Complex Worlds

In Complex Worlds, editors Adrienne P. Lamberti and Anne R. Richards have set themselves a challenging task: to bring together a coherent set of perspectives relating to digital culture while promoting an open-ended flexibility suggested by their preferred term, “digital divergence” (p. 2). The volume’s title evokes the issue confronting academics and professionals: to comprehend not one, but multiple worlds – each complex, evolving and interacting with one another in unexpected and unpredictable ways. In response to this “multifaceted and heterogenous…digital era we are all attempting to navigate” (p. 2), Lamberti and Richards have collected eleven papers that offer multiple lines of inquiry and methodologies in an effort to understand aspects of the transformative nature of digital technology.

Book Reviews: The Managerial Unconscious in the History of Composition Studies, Assessment in Technical and Professional Communication, Complex Worlds: Digital Culture, Rhetoric and Professional Communication

Background : Environmental impact studies often enlist professional communicators to develop and implement public engagement plans and processes. However, few detailed reports of these public engagement plans exist in either scholarly venues or government reports. This case reviews one public engagement project in transportation planning as implemented by one professional communications firm. Research questions: 1) What communication and engagement strategies do the consultants employ in their public engagement process? 2) How do professional communicators design engagement for diverse citizen groups? Situating the case: A number of cases have revealed the ways professional and technical communicators integrate participatory or user-centered design strategies in public engagement projects. These cases suggest that professional and technical communicators are uniquely positioned to develop ethical and effective public engagement plans for environmental impact studies. Professional and technical communicators are further prepared for this work because of their knowledge about theories of intercultural communication and rhetorical theories of delivery. Methodology: This case was studied over the course of 1.5 years using qualitative research methods, including observations, interviews, and textual analysis. About the case: This case reviews the work of one particular public engagement firm, VTC Communications, as they planned and implemented public engagement in one environmental impact study. This environmental impact study team was tasked with determining the best way to accommodate the increase in rail traffic the city anticipated with the development of the high-speed rail. The public's input was needed to fulfill environmental impact statement (EIS) requirements and to fully understand the community concerns regarding the increased traffic, noise, vibrations, and family/business displacements. VTC Communications was hired to conduct this portion of the environmental impact study, and their work included the development of a range of deliverables and events. Conclusions: This case provides an overview of the process of developing public engagement plans, the deliverables designed, as well as the key goals that guided the development of public engagement. My case suggests that effective public engagement can address intercultural concerns by developing projects that are adaptable, multimodal, and dialogic.

10 - Synchronous “elevator pitch”: Teaching digital communication literacy with peer consultation and self-assessment

In the context of the rapid digitalization of the educational process, there is a need to form a new digital didactic culture of teachers. The article is devoted to the analysis of the conceptual and terminological apparatus associated with digital didactics, which allows for a deeper understanding of changes in pedagogical practice and prepares teachers for the challenges of our time. The scientific basis for the formation of a new didactic culture of teachers is the praxeological approach, which focuses primarily on practical activities and experience. To achieve these goals, the article uses methods of comparative analysis and research of existing scientific publications, practical recommendations, as well as monitoring the work of teachers in a digital environment. Special attention is paid to the praxeological approach, which is the basis for building the methodology of digital didactic culture of teachers. As a result of the comparative analysis, key terms and concepts characterizing digital didactic culture have been identified: “human culture”, “professional and pedagogical culture”, “didactic culture”, “digital culture”. The main components of this culture are identified, such as digital lite­racy, the use of educational technologies and techniques, as well as the role of the teacher as a facilitator of the educational process. Recommendations on the use of the praxeological approach, which is fundamental for the formation of the digi­tal didactic culture of teachers, are also presented. The article highlights the importance of understanding and introducing new concepts and terms into educational practice for teachers to successfully adapt to the demands of the digital age. The development of a clear conceptual framework contributes not only to improving the quality of education, but also to improving the professional competence of teachers in a rapidly changing world. The formation of a digital didactic culture is an important task for the higher education system. The praxeological approach can be an effective tool for solving it.

The article is devoted to the study of the role of ethical, cultural, and philosophical aspects in the process of forming media literacy and digital communication culture among young people, considering them as key factors in counteracting information and psychological operations (PSYOP) in the modern information space. The paper argues that the comprehensive development of these components in the younger generation contributes to the formation of critical thinking, responsible online behavior, and the ability to recognize and effectively resist manipulative influences. The relevance of the study is determined by the rapid growth of information aggression and disinformation, which poses a significant threat to national security, social stability, and the personal development of young people. In the context of hybrid wars and the active use of digital platforms to spread hostile propaganda, it is strategically important to develop a media-literate and ethically responsible younger generation. Insufficient media literacy makes young people particularly vulnerable to manipulation, fake news, and psychological influence, which undermines their ability to make informed decisions and take an active civic stance. In this context, research into the ethical, cultural, and philosophical foundations of media literacy and digital culture is particularly important, as these aspects lay the foundation for critical thinking about information, understanding of socio-cultural contexts, and awareness of responsibility for one's own actions in the online environment. The research methodology is based on a combination of theoretical and analytical methods. The main methods used were: critical analysis of scientific literature on media literacy, digital culture, information security, ethics, cultural studies, and philosophy; synthesis and generalization of the data obtained to identify key concepts and interrelationships; deduction and induction to specify theoretical provisions and identify practical examples; comparative analysis of existing approaches and strategies for developing media literacy and counteracting PSYOP; interpretation and conceptualization of research results to substantiate the role of ethical, cultural, and philosophical aspects in the context under study. The results of the study demonstrate that ethical education within the framework of media literacy contributes to the formation of a responsible attitude of young people towards information and an understanding of the principles of honesty, objectivity, and respect in the digital environment. The development of a culture of digital communication that takes into account the cultural context and principles of netiquette is important for preventing cyberbullying and hate speech and promotes tolerance and intercultural dialogue. A philosophical approach to media literacy emphasizes the development of critical thinking, the ability to analyze information, identify manipulative techniques, and form one's own informed judgments. Research confirms that the integration of ethical norms, cultural understanding, and philosophical reflection in the process of developing media literacy and digital culture significantly increases young people's resilience to information and psychological operations, making them less vulnerable to disinformation and manipulation. The conclusions of the study are that ethical, cultural, and philosophical aspects are fundamental components of the effective formation of media literacy and digital communication culture among young people as an effective way to counteract information and psychological operations. The development of responsible online behavior, understanding of cultural diversity, and critical thinking based on philosophical principles enable young people to consciously shape their information space, recognize manipulative techniques, and counteract disinformation. Integrating these aspects into educational programs and initiatives is key to raising a generation capable of critical thinking, acting responsibly in the digital space, and effectively countering information threats, which is an important investment in the future of information security and societal resilience.

Teaching problem: The comparative/contrastive approach to teaching intercultural communication is based on the premise that global rhetorical practices are not mere indicators of the cultural proclivities of a people, but are also a framework for developing a working knowledge about how members of a culture communicate. However, this approach predisposes learners to contrasting those cultures against their own and reinforces their preconceptions about national cultural characteristics. Augmenting that approach with transliteracies—emphasizing the benefits of knowledge sourcing not limited to scholarly/academic sources—offers a multidimensional perspective to intercultural communication. Research question: How can transliteracy inquiry be applied in teaching and learning global rhetorics? Situating the case: The approaches described here draw on the work of literacy researchers who delineate ways in which transliteracy broadens the scope of learning materials, including texts that are cultural and social (as opposed to linguistic) and that can be studied for what they convey about those cultures. How the case was studied: This paper describes the experience of using transliteracies to teach intercultural professional communication. The material was collected informally over the course of two years of teaching the course through observation, student completed research reports, and reflections. About the case: The shortcomings of contrastive and comparative rhetoric pedagogy in intercultural communication may be due in part to instructional materials selection and prioritization of what teachers deem to be scholarly. Reasoning that the basic architecture of a global rhetorics lies in its surrounding culture, artifacts, and communication systems, I designed an assignment that required students to describe how one culture's heritage, history, governmental systems, and value systems contribute to the development of persuasion and uses of rhetoric. Results: Transliteracies opened up spaces that allowed students to gain an in-depth understanding of others’ rhetorical practices without contrasting them against their own and by approaching them as ethnographic objects of study. Students engaged the object of their scholarship more expansively. Conclusions: Transliteracies in intercultural professional communication served to move students toward a more immersive and empathetic understanding of referent cultures, a stance that enriches professional communication. Students displayed a more altruistic value system in representing their objects of study and were careful to recognize that their work might be accessed by a wider audience. Transliteracies offer a practical toolkit for comprehending and fashioning understandable and compelling arguments about other cultures.

Complex Worlds: Digital Culture, Rhetoric and Professional Communication is a collection of 11 essays (in four parts) that explores the complexity of digital technology in educational, industrial, ...

Through the internalization of trade and information, as well as globalization, intercultural communication has increasingly gained importance, particularly in professional communication, since those engaged in professional communication rely on transdisciplinary frameworks. Also, different cultural backgrounds often serve as mediators to the communication among professionals. Gottis notes that the interpretation and realization of particular texts depend not only on sociocultural factors, since interpretive schemata play no small part as well. Utilizing a “lingua franca,” however, does not lighten the issue, as intercultural communication entails the need for locators to make their texts adaptable to purpose and contextual features. This chapter illustrates how professional communication plays an integral role in various disciplines, and presents certain related issues such as culture and communication studies.

This article provides a comprehensive examination of culturally specific nonverbal communication cues and their impact on emotional expression within the fields of sociolinguistics and intercultural communication. It integrates theoretical frameworks such as Symbolic Interactionism, Embodied Cognition, and Cross-Cultural Communication to analyze how gestures, facial expressions, posture, and proxemics shape human emotions and interactions. Drawing on recent psychological experiments, including studies on mirror neuron activity, the article highlights both positive and negative nonverbal behaviors across cultures. A comparative analysis of Eastern and Western nonverbal cues underscores the critical role of cultural context in professional cross-cultural communication, emphasizing the need for flexibility and cultural sensitivity to ensure effective interaction in globalized environments. Keywords: Nonverbal communication, cultural specificity, gestures, facial expressions, intercultural communication, sociolinguistics, embodied cognition, symbolic interactionism, cross-cultural communication, emotional expression, Eastern vs. Western cultures, psychological experiments, mirror neurons, professional communication.

Innovation and Disability

The expansion of the spheres of political, trade, economic and cultural cooperation between Russia and other countries creates real preconditions for intercultural professional communication in all areas of language experts’ activity: teaching, researching, translating, interpreting and speaking for the peers. In these conditions, learning to provide a monologue in different world languages is becoming increasingly important to future linguists. According to the requirements of the new Federal Standard for Higher Professional Education, a linguist must be able to perform intercultural communication in various professional fields, conduct business negotiations, be an active participant in conferences, workshops and roundtable discussions using several working languages and search for topical information to improve his/her professional skills in the field of intercultural communication. Thus, the standard reflects the strategy of modern foreign-language education aimed to form the cultural and linguistic personality of the language expert who has reached a high level of the foreign-language professional communicative competence, which manifests itself in speech culture, an open-minded attitude to unfamiliar traditions and ways of life, along with the abilities for monologue and international professional communication. High-quality monologic speech is a personally and professionally significant skill, due to which specialists do not have difficulties with business conversations, reports, public messages and presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint and freely participate in discussing the course and prospects of joint activities. Mastering such skills begins at the very beginning of learning a foreign language in a higher educational institution to be able to work with complicated scientific texts and prepare creative monologues as a postgraduate student.

Reviewed by: Professional communication in international settings by Yuling Pan, Suzanne Wong Scollon, and Ron Scollon Marco Shappeck Professional communication in international settings. By Yuling Pan, Suzanne Wong Scollon, and Ron Scollon. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002. Pp. 246. ISBN 0631225080. $73.95 (Hb). In the burgeoning field of intercultural communication, this book has found a unique niche in that it legitimizes both professional communication and sociolinguistic research—grounding the former in a theoretical framework and the latter in practical application. The book promotes a reciprocal, self-reflective approach to communication for corporate professionals in international settings. Ch. 1, ‘Analyzing communication in the international workplace’ (1–26), outlines the purpose, function, and procedure of a communication display portfolio (CDP) exchange. CDPs consist of communicative documentation from any media that pertains to any function of business activity. As the authors phrase it: Each party will ‘exchange best case examples of one’s own professional communication . . . for reflective discussion and feedback’ (5). The authors examine a CDP exchange between three companies based in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Jyvaskyla, Finland. Each critique of the others’ CDPs was closely analyzed and followed up with ethnographic interviews. Traditional textbook treatments of business telephoning procedures (i.e. promoting clarity, brevity, and sincerity) are cogently challenged in Ch. 2, ‘The telephone call: When technology intervenes’ (27–52). Due to contributing factors (i.e. technology, situation, type of relationship, and cultural practice), business calls range over a number of functions. Simply stated, there is essentially no global standard for making a phone call. One gains understanding of how another group communicates from studying one’s own practice as well as observing others. By drawing the distinction between the ideal/evaluated resumé and the pragmatic/practiced resumé, the authors, in Ch. 3, ‘The resume: A corporate “Trojan Horse” ‘ (53–78), show that intercultural communication is rarely successful without introspection. They report that participants consistently view resumés in a negative light if they deviate from personal expectations. This is poignantly coupled with another finding: there is substantial variation in preferences among members of the same cultural group. Ch. 4, ‘The presentation: From Dale Carnegie to Ananova the Avatar’ (79–105), highlights the disparity within each group between the expectations and the practices of business presentations, that is, deep appreciation for technology and more human interaction with the audience. During technology-based presentations (a present-day requisite), the relationship between the speaker and audience is mediated by technology, rather than by the speaker. The semantic relativity of these tech-facilitated actions therefore calls into question the positioning of cultural norms over actual practice. Ch. 5, ‘The meeting: Action or ratification?’ (106–36), the most problematic of the four communicative contexts, runs into the difficulty of having the participants videotape the ‘essentials’ of a business meeting. The authors resort to exchanging movie scenes for evaluation which yields nothing substantive in terms of insightful feedback in how actual meetings function. Sticking close to their practical orientation though, they wisely focus on teaching higher-order content: ‘when’ and ‘where’ (as opposed to ‘how’) important functions are performed during and around formal meetings. [End Page 817] Ch. 6, ‘The reflective view: Seeing ourselves as others see us’ (137–58), reiterates the book’s thesis: ‘successful communication in the international workplace requires a self-reflective understanding of the processes of communication’ (137). Due to the intense complexity of these environments, it is not feasible to standardize professional communication internationally, not even if it were specialized for a particular cultural group. ‘We need to learn how to learn directly from the people with whom we need to interact’ (4). The work ameliorates the inevitable difficulties in the transfer of ideas and information by advancing an interactional, complementary approach, superseding the oft-idealized and standardized ‘how-to’ checklists found in most field-related publications. Marco Shappeck Northeastern Illinois University Copyright © 2003 Linguistic Society of America

Background: Engineers increasingly work and advance their careers in international business settings. As technical managers, they need management and technical skills when working with different stakeholders with whom they may not share a common first language. Studies have revealed that informal oral communication skills are of prime importance for global engineers who face challenges in building shared meaning and formulating clear messages in meetings with non-native speakers of English. This article proposes that studying the use of multimodal resources (spoken language, gaze, gestures, and objects) in meetings can unpack how work tasks are accomplished in business through different communicative strategies. Literature review: This paper focuses on engineers’ and technical managers’ needs and challenges in professional and intercultural communication where English is used as a business lingua franca (BELF) in multimodal meetings. While multimodal conversation and discourse analytic studies highlight the dynamic nature of meeting interaction, previous technical and professional communication and BELF research on multimodality is limited. Research questions: 1. How do technical managers use multimodal resources to articulate their ideas in BELF meetings with their peers? 2. How does the use of multimodal resources contribute to the construction of shared meaning in explanatory, consensus-seeking, and solution-finding communication? Methodology: This study reports on two case studies and multimodal discourse analysis of video-recorded meetings among technical managers and their peers in four companies. The use of multimodal resources is analyzed in explanatory, consensus-seeking, and solution-finding communication. Results and conclusions: In BELF meetings, assemblages of spoken language, gestures, tools, whiteboard, and documents contribute to constructing shared meaning. This study has implications for global professional and engineering communication. Future research should further examine multimodality in BELF meetings.

The article identifies the importance and necessity of reorienting professionally oriented foreign language education at a technical university towards the development of students’ creative abilities. It is proved that a creative person is more adapted to the latest socio-economic conditions of modern society. Foreign language classes are a quality basis for the development of creative thinking and creative skills. The specifics of such classes are related to in communicative orientation, the possibility of realizing students’ professional knowledge and skills in intercultural professional communication, as well as in trying on new social and professional roles. The basis for the development of creative abilities should be work with professionally oriented literature in a foreign language, which is carried out using the following pedagogical tools and technologies: the project method, role-playing game, web quests and associative writing methods. It is emphasized that the use of these technologies based on work with professional texts in foreign language classes provides a synthesis of the studied material and independent cognitive activity, helps to create a situation of success, thereby enhancing students’ self-esteem and improving skills of prepared and spontaneous speech in various situations of professional intercultural communication, strengthens motivation to learn foreign languages, and forms such personal qualities as perseverance, tact and responsibility. The use of the described technologies is due to their focus on students understanding of professionally significant information presented in specialized literature, understanding of the communicative goal of professional communication, and implementing ways of presenting information according to the designated communicative goal.