Meeting the Challenges of Globalization

Abstract

Drawing on globalization literature, this article analyzes key themes in globalization discourse, discusses their implications for professional communication programs, and links the themes specifically to the literacies professional communicators need to develop in the context of globalization. The article proposes a framework for professional communication literacies in this context to facilitate dialogue about the implications of globalization for literacies in professional communication programs and help teachers and program developers design and revise courses and programs that foster global literacies. It concludes by suggesting specific examples for applying this framework to the development or revision of teaching materials, courses, and programs.

The Roles of Technical Communication Researchers in Design Scholarship

“…For example, Mackiewicz (2012) describes "the motivation, design, and preliminary outcomes of a business-writing prototype at Auburn University" (p. 229). Similarly, Meyerring (2005) focusses on the development of professional communication curricula that address the implications of globalization within the university and the workplace. In part, her article should "help teachers and program developers design and revise courses and programs that foster global literacies" (p. 468).…”

Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Communication

“…• focus on the space between cultures (Matsuda & Atkinson, 2008) • involve conducting multilevel analyses considering nation, region, organization, and individual (Thatcher, 2006;Walton, 2013b) • transcend national contexts to investigate global phenomena and transcultural communities (Ding, 2013;Starke-Meyerring, 2005).…”

Creativity Counts: Why Study Abroad Matters to Technical and Professional Communication

“…As a caution regarding approaches to teaching global literacies, Starke-Meyerring (2005) notes that "professional communication research and pedagogy often remain focused on the local situatedness of communication practices" (p. 483). Instead, the local should be taught as only part of the complex phenomenon that is globalization: "To be literate in the context of globalization, professional communicators must consider the ways in which local discursive practices can become global and vice versa" (p. 483).…”