e Pluribus Unum? Dialogism and Monologism in Organizational Web Discourse    

This article draws on the principles of linguistic theorist Mikhail Bakhtin to analyze and explain discursive diversity in organizational Web pages. Organizational Web sites must typically appeal to multiple audiences, a condition that often results in different discourses being juxtaposed within the same interface. To analyze and explain the effects of such juxtapositions, this article adapts to the Web the principles that Bakhtin developed to conceptualize discursive diversity in the novel, in particular his concept of dialogism. To illustrate their efficacy, the article applies these principles to analyze a pair of government Web sites about forests, the forest industry, and the environment. Whereas the homepages of the two sites project divergent approaches to the discourses of their diverse audiences, a dialogic analysis of the new site's deeper levels reveals how the government's discursive strategy appears to favor one audience at the expense of others. Drawing on this case study, this article discusses how an approach informed by Bakhtin's principles can illuminate our analysis of organizational Web discourse.

Killoran, John B. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>TC>Linguistics>Government

Same Methods, Different Disciplines: The Historian and Linguist as Technical Communicators  

Can a liberal arts degree be parlayed into a career in technical communication? The presenters explain how they did precisely that, applying the overarching principle: 'Same method, different discipline.' This paper provides examples of how a history major (lead author Maureen Hogg) and an English major (co-author Dan Voss) drew upon the skills they honed as undergraduates in their respective majors to advance their careers as technical communicators at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation in Boulder, CO, and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL, respectively. In Part 1, Hogg takes several principles of historiography and shows how she applied them in developing a series of information products on Ball Aerospace's landmark Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) program. In Part 2, Voss shows how principles of rhetorical analysis he learned in a course on linguistics became the linchpin in a year-long integrated strategic communication campaign that helped Lockheed Martin land a major contract to build the next-generation air-to-ground missile system for the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.

Hogg, Maureen and Daniel W. Voss. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>TC>Linguistics>History

Toward Sociocultural Sensitivity in Rhetorical Studies of Analogy: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations    

In their macroscopic approach to analogy, rhetorical studies project the latent assumption that sound analogical reasoning is a universal property of human consciousness rather than a socioculturally inherited practice that varies over time and place. After drawing briefly from landmark work in the social sciences to show notable cases of cultural variation in analogical reasoning, I present Lev Vygotsky's concept of internalization and Dedre Gentner's structure mapping theory of analogy as fruitful theoretical and methodological avenues through which to detect sociocultural variation in analogical reasoning practices in science.

Little, Joseph. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>TC>Linguistics>Tropes