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

This article describes the process of organizational change due to technological evolutions, suggesting that community-specific differences in discourse may have a considerable influence on its success. The questions for this study focus on: 1) how do we define a technically oriented employee who has to cope with organizational change? 2) Which factors determine the reaction to organizational change projects in which these technically oriented employees are involved? And 3) what are the consequences of these specific characters of technically oriented employees for implementing change programs in the most effective manner? First, while the present studies on professional communication do not …

Global Training, Multicultural Course Design, And Delivery: The Impact On Cultural Style Adjustments Of Faculty And Global Training Instructors, Christine R. Day, Crissie M. Frye

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Globalization is a reality for businesses and institutions of higher education. Furthermore, many U.S. based firms are expanding their businesses beyond domestic markets. These trends indicate that U.S. born individuals are likely to study or work in multicultural environments domestically and abroad. Research suggests that faculty and trainers adapt their teaching style and classroom policies to accommodate multicultural learners. Disconnections may arise, however, regarding the willingness to include these accommodations. The present exploratory study investigates the inclination and extent to which faculty and trainers adjust their teaching style, content, and policies to adapt to multicultural learners, namely, graduate and undergraduate …

Does Language Affect Trust In Global Professional Contexts? Perceptions Of International Business Professionals, Jane Kassis Henderson, Leena Louhiala-Salminen

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

A characteristic of trust is that it is more easily built in close-knit communities where common ground and a common language are already established. Building trust is, therefore, a challenge for business professionals who use English as a shared working language in the multilingual environment of multinational companies. In this exploratory article, concepts from trust research and principles from the field of interactional sociolinguistics are used to throw light on the interplay of language and trust. Based on an analysis of survey and interview data from business professionals in globally operating companies in several countries, findings indicate that language related …

State Of The Field: Human Sociality And Our Expanding Circle, Matthew Mccool

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

The first part of this essay provides a brief summary of this journal’s first editorial, which examined eight needed developments and eight critical contexts for global inquiry. The second part addresses our expanding circle of ethics, which starts with kin but has gradually increased to include tribes, states, nations, and even the world. It is our expanding circle of ethics that has led to a heightened awareness of equality, the product of a noble goal with origins in recent social justice movements. The aim of this essay is to assert that the field has a promising future by including both …

Review Of Digital Literacy For Technical Communication: 21st Century Theory And Practice. Edited By Rachel Spilka. New York: Routledge. 2010. 272 Pages., Dave Jones

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

This collection of essays, edited by Rachel Spilka, addresses changes within the field of Technical Communication, and asks what those changes mean for scholars and practitioners. As technical (or professional) communication expands its focus in the 21st century to include tools, skills, and technologies beyond its traditional scope, the collection gathers together well-known technical communication specialists to ask what "literacy" might mean in this new context. Though the introduction at one point says that the anthology wishes to address "any type of literacy affected by technology of all types " (p. 7), the primary focus is clear: digital literacy. The …