Bachelor – Mediedesign NTNU Gjøvik

30
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Vol. 45 No. 1 2015
ween Asian and North American writers via a series of examples of
business correspondence, specifically letters sent by e-mail, primarily
from Chinese students to her in the United States. Chapter 7 is
a collaboratively authored piece by a group of international scholars
that concerns, in a fashion similar to Barnum’s piece, how professional
writers prepare for writing in international settings.
III. Cross-cultural collaborations and learning environments
In the final three chapters of the book, an emphasis is placed upon
the pedagogical. These last essays concentrate on the multiple ways
in which learning occurs through cross-cultural, electronically mediated
communication in a diverse set of learning-intensive environments.
The authors in this final section attempt to connect their
research to both teachers of technical communication and practitioners
in the field.
Chapter 8 is another group-authored essay that analyzes, through
the lenses of three disciplinary perspectives–visual communication,
anthropology, and computer science–the various ways in which existing
instructional design and communication technologies «bridge
geographic, digital, and cultural divides» (p. 185) thus helping to facilitate
international collaboration. In Chapter 9, Judith Strother is
concerned with how cultural implications should be considered with
regard to the cultural adaptation of a cyber-education program. She
presents a case study of a web-based «aviation English» course to
«illustrate the complex and multifaceted aspects of culture–national,
professional, and pedagogical» (p. 207) that potentially influence
and shape how training is conceptualized, designed, and ultimately
delivered, as well as how the trainees interact with the course materials
in the cyber environment.
In the final chapter of this anthology, Sipai Klien and Sharon
Trujillo Lalla focus on «digital ecologies» and the intercultural interaction
that occurs in learning management systems. The authors
are speaking primarily to technical communicators and «provide
observations» (p. 229) for those who facilitate and design training
and curriculum for a diverse set of people in multicultural online
learning environments. The authors are speaking primarily to technical
communicators and «provide observations» (p. 229) for those
who facilitate and design training and curriculum for a diverse set
of people in multicultural online learning environments. By highlighting
both the pros and cons of learning managements systems,
the authors argue for the importance of making clear to future re-
Brasher, Stephen H. Book Review: Culture, Communication, and Cyberspace
searches in the field of technical communication the importance
of bridging the gap (p. 229) in online intercultural communication.
Conclusion
It is vital that teachers and practitioners of technical communication
consider–with the ever increasing globalization of the marketplace
and the collapse of space and time effected by electronic media–the
importance of intercultural communication (factoring the intercultural
into the technical writing classroom), as well as the ethical implications
associated with such complex discourse. The essays that
comprise Culture, Communication, and Cyberspace are learned and
do help navigate some of the increasingly complex territory between
media and culture. However, more specific attention could be paid
by the authors to the ethical and ideological issues associated with
intercultural communication– how does one resist the pull toward
an objectivist epistemology, for example, as the standard to mediate
between competing cultural values– particularly if research or
site design is being corporately funded? There is insufficient attention
paid to how ideological differences are to be negotiated in these
cross-cultural communication contexts. The book is ultimately
thoughtful, especially if you’re a practitioner working in a global or
intercultural context, but there is scant pedagogical advice offered
(save for chapters 6 and 7) that can be readily used by teachers of technical
communication in the classroom. Culture, Communication
and Cyberspace is an important and relevant collection of essays
on global communication, but more directed at practitioners than
teachers.
Stephen H. Brasher
University of Minnesota
31
32 MARLENE ANGELICA SJONSTI-BJØRNSEN BACHELOR MEDIEDESIGN NTNU I GJØVIK