Definition of Tech Writer, was STC is broken

[Milan Davidovic]

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 11:36 AM, Bill Swallow <techcommdood at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  It's all communication.
>
> In that case, nearly all of software development would fall under
> technical communication.

Bill's remark reminded me of my past work as an English for Specific
Purposes (yes, ESP) instructor...

Anyone who has spent time in the language teaching biz might remember
something called "communicative language teaching".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_language_teaching

When the idea was first introduced (or so I read -- it was actually
before my time), the term "communicative" actually had a distinct
meaning. When I left teaching, it seemed that pretty much every method
(with the exception of a few holdouts) called itself "communicative";
the term had become virtually meaningless.

Communicating technical information is so pervasive (not that it's
always effective, just that it's everywhere) that I wonder if
"technical communication" is now a meaningless term.

-- 
Milan Davidovic
http://altmilan.blogspot.com
http://stctorcomp.blogspot.com