http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Cultural-Theory A listing of the most recently indexed works about Cultural Theory in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Cultural-Theory http://tc.eserver.org/34198.html http://tc.eserver.org/34198.html Explores how and why the German and Chinese cultures differ in the presentation and perception of technical information. Presents a theoretical framework for technical communication across different cultures. Provides guidelines to technical communicators in Sino-German technical communication and services. http://tc.eserver.org/33580.html http://tc.eserver.org/33580.html To study the possible impact of feminist theory on technical communication, this article discusses six common characteristics of feminist theory: (a) celebration of difference, (b) impact on social change, (c) acknowledgment of scholars' backgrounds and values, (d) inclusion of women's experience, (e) study of gaps and silences in traditional scholarship, and (f) new female sources of knowledge. Three debates within feminist theory spring out of these common characteristics: whether to stress similarity or difference between the sexes, whether differences come from biological or social forces, and whether feminist scholars can avoid reinforcing binary opposition. The article then traces the impact of these characteristics of feminist theory and debates within feminist theory on the redefinition of technical communication in terms of the myth of scientific objectivity, the new interest in ethnographic studies of workplace communication, and the recent focus on collaborative writing. http://tc.eserver.org/32899.html http://tc.eserver.org/32899.html Digital content producers must regard preservation and archiving as an essential task. http://tc.eserver.org/32305.html http://tc.eserver.org/32305.html This paper explores the history of `the social' in information science. It traces the influence of social scientific thinking on the development of the field's intellectual base. The continuing appropriation of both theoretical and methodological insights from domains such as social studies of science, science and technology studies, and socio-technical systems is discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/32166.html http://tc.eserver.org/32166.html Edward Hall’s model of low-context and high-context cultures is one of the dominant theoretical frameworks for interpreting intercultural communication. This article reports a meta-analysis of 224 articles in business and technical communication journals between 1990 and 2006 and addresses two primary issues: (a) the degree to which contexting is embedded in intercultural communication theory and (b) the degree to which the contexting model has been empirically validated. Contexting is the most cited theoretical framework in articles about intercultural communication in business and technical communication journals and in intercultural communication textbooks. An extensive set of contexting propositions has emerged in the literature; however, few of these propositions have been examined empirically. Furthermore, those propositions tested most frequently have failed to support many contexting propositions, particularly those related to directness. This article provides several recommendations for those researchers who seek to address this popular and appealing yet unsubstantiated and underdeveloped communication theory. http://tc.eserver.org/32014.html http://tc.eserver.org/32014.html As students participate in corporate communication classes, they may, on occasion, use the term culture to make sense of their experiences. The authors use Mino's idea of a learning paradigm to shift the emphasis away from teaching traditional theories of culture and use student-centered experiences to teach culture as an expressive practice. Using instances drawn from their own classrooms, the authors show how students can recognize the value of understanding their role in creating culture each time they choose how to act, how to evaluate others' behavior, and whether to label what is going on as cultural. http://tc.eserver.org/31835.html http://tc.eserver.org/31835.html By now most readers of Design for All India have a healthy grasp of Universal Design. Many, perhaps most, have become highly competent in its application as is evident from the articles appearing in past volumes and today. Beyond technical mastery of the Seven Principles, knowledge of best-of-breed solutions, and familiarity with allied concepts such as Visitability, Adaptive Technology, or anthropometrics there is a cultural component to this design approach that is unquantifiably – but undeniably – transforming Universal Design. By systematically and thoroughly examining this cultural component in the coming decade we will discover the true nature of Universal Design to be social sustainability. http://tc.eserver.org/31792.html http://tc.eserver.org/31792.html In this project special attention is given to legal, commercial, political and institutional discourse used in specific workplaces, analysed from an intercultural perspective. In particular, through an exploration of the international ‘image’ suggested by major social and economic actors, our project aims to improve the understanding of identity-forming features linked to ‘local’ or professional cultures, as communicated by contemporary English in various specialised domains among native and non-native speakers. http://tc.eserver.org/31782.html http://tc.eserver.org/31782.html Kaplan's framework of contrastive rhetoric has been widely accepted in the field of cross-cultural technical communication. However, in the last four decades, contextual factors such as economic globalization trend and the advances of communication technologies are changing our ways of interacting with others. As a result our understanding of culture and cultural differences need to be adjusted. In this research, I start by recommending a workable definition of culture in the present context—culture as a process, which establishes a foundation for cross-cultural rhetorical research in the new era when communication across cultures transcends national boundaries. Based on the critical perspective of culture, I continue to point out the limitations of contrastive rhetoric and argue that contrastive rhetoric's view of culture and its research purpose and methodology need to be modified to overcome its constraints and better meet the needs of the present social context. http://tc.eserver.org/31781.html http://tc.eserver.org/31781.html The New Atlantis is an effort to clarify the nation’s moral and political understanding of all areas of technology—from stem cells to hydrogen cells to weapons of mass destruction. http://tc.eserver.org/31687.html http://tc.eserver.org/31687.html Management in professionalized workplaces is often characterized as Mtrying to herd cats. Having grown up on a dairy farm, the characterization never made much sense to me. Cows and sheep earn our disparaging remarks because they are easy to push around. Their occasional resistance seems counter to their character. But cats are also easy to herd; just have milk. Cats may walk by themselves, but they quickly all choose to walk in the same direction following the pail. Cats may quickly resist getting pushed in common directions, but they are easily pulled there. Got milk, got cats. Are cats more autonomous than the herds? Has resisting cats led us to overlook how easy they are to herd? Resistance comes to us as a term growing out of workplaces that tried to push and direct. Resistance was at least a pushing back; sometimes it was an organized pushing for another direction. http://tc.eserver.org/31648.html http://tc.eserver.org/31648.html As global online access grows, Web site designers find themselves creating materials for an increasingly international audience. Cultural groups, however, can have different expectations of what constitutes acceptable Web site design. This article examines how prototype theory can serve as a methodology for analyzing Web sites designed for users from different cultures. Such analyses, in turn, can help individuals create more effective online materials for international audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/31619.html http://tc.eserver.org/31619.html Before conducting research beyond your own country’s borders, it’s important to consider a number of cultural differences that have significant implications for the success of the research. Angela Sinickas outlines some potential issues to consider. http://tc.eserver.org/31585.html http://tc.eserver.org/31585.html Interest in corporate culture has been on the increase ever since studies over a decade ago found a link between certain cultural aspects and successful business outcomes. Buthow can you measure the bottom-link impacts of culture in your own organization? http://tc.eserver.org/31364.html http://tc.eserver.org/31364.html With the global village growing smaller every year, more and more communication professionals are taking on assignments that span a wide range of countries and cultures. Cross-border responsibilities require that you constantly expand your horizons and learn about new places and people. At the same time, it can be more than a little daunting to get up to speed on each country’s business and social conventions—and when the two do and don’t mix. http://tc.eserver.org/31356.html http://tc.eserver.org/31356.html Raju demonstrates the importance of understanding cultural schemas—models providing patterns for understanding ideas or objects in a cultural context—when dealing with international technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/31339.html http://tc.eserver.org/31339.html With the birth of the Internet and the advancement of other information technologies, companies and organizations are now able to operate across borders, cultures and time zones at lower costs than ever before. One way this occurs is through virtual teams, which allow companies to maximize their global expertise and resources, while team members can remain in their home countries. http://tc.eserver.org/31210.html http://tc.eserver.org/31210.html Twenty years ago, I sat in the London offices of an American oil services company taking the conference brief for a CEO’s script. He was an oilman of the old school—no nonsense and pretty brutal in his management style. When his personal assistant came in with the coffee, she all but threw it over the guy and left the room with her nose in the air. “The natives are revolting,” he explained. “I made some redundancies this morning: everyone who arrived more than five minutes late.” It was my first experience of culture shock. For the Texan it was the most natural behavior; for the Brits, he represented a form of barbarism not seen since the Dark Ages. So how does a multinational firm communicate to audiences who have fundamentally different cultural values? http://tc.eserver.org/30731.html http://tc.eserver.org/30731.html Posits that although some usability scholars in technical communication have forged fruitful connections between usability and user-centered design and human-centered interaction (HCI), these alliances have not improved usability studies writ large to the extent that it is able to account for culturally-specific complex information systems and how 'users' should, can, and do shape culturally-relevant information before delivery, from the invention to the arrangement, style, and memory of knowledge systems, structures, performances, and products. http://tc.eserver.org/30296.html http://tc.eserver.org/30296.html Cultural studies is an academic field that focuses on understanding the unchallenged assumptions that constrain and shape communication and related interactions among people. Although the field has made considerable progress in the last half-century, many practitioners have either never encountered the field, or have encountered it only through extremist advocates who do the field a great disservice. As a result, they have lost the ability to benefit from the insights provided by cultural studies. In this paper, I review the recent book Critical Power Tools to provide an update on the current thinking in the field, and to demonstrate how the modern form of the field has much to teach technical communications practitioners who are willing to listen to what the theoreticians have to say. http://tc.eserver.org/30248.html http://tc.eserver.org/30248.html When writing for cultures that are not your own, you must consider the powerful cultural associations that color and graphics have. Understanding and leveraging these associations leads to documentation that is strong and usable, while not understanding them leads to cultural miscommunications and misunderstandings that can render your information useless. http://tc.eserver.org/30048.html http://tc.eserver.org/30048.html A major impediment in global user interface development is that there is inadequate empirical evidence for the effects of culture in the usability engineering methods used for developing these global user interfaces. This paper presents a controlled study investigating the effects of culture on the effectiveness of structured interviews in international usability evaluation. The experiment consisted of a usability evaluation of a website with two independent groups of Indian participants. Each group had a different interviewer; one belonging to the Indian culture and the other to the Anglo-American culture. The results show that participants found more usability problems and made more suggestions to an interviewer who was a member of the same (Indian) culture than to the foreign (Anglo-American) interviewer. The results of the study empirically establish that culture significantly affects the efficacy of structured interviews during international user testing. The implications of this work for usability engineering are discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/29917.html http://tc.eserver.org/29917.html Cultural studies is an academic field that focuses on understanding the unchallenged assumptions that constrain and shape communication and related interactions among people. Although the field has made considerable progress in the last half-century, many practitioners have either never encountered the field, or have encountered it only through extremist advocates who do the field a great disservice. As a result, they have lost the ability to benefit from the insights provided by cultural studies. In this paper, I review the recent book Critical Power Tools to provide an update on the current thinking in the field, and to demonstrate how the modern form of the field has much to teach technical communications practitioners who are willing to listen to what the theoreticians have to say. http://tc.eserver.org/29765.html http://tc.eserver.org/29765.html This article discusses the use of activity theory, visual literacy, and sound theory in the design of digital media. It defines each of these in the context of literacy and how literacy is viewed and changing in today's culture. It then goes on to describe two phases of a case study underway that shows the lifecycle of content development for literacy purposes. It begins with phase one which is development and testing of the content information model and continues with an overview of phase two, currently underway, which is a description of the testing and evaluation of the mediating artifacts that were created in phase one. It ends with a brief explanation of how this research can help technical communications in expanding multidisciplinary efforts and instructional support within the field of education. http://tc.eserver.org/29237.html http://tc.eserver.org/29237.html Although service-learning has the potential to infuse technical communication pedagogy with civic goals, it can easily be co-opted by a hyperpragmatism that limits ethical critique and civic engagement. Service-learning's component of reflection, in particular, can become an uncritical, narrow invention or project management tool. Integrating cultural studies and service-learning can help position students as critical citizens who produce effective and ethical discourse and who create more inclusive forms of power. Rather than being tacked on, cultural studies approaches should be incorporated into core service-learning assignments. http://tc.eserver.org/29080.html http://tc.eserver.org/29080.html Budget and time constraints often force technical communicators to produce manuals that are less than effective. One reason is the time they take to analyze their document's users. Normally, user analysis involves demographic, or organizational, or psychological approaches or combinations. Rarely will they evaluate the culture of the user and determine what that means for developing the document. Typically, localization will edit the document for cultural elements, but that is an expensive and time-consuming process. This article discusses the cultural elements in developing a document and shows, through a comparison of two mythical cultures, how the document will differ when organized for those two cultures. http://tc.eserver.org/28932.html http://tc.eserver.org/28932.html Most IA tools and methods focus on the users and the content being developed for websites. Jorge Arango uses the ideas from anthropologist Edward Hall as a starting point to dig deep into the idea of context, its variations, and the impacts on how people interpret information. http://tc.eserver.org/28704.html http://tc.eserver.org/28704.html Theoretically, usability testing is a great way of finding out what is wrong with the products and services we design. We sit the users down in the lab and ask them to perform certain tasks, to 'tell us what you think--give voice to your stream of consciousness.' And on the whole, it works. But... http://tc.eserver.org/28035.html http://tc.eserver.org/28035.html Designers are clearly more self-conscious about their social role today than they have been at any time in the last 20 years, yet the lack of substance of the critics who have come to the fore, and the issues on which it is chosen to take a stand, reflect a political agenda that is set elsewhere. There are many areas of life in which designers can make a real difference, but we need to look first at why they are taking themselves so seriously in the noughties. http://tc.eserver.org/28036.html http://tc.eserver.org/28036.html Politics is commonly thought of as the activities of political organizations--from which the majority of designers (if not majority of people) feel disassociated. But there is a missed opportunity here: at base, politics is about values, and design is nothing if not a means of embodying values. http://tc.eserver.org/28021.html http://tc.eserver.org/28021.html Is culture dead as a topic of interest to usability and user-interface usability and design professionals? One European anthropologist/ethnographer wrote recently that 'culture is dead' and only of interest to people in the USA (who seemingly have little or no understanding of other cultures around the world). On the other hand, another (USA) usability/design professional recently stated that she thought cross-cultural issues were one of the most important and potent trends in product/service development. Who is right? http://tc.eserver.org/26862.html http://tc.eserver.org/26862.html Is everyware overwriting what we know as everyday? On the heels of finishing his first book, Adam Greenfield talks with Boxes and Arrows about Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing and how the concepts are reshaping our lives. http://tc.eserver.org/26736.html http://tc.eserver.org/26736.html A culture of change proficiency is an enabling element of response ability, one of the three cornerstones of enterprise agility. Change proficiency is a competency that is facilitated or impeded by an organization's culture; and is fostered, nurtured, and developed in organizations by people who recognize it as a worthwhile pursuit. It is practiced, refined, talked about, debated, valued, and taught; and seeps into the culture through this frequent exercise of language. http://tc.eserver.org/26729.html http://tc.eserver.org/26729.html In the uiGarden forum there has been much discussion about cultural differences in the web design, especially in reference to animation and flashy elements. It looks right to offer Professor Hofstede’s ideas to readers here. These ideas were first based on a large research project into national culture differences across subsidiaries of a multinational corporation (IBM) in 64 countries. http://tc.eserver.org/26575.html http://tc.eserver.org/26575.html The Internet is quickly becoming the dominant communications medium in this country. As such, it warrants the same type of critical examination as television and the news media. This paper explores integrating urban legends as a critical thinking component in communication courses that focus on electronic media. http://tc.eserver.org/26319.html http://tc.eserver.org/26319.html Both spatial and visual rhetorics attend to issues of boundaries. From the structure of our classroom spaces to the margins of the page, rhetoric and compositionist are investigating the ways spatial and visual experiences are impacting our work as teachers and scholars. http://tc.eserver.org/25766.html http://tc.eserver.org/25766.html On the basis of both established theories of the differences between cultures and recommendations in advice literature from different cultures, we believe that it is likely that cultures will differ in what they consider to be an effective introduction to a presentation. In this article, we report on an exploratory experimental study with 300 respondents in the Netherlands, France, and Senegal regarding their appreciation of and response to three introductions to a presentation about a mobile phone. The results show that the cultures differ with respect to the introduction they prefer. The Dutch respondents appreciated the overview most, while the French respondents preferred the ethical appeal, and research participants from Senegal preferred the anecdote. It is likely that the introduction that gains greatest attention and that best increases the ability to listen in a culture will be most appreciated in that culture. http://tc.eserver.org/25322.html http://tc.eserver.org/25322.html Through tracing some major historical influences and current theoretical perspectives of the human person, this article works toward providing both a foundation and rationale for a critical exploration of theories of agency, self-identity, and subjectivity. The first section traces the path of the Cartesian influence on current Western perceptions of the individual person, then reviews literature relevant to theories of self-identity, subjectivity, and agency within social construction, structuration theory, systems theory, and areas of cultural studies. Based upon these views of the human person, the second section examines agency as an under-theorized concept that requires further consideration (with self-identity and subjectivity) as a salient element of the person and theories of human identity in future research. http://tc.eserver.org/23418.html http://tc.eserver.org/23418.html I believe technical writers and translators should focus on the real needs of their customers. Any attempt to control language by force of law, internal regulations, or nationalistic feelings that do not reflect reality would be as damaging as adopting foreign, synthetic words for fashion. http://tc.eserver.org/22249.html http://tc.eserver.org/22249.html I want to try to explain how I came to think about technology and people ecologically through my interactions with reference librarians. And I want to mention some of the touchstones that led to the concept of information ecologies. In looking at the library, what struck me as an outsider and anthropologist studying the work practices of reference librarians, was first, the very congenial mix of human and technical resources. Second, I was very impressed with the way libraries are run through a very clear application of values. So, for example, values such as service to clients, cost effectiveness, the timely delivery of information, open access to information. And finally, I was really struck by the attention that reference librarians pay to the specifics of clients' situations and needs. http://tc.eserver.org/21614.html http://tc.eserver.org/21614.html Tendemos a considerar al color como un hecho objetivo: rojo es rojo y no puede ser visto de otra forma. Pero eso no es así. El color que percibimos depende de cosas como las palabras de que disponemos en nuestro lenguaje (nuestra cultura) para describirlos, los otros colores que lo rodean y lo que el cerebro espera ver. http://tc.eserver.org/21399.html http://tc.eserver.org/21399.html Semiotics teaches us as designers that our work has no meaning outside the complex set of factors that define it. The deeper our understanding and awareness of these factors, the better our control over the success of the work products we create http://tc.eserver.org/21277.html http://tc.eserver.org/21277.html Postrel's new book, The Substance of Style, explores the economic, cultural, social, personal, and political implications of the growing importance of aesthetics in business and society. http://tc.eserver.org/20320.html http://tc.eserver.org/20320.html Postmodernism is the recommended posture for technical writers working in international contexts. But should professional writers, adapting to local cultures, automatically adjust their most firmly held communication principles? O, are there technical or ethical criteria higher than the obligation to adapt. http://tc.eserver.org/19737.html http://tc.eserver.org/19737.html If you are reading this you’re probably responsible for preparing print, electronic, or visual materials for a client base that is marketing, selling, informing, and/or teaching in another part of the world. If that doesn't exactly describe you at this moment, it will be part of your job description in the future. http://tc.eserver.org/18362.html http://tc.eserver.org/18362.html In today's global village, you will work with people whose cultural backgrounds differ from yours. Culture refers to the beliefs, customs, and assumptions that determine perception and behaviour. For example, residents of small towns and rural areas have different notions of friendliness than do people from big cities. Montrealers and Cape Bretoners talk and dress differently, as do people who live in Vancouver, Regina, Halifax, and Toronto. The cultural icons that resonate for baby boomers mean little to members of Generation X and Y. And gender culture often creates conversational incongruence between men and women. All human beings conform to a culturally predetermined reality. Part of Canadian cultural identity, for example, has been formed by our dual linguistic heritage and by the economic and military might of our southern neighbour. Geography, weather, population density, and natural resources also contribute to cultural reality. For example, the Canadian values of courtesy, community, and cooperation may have evolved as survival strategies in a vast, sparsely populated land. Perceptions about gender, age, and social class are culturally based, as are our ideas about race, ethnicity, religious practices, sexual orientation, physical appearance and ability, and regional and national characteristics. Regardless of your own cultural biases, however, your organizational productivity and individual professional success depend on your ability to communicate sensitively and flexibly with others. http://tc.eserver.org/18194.html http://tc.eserver.org/18194.html This paper argues for the importance of cultural contexts in localization practices. It explores possible reasons for the missing of cultural contexts in localization, such as a static model of culture, a positivist view of science, and an instrumental engineering approach. Broad-scoped rhetorical methods are called to improve the performance of localization. http://tc.eserver.org/14828.html http://tc.eserver.org/14828.html Much like the linguistic challenges, culture and law are important considerations for the international Web author. What is accepted as entertainment in one country might be considered blasphemous in another. Standards in content organization which are expected in one country might be ignored in another. Considering the diversity of cultures and their legal systems, the potential for troublesome scenarios is virtually endless. Therefore, when a medium crosses so many borders so quickly and with relative ease, cultural and legal clashes are imminent. http://tc.eserver.org/14575.html http://tc.eserver.org/14575.html Experimenteel onderzoek naar de relevantie van cultuurverschillen voor tekstontwerp brengt specifieke problemen met zich mee. In dit artikel worden drie van dergelijke problemen besproken. Het eerste probleem ontstaat doordat cultuurverschil vaak wordt geoperationaliseerd door middel van de nationaliteit van de proefpersoon. Nationaliteit is een parapluvariabele voor een groot aantal verschillen tussen proefpersonen. Elk van die verschillen zou een eventueel effect kunnen verklaren. Een tweede probleem betreft de equivalentie van document en meetinstrument. Hoe kan men controleren dat de documenten in de verschillende talen hetzelfde betekenen en de meetinstrumenten hetzelfde bevragen? Een derde probleem ontstaat doordat leden uit bepaalde culturen eerder geneigd zijn de extremen van een schaal te mijden terwijl dat voor leden uit andere culturen veel minder geldt. Naast een beschrijving van de problemen worden ook suggesties voor oplossingen gedaan. http://tc.eserver.org/14234.html http://tc.eserver.org/14234.html A current list of CFP's from a variety of disciplines and professional groups. http://tc.eserver.org/13907.html http://tc.eserver.org/13907.html Programs in technical communication have, at least in their recent history, emphasized the preparation of students for corporate positions. We claim the ubiquity and relevance of our work to all areas of life, and indeed it is easy enough to find examples of 'technical communication' everywhere. But this observation is not the same as observing that there is a role for technical communicators everywhere. http://tc.eserver.org/13855.html http://tc.eserver.org/13855.html When the idea of culture is expanded to include institutional relationships extending beyond the walls of one organization, technical writing researchers can address relationships between our power/knowledge system and multiculturalism, postmodernism, gender, conflict, and ethics within professional communication. This article contrasts ideas of culture in social constructionist and cultural study research designs, addressing how each type of design impacts issues that can be analyzed in research studies. Implications for objectivity and validity in speculative cultural study research are also explored. Finally, since articulation of a coherent theoretical foundation is crucial to limiting a cultural study, this article suggests how technical writing can be constituted as an object of study according to five (of many possible) poststructural concepts: the object of inquiry as discursive, the object as practice within a cultural context, the object as practice within a historical context, the object as ordered by language, and the object in relationship with the one who studies it.