Cook.+Layered+Literacies

= Cook, K.C. "[|Layered Literacies: A Theoretical Frame for Technical Communication Pedagogy]." = // Technical Communication Quarterly // (2002). 11, (5-29). Web.

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Abstract
This article proposes a theoretical frame for technical communication pedagogy based on six layered literacies: basic, rhetorical, social, technological, ethical, and critical. The layered literacies frame advocates diverse instruction in technical communication programs, ranging from the ancient art of rhetoric to the most contemporary of technologies, from basic reading and writing skills to ethical and critical situational analyses. The article also suggests how the frame can be applied to a program of study or individual course in order to establish teaching objectives; develop course and lesson activities; and assess pedagogical materials, students, and program.

Argument
Over the years, technology has become more complex; thus technology pedagogy has intensified. However, educators of technological literacy have been faced with two problems; which technology should they be focusing on and how should they integrate these technologies into their curriculum. The author determines that the more viable way to incorporate new technology into their classroom is by adopting the six literacies- basic, rhetorical, social, technological, ethical, and critical. These literacies must be taught in a layered fashion. By teaching them independently, a teacher is only adding more confusion to students and keeping them in the dark ages of being literate. A fluent teacher will be able to integrate the six literacies into their classroom with little problem; a fluent student will be able to hear the differences they are receiving in their education and react appropriately. Cook continues to support the argument with an account of a course in which this method is used to educate technical writing students. Detailed examples of coursework are provided.

Key Passages
“…technical communication pedagogy into a framework encompassing six key literacies-basic, rhetorical, social, technological, ethical, and critical” (p. 7).

“Instructors can no longer simply provide students with opportunities to discuss form, discourse types, or the writing process. Such discussions must be further supplemented with activities that promote collaborative team-building skills and technology use and critique” (p. 7-8).

“…technological literacy casts technical communicators in three roles: as rhetoricians who study audience knowledge, preferences, and requirements for technology; as architects who take this research and use it to construct technology to meet audience needs; and as usability researchers who take their written product back to the audience to critique how well the documentation and the technology work for the audience” (p. 14).

“The discussion of the six literacies in the previous section differentiates them in order to define them, yet few, if any, of them will be taught in isolation. In fact, they will most likely be layered within our assignments and throughout our courses and programs” (p. 18).

"I f students possess a working literacy in these six areas, they will possess and employ a variety of skills tha t will make them successful employees" (p. 24).

Selected Works Cited
Adams, Katherine H. A History of Professional Writing Instruction in American Colleges: Years of Acceptance, Growth, and Doubt. Dallas: SMU, 1993.

Blyler, Nancy Roundy. “The Heuristics of Pedagogy: Approaches to Teaching Technical Writing.” The Technical Writing Teacher 13 (1986): 101-11.

Duin, Ann Hill, and Craig J. Hansen. “Setting a Sociotechnological Agenda in Nonacademic Writing.” Nonacademic Writing: Social Theory and Technology. Ed. Ann Hill Duin and Craig J. Hansen. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1996. 1-15.

Hansen, Craig J. “Networking Technology in the Classroom: Whose Interests Are We Serving?” Electronic Literacies in the Workplace: Technologies of Writing. Ed. Patricia Sullivan and Jennie Dautermann. Urbana: NCTE, 1996. 201-15.