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Author: Schauer, Connie J.

Title: Secondary Technical and Business Communication Courses: Do They Support Disciplinary Literacy in the Business and Information Technology (B&IT) Curriculum?

The accompanying research report is submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Graduate School, in partial completion of the requirements for the

Graduate Degree/Major: MS Technical and Professional Communication

Research Advisor: Julie Watts, Ph.D.

Submission Term/Year: Summer 2016

Number of Pages: 48

Style Manual Used: American Psychological Association, 6th Edition

I have adhered to the Graduate School Research Guide and have proofread my work. I understand that this research report must be officially approved by the Graduate School and that an

electronic copy of the approved version will be made available through the University Library website. I attest that the research report is my original work (that any copyrightable materials have been used

with the permission of the original authors), and as such, it is automatically protected by the laws, rules, and regulations of the U.S. Copyright Office.

My research advisor has approved the content and quality of this paper.

STUDENT:

NAME: Connie Schauer DATE: August 3, 2016

ADVISOR:

NAME: Julie Watts, Ph.D. DATE: August 3, 2016

This section is for MS Plan A Thesis or EdS Thesis/Field Project papers onlyCommittee members (other than your advisor who is listed in the section above)

1. CMTE MEMBER’S NAME: DATE:2. CMTE MEMBER’S NAME: DATE:3. CMTE MEMBER’S NAME: DATE:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This final research report has been approved by the Graduate School.

Director, Office of Graduate Studies: Date:

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Schauer, Connie J. Secondary Technical and Business Communication Courses: Do They

Support Disciplinary Literacy in the Business and Information Technology (B&IT)

Curriculum?

Abstract

This study investigates forty-four Wisconsin Business and Information Technology (B&IT) instructors’

attitudes regarding how technical and business communication courses support disciplinary literacy at the

secondary level. The B&IT instructors were surveyed anonymously on the Wisconsin Department of

Public Instruction (DPI) B&IT listserv using Survey Monkey. The survey found that only 27 percent of

high schools offer technical communication courses and only 20 percent offer business communication

courses. Of the participants, however, 98 percent believe that the courses support disciplinary literacy.

Additionally, 95 percent of the survey participants believe that these courses help students perform better in

the workforce.

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Acknowledgments

I have so many people to thank for their support as I complete my Master of Science degree in

Technical and Professional Communication (MSTPC) through the University of Wisconsin-Stout. I always

loved writing; however, I lacked confidence in my ability to write so I never pursued my passion and

dreams. In 2011, I learned that as a veteran, I was eligible for the Wisconsin GI Bill so I decided to enroll in

the MSTPC program at the age of fifty and complete my second master’s degree.

I took my first course in the MSTPC program, Technical Writing, with my initial field project

advisor, Dr. Matt Livesey, during the summer of 2011. When I enrolled in the course, I didn’t even know

what technical writing was! I was so intimidated by the expertise of my classmates and my lack of

experience in the field. Throughout that inaugural course, however, I asked numerous questions because I

was completely clueless about online learning, the fundamentals of technical writing, the APA manual, etc.

—in other words, just about everything involved with the program. I had a great experience—and an

awesome professor and ultimately initial field project advisor—and decided to continue.

First of all, I’d like to thank my family for their support as I transition from a secondary-education

teacher to my newest endeavor upon my retirement from teaching in June, 2016. I know that there were

times when I wasn’t available to help with homework or do the “fun stuff” in life because I was completing

homework. And, I might have been a little cranky once or twice! Secondly, a big “thank you” to all of my

friends, acquaintances, and colleagues who supported me and listened to my ideas about papers and other

class projects—and helped me brainstorm ideas when I had none. I truly appreciate all of you!

Lastly, I’d like to thank Dr. Julie Watts who assumed the position as my field project advisor after

Dr. Livesey left academia for the private sector. Her knowledge of the Wisconsin GI Bill influenced my

decision to enroll at UW-Stout and complete this program. Additionally, I appreciate her ongoing support

throughout the program as I balanced my full-time job, membership in the Army Reserve, and coursework.

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Table of Contents

Abstract..........................................................................................................................................2

Chapter I: Introduction....................................................................................................................6

Author’s Background...........................................................................................................9

Statement of the Problem....................................................................................................10

Purpose of the Study..........................................................................................................12

Assumptions of the Study...................................................................................................12

Definitions of Terms...........................................................................................................13

Limitations of Study...........................................................................................................14

Methodology.....................................................................................................................15

Chapter II: Literature Review.........................................................................................................16

Background Information.....................................................................................................16

What is Literacy?...............................................................................................................17

Disciplinary Literacy..........................................................................................................18

What is Technical Communication and Business Communication?........................................18

Wisconsin State Standards..................................................................................................20

Writing in the Workplace....................................................................................................20

Communicating in the 21st Century.....................................................................................21

Secondary-Level Technical Communication Courses............................................................22

Post-Secondary Business Communication Courses...............................................................23

Technical Writing in Secondary-Level Science Courses.........................................................24

Technical Writing in Technical Education Courses................................................................25

Importance of Preparing Students for the Workforce.............................................................26

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Challenges Facing Technical and Business Communication...................................................27

CTE’s Role in Applying Disciplinary Literacy......................................................................28

Chapter III: Methodology..............................................................................................................29

Subject Selection and Discussion.........................................................................................29

Instrumentation..................................................................................................................30

Data Collection Procedures.................................................................................................30

Data Analysis....................................................................................................................30

Limitations........................................................................................................................31

Chapter IV: Results.......................................................................................................................32

Item Analysis.....................................................................................................................32

Figure 1. Number of school districts offering either technical writing and/or business

communication courses...........................................................................................33

Chapter V: Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendations..............................................................36

Discussion.........................................................................................................................36

Conclusion........................................................................................................................38

Recommendations.............................................................................................................39

References....................................................................................................................................41

Appendix A: Response to Question 5..............................................................................................45

Appendix B: Response to Question 6..............................................................................................47

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Chapter I: Introduction

High school graduation presents a crossroads for all students because of the number of life

decisions students must make. Should they attend the university? Enroll at a technical college? Enlist in

the military? Or, enter the workforce? Regardless of the path that students choose, preparation is key.

Conley and McGaughy (2012) stated that “the importance of all students being college and career ready is

one of the most discussed issues in policy circles and secondary schools these days” (p. 28). To prepare

themselves, Conley and McGaughy further stated that students should be able to “formulate problems,

collect information, interpret and analyze findings, communicate in a variety of modes, and do this with

precision and accuracy” (p. 31).

Consequently, all students—college, military, or workplace bound—must possess effective oral and

written communication skills. The Business and Information Technology Education and English/Language

Arts Education Report, which was published by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction,

Amundson and Wagner (2011), stated the following:

Public education is the foundation of economic security in Wisconsin and in an

increasingly competitive global economy. Ensuring our high school students are ready for

the workplace, college, and citizenship is important to the well-being and financial

competitiveness of our state. In the 21st century, our high school graduates need rigorous

coursework to gain the knowledge and skills to be critical thinkers, problem solvers,

innovators, and effective communicators. (p. 2).

As reflected by Amundson and Wagner, with an increased emphasis on 21st Century Skills, which are the

skills that prepare students to live and work in the first decades of the current century, the ability to

communicate effectively in both oral and written forms is more important than ever. This is one of the keys

to success in the workplace, academia, and in life. Throughout their academic careers, high school students

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are introduced to a variety of literary genres, such as fiction, non-fiction, drama, essay, and poetry through

their English courses. These literary genres teach students comprehension and creative, persuasive,

informational, and analytical writing skills. Although English courses establish the foundation for

developing effective writing skills, their primary focus is not generally on workplace writing or disciplinary

literacy. Workplace writing, as the name implies, is the genre that students can expect to encounter in the

workplace. Because this study focuses on the input of forty-four Wisconsin Business & Information

Technology (B&IT) teachers, I’m using the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI’s) definition

of disciplinary literacy as defined in the publication Common Core State Standards for Literacy in All

Subjects (2011). The Wisconsin DPI defines disciplinary literacy as “the confluence of content knowledge,

experiences, and skills merged with the ability to read, write, listen, speak, think critically and perform in a

way that is meaningful within the context of a given field” (p. 23).

As “digital natives,” the skills that students need to survive and thrive in the workplace and post-

secondary education are different from those of earlier generations. Their desired skill sets are rooted in

technology. Students no longer need to memorize vast quantities of data; they now need to learn how to

“mine” the information and apply it. Although technology is a communication tool, students need to use it

effectively to convey the intended message. That means using the appropriate communication skills for the

task at hand. While these are skills that students learn in their traditional English classes, the challenge for

secondary-level students is to apply these same skills to their Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses

and beyond. Workplace writing and disciplinary literacy are intertwined. To communicate in the

workplace, employees must possess the basic skills to communicate within the specific industry, such as

agriculture, engineering, or business. At the secondary level, these skills are taught through discipline-

specific literacy by DPI vocationally-certified CTE instructors through introduction and reinforcement in the

classroom. Students, unfortunately, often experience difficulty when they attempt to transfer the skills

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learned in their English courses to their CTE courses because they haven’t been taught the fundamentals of

either technical or business communication skills. Furthermore, regardless of the discipline, secondary-level

students often struggle to transfer and apply skills learned in one subject to another, such as social studies to

international business or math to business calculations.

Kemmery and Cook (2002) differentiated between the writing skills emphasized in English courses

and the CTE classroom when they stated that “regular English instruction teaches students to be expansive,

to use descriptive details, and elaborate. Business and technical writing is just the opposite; it is reductive in

that the ideas and information must be expressed in the most economical way” (p. 33). Smith-Worthington

and Jefferson (2011) further stated that “technical communication is communication done in the workplace.

The message usually involves a technical subject with a specific purpose or audience” (p. 7). Jayaprakash

(2008) described technical writing as “expressing a subject or technology to a specific audience in an easy to

understand language and user-friendly format.” She continued by asserting that it “focuses on audience as it

conveys specific information about a specific technical subject to a specific audience for a specific purpose”

(p. 3). To emphasize the importance of workplace communication, Kemmery and Cook (2002) stated that

“a young person with solid technical writing skills will be able to write his or her own ticket in the

marketplace” (p. 34). Effective communication skills, therefore, are a staple of most workplaces and can

play a role in shaping future success; however, they must be taught and modeled for students.

Avery and Avery (2000) stated that “learning language arts skills in connection with other subjects helps to

prepare students for the world of work and higher education” (p. 1). Students learn to make the connection

between their literacy skills and the workplace through instruction in disciplinary literacy. Disciplinary

literacy means that students understand and speak the language of the academic discipline. For example,

accounting students know and understand terminology used in accounting and can think like an accountant

or introduction to business students know basic business terminology and understand how businesses

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operate and function. To achieve this competency, however, instructors must embed literacy-specific

content into their curriculums.

Author’s Background

Preparing students for their lives beyond high school is my passion, and I believe students should be

both employment-ready and college-ready upon graduation. For the past twenty years, I’ve been employed

by the Spencer School District in Spencer, Wisconsin, as a Business & Information Technology (B&IT)

instructor, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) advisor, and school-to-career coordinator. I also

hold certifications in broad field social studies, history, sociology, psychology, economics, geography,

political science, and reading and have taught history, psychology, geography, economics, and reading.

Additionally, I am a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) in Early Adolescent through Young Adult

Career and Technical Education (EA/YA Career & Tech. Ed.). As a B&IT instructor, I have taught the

following courses: software applications, keyboarding, business law, accounting, employability skills,

computer programming, personal finance, introduction to business, economics, and business

communication. Many of my classes are transcripted, which means that they follow a curriculum similar to

the technical colleges’ courses, and students earn college credit if they achieve an A or B. The transcripted

courses differ from the traditional high school courses because the instructors must cover specific,

standardized competencies directed by the technical colleges before their students receive credit.

As the school-to-career coordinator, I work closely with local employers by placing students in

entry-level positions and following their progress over the course of their high school careers. Over and

over, employers—regardless of the industry—emphasize the same three skills that they’re looking for in

prospective employees. They tell me that they want workers who can (1) communicate through both oral

and written forms; (2) compute basic mathematical formulas; and (3) use computer technology proficiently.

Our schools do a good job equipping our students with the basic math and computer skills that employers

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need; however, many of our students are not comfortable with reading, writing, and speaking within the

context of the workplace. CTE instructors refer to these workplace skills—reading, writing, and speaking

—as disciplinary literacy.

Furthermore, I have first-hand knowledge of the communication skills necessary for success in the

workplace. Prior to entering the teaching profession, I worked in business for over ten years as an

administrative assistant, office manager, bookkeeper, and paralegal. Additionally, I served in the active

Army for four years and worked as a personnel administrative specialist. Because of my full-time

workplace experience, I have a state-issued business-vocational license. The state of Wisconsin grants

B&IT instructors with 2,000 or more hours of documented, paid work experience in the field of business

and information technology vocational licenses (Department of Public Instruction, n.d.). Although the exact

number of teachers holding this license aren’t available, it is a common qualification among B&IT

instructors.

Statement of the Problem

Although high school students in Wisconsin are required to take four years of English prior to

graduation, the curriculum is heavy on literature and light on workplace communication skills, such as

technical and business. Two key factors may contribute to English courses being primarily literature based

at the secondary level. The first is that high school English teachers may not feel qualified to teach either

business or technical communication courses because those genres are not required in many of their teacher

certification-preparation programs. As a result, most teachers naturally gravitate towards material that they

feel most comfortable teaching. Secondly, high schools generally try to prepare students for university-level

studies, regardless of whether they plan to attend. The assumption is that all students should be college-

ready and skilled at writing literary papers, although some students will never write them. For these

reasons, high school English instructors generally focus much of their classroom instruction teaching

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students to comprehend and analyze various forms of literature, such as fiction, nonfiction, essays, drama,

and poetry.

While the skills honed through research, audience analysis, revision, and peer review also apply to

both technical and business communication, they often stay within the confines of the English classroom

and are not transferred to the other disciplines. Students are often not skilled at transferring what is learned

in one subject area to another. Many secondary-level students, therefore, need to learn to apply their

knowledge outside of the confines of the English classroom. At this level, the most effective method is

through direct classroom instruction, reinforcement, and modeling.

Furthermore, the mechanics of writing, such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation, are not taught

and/or reviewed at the high school level since the assumption is that students have already mastered the

skill. Therefore, all teachers must hold their students accountable and reinforce the standards. Avery and

Avery (2000) stated that “since required elocution and grammar classes are as outdated as ciphering on

wooden-backed slates, where can students go to learn how to speak clearly and write coherently? One

solution is for secondary schools to teach written and oral communication skills across the curriculum”

(p. 1). Business and technical communication classes are two examples of where these skills can be

applied, honed, and reinforced.

In addition to wanting employees who can communicate clearly, coherently, and concisely in the

workplace using appropriate and industry-specific terminology, employers also require students to integrate

21st Century Skills. This entails mastering “collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-

solving” (“How Do You Define 21st-Century Learning?,” 2010)—all of which require effective

communication skills. To accomplish this, students must be taught to integrate disciplinary literacy with the

skills, knowledge, and information learned in their English courses. Avery and Avery (2000) stated that

“English/language arts instructors can serve as role models in this effort. However, all teachers in all fields,

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from auto body repair to zoology, must begin using more activities that encourage students to grow

proficient at expressing themselves.” They further stated that students should know “how to apply critical

thinking and communication skills across disciplines and into real-life situations” (p. 1).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of my research is to determine if middle school and high school B&IT instructors

believe that high school technical and business communication courses support disciplinary literacy and,

ultimately, 21st Century Skills. This is important because seniors often graduate ready to enter post-

secondary education at some level; however, they frequently lack the communication skills necessary to

enter the workforce because they haven’t been taught disciplinary literacy and/or workplace writing skills.

Using research and my personal observations as a B&IT teacher with over two decades of experience

teaching CTE courses, I will discuss the importance of integrating technical and business communication

courses into the curriculum in support of disciplinary literacy. As a B&IT teacher, I—like my peers—

support the school-to-career initiative that emphasizes workplace and post-secondary education readiness.

Assumptions of the Study

When conducting the study, the following assumptions were made:

All individuals completing the survey are B&IT teachers certified to teach in the state of

Wisconsin.

All individuals completing the survey currently teach either middle school, high school, or both,

or have taught at that level at some point in their careers.

All individuals completing the survey interact with local employers and/or have a working

relationship with their local technical colleges.

All individuals completing the survey are members of the Wisconsin B&IT listserv, which is

managed by the Wisconsin DPI.

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Definition of Terms

The following terms used in my research are defined as follows for the purpose of this field project:

Business & Information Technology (B&IT) teacher. An individual certified by the Wisconsin

DPI to teach courses within the B&IT department of an elementary, middle, or high school. B&IT

instructors teach subjects such as accounting, business law, business communication, software applications,

computer programming, employability skills, personal finance, entrepreneurship, economics, introduction

to business, and keyboarding.

Business communication. “The sharing of information between people within an enterprise that

is performed for the commercial benefit of the organization. In addition, business communication can also

refer to how a company shares information to promote its product or services to potential consumers”

(BusinessDictionary.com, 2015).

Career and Technical Education (CTE). “Career and Technical Education is both a collection of

educational programs or content areas as well as a system of preparing students to be career and college

ready. Contemporary CTE programs are delivered primarily through six specific content areas; these

include:

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Business and Information Technology

Family and Consumer Sciences

Health Services

Marketing, Management and Entrepreneurship

Technology and Engineering”

(Wisconsin Standards for Business and Information Technology, 2013, p. 17).

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Digital native. “A person born or brought up during the age of digital technology and therefore

familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015).

Disciplinary literacy. Disciplinary literacy in Wisconsin is defined as follows:

“The confluence of content knowledge, experiences, and skills merged with the ability to read, write, listen,

speak, think critically, and perform in a way that is meaningful within the context of a given field.” 

(Common Core State Standards for Literacy in all Subjects, p. 23). In the context of this study, it refers to a

student’s ability to communicate and interpret data within a defined discipline.

Technical writing. “Technical writing transfers information about a situation, product, service, or

concept, by written, oral, or visual means, to audiences of varying levels of technical knowledge, so that

each member of the audience clearly understands the message” (California Polytechnic State University,

2014).

Transcripted credit. Technical college credit that Wisconsin high school students can earn when

they take an equivalent course at their respective high schools. The courses are taught by certified high

school teachers. The equivalency is determined by the technical college granting credit.

Twenty-first century skills (21st century skills). “The term ‘21st Century Skills’ is generally used

to refer to certain core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-

solving that advocates believe schools need to teach to help students thrive in today's world” (How Do you

Define 21st-Century Learning?, 2010).

Limitations of Study

The biggest limitation that I had was that the survey was distributed to all subscribers to the

Wisconsin B&IT listserv; however, I had no control over how many teachers actually took the survey. In

all, forty-four teachers chose to participate. Because the information was collected anonymously, I have no

information regarding personal demographics, such as age, race, gender, or teaching experience. Therefore,

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I have no method of ensuring that the respondents were a cross-section of B&IT instructors within the state

of Wisconsin. This limitation, however, has no effect on the outcome of the study because all participants

were certified teachers who met the requirements of the state of Wisconsin to teach B&IT courses.

Methodology

The intent of my field project is to determine if high school B&IT teachers believe that technical

and business communication courses at the high school level support disciplinary literacy and 21st Century

Skills. Since there wasn’t any prior research on this topic, my literature review consists of three distinct

pathways--(1) technical and business communications; (2) disciplinary literacy; and (3) 21st Century Skills.

Throughout the literature review, my intent was to find common themes within each pathway. After I

completed the literature review, I conducted my research by surveying B&IT teachers at the secondary level

who are members of the Wisconsin B&IT listserv by using Survey Monkey. Next, I analyzed the results

and formed a conclusion with recommendations.

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Chapter II: Literature Review

The purpose of my study was to determine if business and technical communication courses can

assist high school students in acquiring the communication skills necessary to become both workplace and

college ready and achieve disciplinary literacy. The intent of this chapter and the literature review was to

summarize past research on this topic.

Background Information

This is a topic of interest to me because, in addition to teaching B&IT courses, I’m also certified to

teach reading from Age 3 through Age 21. In this capacity, I taught reading three periods a day for four

years at the middle school level. Because of my background, I initially became interested in disciplinary

literacy in the summer of 2011 when the former B&IT state consultant at the Wisconsin DPI asked me to be

on a disciplinary literacy committee with three other instructors to work on the B&IT portion. The results of

our workgroup are published at https://sites.google.com/a/dpi.wi.gov/wibitliteracy/.

As a committee, we divided literacy into three categories: (1) math literacy standards; (2) reading

literacy standards; and (3) writing literacy standards. Within each of the three standards, we identified

activities that teachers could do in their classrooms. The activities are leveled as follows: Grades 6 through

8; Grades 9 and 10; and Grades 11 and 12. Additionally, we identified content-specific texts and

publications and created vocabulary lists with essential terms within each genre of B&IT. Our goal was to

provide a document-rich resource that was ready to use (Wisconsin Business & Information Technology:

Disciplinary Literacy).

When I started the research for this field project, I found that few studies focus on the importance of

teaching technical or business communication skills to secondary-level CTE students—or even secondary

students in general. I found no contemporary research directly related to B&IT. Most of the secondary-

level research addressed the importance of teaching technical communication courses to science students.

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This research, however, did not include disciplinary literacy. Additionally, I found no research directly

connecting technical or business communication skills to disciplinary literacy. I did, however, find research

connecting CTE courses to disciplinary literacy and 21st Century Skills. Because the purpose of my

research is to establish a link between disciplinary literacy and technical and business communication

courses, my literature review has two distinct paths: I will review research regarding teaching business and

technical communication courses to secondary education students and the teaching of disciplinary literacy to

CTE students.

What is Literacy?

Literacy is more than just knowing how to read and write. It is a skill that most children begin to

acquire when they first learn to communicate verbally and non-verbally with the world around them. As

adults, they continue to hone their skills throughout their lifetimes. Literacy, therefore, is the starting point

for learning about the world around us. The Association for Career & Technical Education defined literacy

as follows: 

In today’s ever-changing global economy, “literacy” describes a broad range of skills

necessary for individual success in various aspects of education, careers and life. At its

most fundamental level, literacy represents the ability to read, write and communicate—the

ability to understand and use language to achieve one’s goals. Literacy is a prerequisite to

learning in all other subjects, especially as students are exposed to increasingly diverse and

intricate texts from which they need to glean knowledge. Unfortunately, too many

adolescents lack the literacy skills necessary to navigate the reading and writing

requirements of high school and the future world in which they will work and live.

(CTE’s role in adolescent literacy, Issue Brief, November 2009, p. 1).

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Disciplinary Literacy

The Wisconsin B&IT Disciplinary Literacy committee determined that “literacy development

needs to be a ‘complete package’...reading, writing, and vocabulary acquisition (talking) must be done

collectively and succinctly.” They further applied their statement directly to disciplinary literacy as follows:

A large part of disciplinary literacy in subject areas is to reading, writing, speaking,

listening, vocabulary, and mathematical processes as a delivery mechanism of Business

and Information Technology content.  In order for students to be able to understand

management, for example, they must be able to read and interpret management-style text,

write and explain concepts, and think about issues and events from a manager's point of

view.  Being able to take these steps leads to deeper and more meaningful learning in the

subject area. (2011, p. 1).

Wells (2015) supported the importance of disciplinary literacy when she addressed Writing in the

Disciplines (WID). She asserted that “writing across the curriculum acknowledges the differences in

writing conventions across the disciplines, and believes that students can best learn to write in their areas by

practicing those discipline-specific writing conventions” (para. 1). Wells further stated:

This approach recognizes that each discipline has its own unique language conventions,

format, and structure. In other words, the style, organization, and format that is acceptable

in one discipline may not be at all acceptable in another. WID believes that to participate

successfully in the academic discourse of their community, students must be taught

discipline-specific conventions and should practice using these conventions (para. 3).

What is Technical Communication and Business Communication?

Throughout the literature review, I use the terms technical communication and technical writing

interchangeably and the terms business communication and business writing interchangeably. Some

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authors use the term “communication” and others prefer the term “writing.” Additionally, some authors use

communication to address both oral and written communication.

Jayaprakash (2008) stated that “technical writing…is directed to a specific audience who reads and

understands a product. So the writing should be clear, concise, accurate, and easy to understand” (p. 3).

She further stated that “technical writing is not poetry or prose” (p. 4). Technical and business writing is

workplace writing that requires a strong knowledge of the industry in which the writer communicates. The

industry dictates the genre the writer uses and is not a one-size-fits-all standard. Jayaprakash further

summarized technical writing by stating that it “is similar to investigative writing” because the writer needs

to “slowly uncover the mysteries associated with the product and technology, and then write accordingly”

(p. 17).

Both technical and business communication are non-fiction communication that is used to convey

information to the reader in a clear and concise manner that is factually correct and free of embellished

speech. Kasten (2007) stated that a major reason that technical writing easily finds its niche is that

“technical writers write most of the documentation, user manuals, and repair manuals for the complex

technology of our society” (p. 37). Its intent is to persuade and/or inform the reader and is not for

entertainment purposes. Jayaprakash (2008) further asserted that “technical writing is about expressing a

subject or technology to a specific audience in an easy to understand language and user-friendly format.”

The writing is written for a target audience and not a general audience (p. 3).

Both technical writing and business writing follow a specific document format depending upon the

type of writing that is required. The type of writing dictates the format.

With regard to technical writing, Jayaprakash (2008) stated “that good technical writing has to:

Fulfill all the requirements of the user.

Conform to the styles and format.

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Be technically and grammatically correct.

Be simple, concise, and easy to understand.

Be free of errors and omissions.

Be useful and user-friendly in terms of information, language, and format” (p. 17).

Wisconsin State Standards

The committee that wrote the Wisconsin Standards for B&IT (2013) determined that in business

communication classes that “students will plan and write documents that are appropriate for the situation,

purpose and audience.” Within that standard, students should also “apply correct spelling, grammar, word

and number usage and punctuation to a given situation” and “develop and use a writing process appropriate

to the situation” (pp. 73-74). These standards apply to all students in grades Kindergarten through high

school. The standards, however, do not directly address technical communication courses.

I was a member of the committee, along with thirteen other Wisconsin B&IT teachers, who wrote

the current state standards, which were finalized and published in May, 2013. Although I was not assigned

to write the business communication portion (I wrote the economics portion), I was involved in the team

review process, which involved going through each standard line-by-line to ensure that what was published

was current and conformed to “best practices.” When we wrote the standards, we combined technical and

business communication under the business communication standards. Before publication, the standards

were vetted by post-secondary educators and members of the business community in Wisconsin and finally

reviewed by teachers in our districts who validated the feasibility of accomplishing the standards within the

classroom.

Writing in the Workplace

The National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges (2004)

conducted a survey of 120 major American businesses that employ almost 8 million people to analyze the

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importance of writing in the workplace; the response rate was 53 percent or 64 companies. The business

leaders’ responses to the survey revealed that writing is a “threshold skill” for both gaining and maintaining

employment and earning promotions. Over 80 percent of companies in the finance, insurance, and real

estate sectors assess writing during the hiring process. Additionally, approximately 50 percent of companies

—regardless of sector—use written communication skills as a criterion when considering an employee for

promotion (p. 3). Furthermore, “more than half of all responding companies report that they ‘frequently’ or

‘almost always’ produce technical reports (59 percent), formal reports (62 percent), and memos and

correspondence (70 percent). Communication through e-mail and PowerPoint presentations is almost

universal.” The survey also revealed that “more than 40 percent of responding firms offer or require

training for salaried employees with writing deficiencies” (p. 4).

Based on their survey, the commission stated that business writing is only one form of

communication. It is, however, often complex and intellectually demanding. In their report, the

commission concluded that “skill in such communication is not developed by a few school hours here and

there devoted to writing. Developing the kinds of thoughtful writers needed in business, and elsewhere in

the nation’s life, will require educators to understand writing as an activity calling for extended preparation

across subject matters—from kindergarten through college” (p. 20).

22

Communicating in the 21st Century

The significance of 21st Century Skills are continuously stressed in the secondary education

classroom. To validate their importance, Tony Wagner (2008) interviewed several hundred business,

nonprofit, and education leaders for his book The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools

Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—and What We Can Do About It (as cited in

Saavedra & Opefer, 2012, p. 9). Based on his research, he proposed seven survival skills that students need.

All of them are components of business and technical communication. They included (1) critical thinking

and problem solving; (2) collaboration and leadership; (3) agility and adaptability; (4) initiative and

entrepreneurialism; (5) effective oral and written communication; (6) accessing and analyzing information;

and (7) curiosity and imagination (p. 9).

Saavedra and Opfer (2012) in their article Learning 21st-Century Skills Requires 21st-Century

Teaching stated that learning scientists have identified nine components related to teaching 21st Century

Skills. Three of them are directly applicable to teaching disciplinary literacy. The first is to “make it

relevant” (p. 9). This ensures that once students “see the big picture, they also must understand how each of

the knowledge-, skill- and attitude-based objectives contribute to understanding the big picture, how they fit

together” (p. 10). The second is to “teach through the disciplines.” This means that “in addition to learning

the knowledge of the discipline, students also must learn the skills associated with the production of

knowledge within the discipline” (p. 10). The third is to “encourage learning transfer.” Learning transfer

means that “students must apply the skills and knowledge they gain in one discipline to another and what

they learn in school to other areas of their lives” (p. 10).

Secondary-Level Technical Communication Courses

Kemmery and Cook (2002) in their article Written Communication Skills for the 21st Century stated

that they developed a one-semester, elective technical writing course at Baltimore Eastern Technical High

23

School because they believed that “students need to be taught to write for the business community.”

Through interviews with their business partners, they found that “technical writing skills were a key

requirement for workplace advancement” (p. 33). Kemmery and Cook interviewed students taking the

course to discover their rationale for enrolling. A common theme of the students they interviewed “stressed

the practical nature of the course’s content and its direct applications to the world of work” (p. 32).

Individual student responses included the following:

“I know that this will be a major communications requirement throughout my college career

and later when I get a job” and “it makes significant connections to the real world” (p. 32).

“The key thing I’ve learned in this course is to be precise and to the point when doing projects”

(p. 32).

“Tech writing has helped me learn to say what I need to say in the most economical language”

(p. 34).

Post-Secondary Business Communication Courses

Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate any contemporary articles that referenced business communication

courses at the secondary level. The lack of research surprised me because throughout the twenty years that I

taught B&IT courses, my business communication courses were always transcripted with the local technical

college and students received three college credits. With the emphasis on preparing our students for their

post-secondary lives, this is definitely an area that needs further research. Because of the lack of secondary-

level research, my review of business communication courses will focus on the undergraduate level.

In the first article I reviewed, The State of Business Communication Classes: A National Survey,

the authors referenced a nationwide survey of post-secondary business communication courses that was

completed by Travis L. Russ in 2009 (as cited in Moshiri and Cordon, 2014). Russ focused on determining

the content of the courses and found that “business writing and business speaking and presenting received

24

the most coverage, closely followed by employment communication. Interpersonal communication

received moderate coverage, followed slightly by team communication. The most common formats for

written assignments were reports, letters, memos, and resumes” (pp. 313-314). Although his research

demonstrated that the skills being taught were workplace skills, his research did not make a connection

between business communication courses and workplace readiness.

Moshiri and Cardon (2014) conducted a nationwide study of 169 business communication

instructors at the undergraduate level. Two of the questions they asked concerned the types of written

content covered and the formats of written assignments. They found that over 50 percent of the instructors

included the following content in their courses: persuasive messages (87.5%); routine messages (86.3%);

cover letters and/or resumes (79.2%); bad-news messages (78.6%); and business proposals (53%) (p. 318).

Furthermore, assignment formats included memorandums (91.1%); letters (85.7%); email (83.9%); online

discussions (38.1%); blogs (14.9%); and wikis (11.3%) (p. 319). Their study indicated that the content of

the courses was directly related to workplace skills, although the term disciplinary literacy was not

mentioned.

Technical Writing in Secondary-Level Science Courses

The majority of the research I found regarding technical writing at the secondary level was geared

towards teaching secondary-level high school science students. Girill (2006) in his article Building Science-

Relevant Literacy With Technical Writing in High School found that high school science teachers rarely

include formal instruction in technical writing in their courses because they “are busy with other curricular

material, and writing belongs in language arts classes.” He further stated, however, that “well-chosen

technical writing activities not only blend well with the content of high school science classes but actually

enhance traditional science education in high school” (p. 346).

25

An issue that Girill discovered with integrating technical writing into the science curriculum is that

science teachers believed that “every minute diverted to technical writing takes time away from other

important science content.” He, therefore, researched methods of “integrating technical writing with science

lessons” to save time and enhance learning. Girill identified five technical literacy problems—guidelines,

instructions, descriptions, note taking, and technical tasks--and developed technical writing integrational

strategies to help them overcome the problems (p. 347). He concluded his research when he stated that “the

strength of this teaching strategy is that it builds science literacy by tackling these problems directly, in ways

that science classes without technical writing ignore” (p. 351).

Weiss-Magasic (2012) in her article Writing and Science Literacy presented similar findings when

documenting her experiences as a high school science teacher. She stated that “writing activities are a sure

way to assess and enhance students’ science literacy.” Her “students use technical writing to communicate

their lab experiences, just as practicing scientists do.” She required her students to record their lab

procedures and findings in lab notebooks in the same manner as scientists (p. 41). After analyzing her

classroom practices, she found that using technical writing activities in her classroom helped “engage even

the most reticent student” and gave her useful data on literacy. Her conclusion indicated that “as technology

dominates our world and increases our need for written communication, students can only benefit from

developing science-writing and literacy skills” (p. 43).

Technical Writing in Technical Education Courses

Worley (2008) asserted in his article Not Just for English Classes: Writing Skills Essential in Tech

Ed Today that as a technology education teacher he “avoided writing projects, feeling that writing was

something for the English department to teach.” After he surveyed instructors from his district’s

Communication Arts and Technology Education departments, he realized that “students need to learn how

to communicate with many different people in a variety of projects” (p. 17). The consensus of his research

26

found that “writing belongs in all courses and that all teachers need to step up to the plate and take

responsibility for including writing in their class.” One of the technology instructors he surveyed stated that

“technical writing is even more important within the scope of technology education. We, as teachers and

students, must be able to convey our thoughts using technical terms to describe an operation or process. As

a teacher and a student, writing—especially having the ability to write in a technical format—gives you an

advantage” (p. 18).

Importance of Preparing Students for the Workforce

The majority of high school students enroll in a four-year university or college immediately

following graduation but only a minority graduate within four years. Data compiled by The National

Center for Higher Education Management Systems (2015) found that in 2010, 60 percent of all high school

seniors in Wisconsin attended a four-year institution immediately following high school. The national

average in 2010 was 63 percent. Data collected from The Chronicle of Higher Education (2015) revealed

that of the high school graduating class of 2007, only 29 percent of Wisconsin students who attended a

public four-year institution full time immediately after high school graduated in four years. Of that same

class, 59 percent graduated within six years. The Wisconsin six-year graduation rate is approximately 8

percentage points higher than the national average. Based on the above data, approximately 36 percent of

all high school students earn a four-year degree within six years of their high school graduation. That,

however, means that approximately 64 percent of high school students will not earn a four-year degree

within six years of graduating from high school.

Data collected by Carnevale, Smith, and Strohl (2013) in their Executive Summary titled Recovery:

Job Growth and Education Requirements Through 2020 reported that approximately two-thirds of all jobs

nationally through the Year 2020 will require less than a bachelor’s degree (p. 6). They predicted the

following trends in educational requirements:

27

35 percent of job openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree.

30 percent of the job openings will require some college or an associate’s degree.

35 percent of the job openings will not require education beyond high school (p. 6).

Paul V. Anderson (as cited in Smith-Worthington and Jefferson, 2011) found that employees in

technical or business occupations spend at least 20 percent of their time engaged in technical writing. He

further stated that professionals employed in engineering or technology careers often spend up to 40 percent

of their time writing (p. 8). Not all positions within the engineering and technology career fields, however,

require a university degree. Some employees develop their skills through on-the-job training or

apprenticeships.

Challenges Facing Technical and Business Communication

Horne (2010) stated that “schools are also challenged to make the core skills—reading, writing,

science and math—relevant to students, to show them that their academic achievement is directly tied to the

quality of life they will have after they leave school” (p. 11). In support of Horne, Harwell (2004) asserted

that “so often, students are pushed to read literary text and write narrative papers but very seldom are

encouraged to make connections to the type of reading and writing they will do as adults. Within the career

and technical education (CTE) classroom, opportunities abound for encouraging students to read and write

in a manner that will help them communicate successfully as adults” (para. 1). Harwell continued by

defining technical and business writing genres as usually expository or persuasive (para. 3).

Welch (2010) discussed the importance of technical communication for both college-bound

and workforce-bound high school students by stating:

At the college level, technical writing is a required course in a variety of degree programs

because the course teaches conventional skills that can be applied to a range of academic

writing tasks across the board. For middle school and high school teachers who seek to

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prepare students for academic writing on a college campus, incorporating a technical

writing assignment into the richness of their existing courses will give students another

valuable opportunity for thinking about writing in a practical way that prepares them for

life on campus and, beyond that, in the workplace (pp. 37-38).

Welch’s statement, however, poses two problems for the current high school curriculum. First, if the high

school curriculum is primarily designed to prepare students for college, why do students usually study

literature but not technical or business communication? In their college courses, their professors expect

them to write within the discipline, such as business, chemistry, history, education, or sociology; however,

many students haven’t mastered the skill. Most secondary students can write for a generalized audience;

however, technical and business communication skills require students to write for a narrowly-defined

audience about a specific topic in an easy-to-understand manner using terminology unique to that discipline.

They, therefore, need experience writing informational and technical data.

CTE’s Role in Applying Disciplinary Literacy

With the increased emphasis on disciplinary literacy and 21st Century Skills at the secondary level,

further research needs to be conducted in this area. Business and/or technical communication courses,

however, can help bridge the gap between the literacy and communication skills developed in secondary-

level English classes and the disciplinary-specific literacy requirements of CTE courses. I propose that

these skills can be honed using a three-fold process: (1) Students learn the fundamentals of effective

writing in their required English courses. (2) Students learn the disciplinary-specific literacy in their CTE

courses, such as health, technology, B&IT, agriculture, marketing, etc. (3) Business communication and

technical communication courses assist with the transfer of skills between the English classes and the CTE

classes by modeling, instructing, and giving students practice writing within the discipline.

29

30

Chapter III: Methodology

Whether or not our students are ready to enter post-secondary education or the workforce upon

graduation typically generates considerable debate among educators. This is especially relevant in today’s

workplace where the majority of careers do not require a four-year degree but rather technical expertise.

One of the reasons that I chose to investigate whether or not technical and business communication courses

taught at the high school level support disciplinary literacy is because I’ve taught high school for two

decades and am immersed in the topic.

Because I was unable to find secondary research that specifically addressed this issue, my data is

gained through primary research. Although I knew how I felt, I was not sure how my colleagues viewed the

topic. To gain well-rounded input, I used the following methodology:

My personal observations as a B&IT teacher and a member of three Wisconsin DPI

committees representing B&IT teachers by (1) rewriting the state standards; (2) writing the state

standards for disciplinary literacy; and (3) serving on the B&IT English/Language Arts

equivalency workgroup.

Electronic surveys of B&IT teachers in Wisconsin.

Subject Selection and Discussion

My subjects were selected by sending an electronic survey on the Wisconsin DPI B&IT listserv

using Survey Monkey. Prior to posting the survey, I asked the state B&IT consultant for permission to post

it. I worked with him previously when I served on a committee rewriting the state standards for B&IT so he

was familiar with me and my work. The survey was posted and subscribers had the option of either

participating or not participating. Forty-four B&IT instructors responded anonymously to my request.

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Instrumentation

As indicated above, the survey was published on the Wisconsin DPI B&IT listserv using Survey

Monkey, which is an online survey program. I created the survey specifically for my research. I wrote

questions that supported the data I thought was important to further my research. None of the questions

were written by outside sources. All of the questions were written based on my experiences as a B&IT

teacher and working with disciplinary literacy and the B&IT state standards.

Data Collection Procedures

The survey consisted of eight questions. Four questions required either a “yes” or “no” response;

four questions required short answers. Each question that required a “yes” or “no” response also had a

comment section. Participants had the option of commenting on the four “yes” or “no” questions; however,

it wasn’t required. The data was collected and populated as soon as a participant completed the survey.

Comments for the four questions requiring short answers were listed exactly as the participants wrote them.

Additionally, the responses for the optional comments for the “yes” or “no” questions were listed after the

percentages.

Data Analysis

Survey Monkey calculated the percentages for the four questions requiring either “yes” or “no”

responses. For the four questions requiring short answers, I analyzed and calculated the percentages. For

the first short-answer question, there were only three different responses given. For the second short-answer

question, there were only two different responses. For the third short-answer question, seven different

responses were posted. Lastly, for the fourth short-answer question, participants listed four different

responses. The raw data for the short-answer questions was also converted to percentages.

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Limitations

The greatest limitation that I experienced was that I had no control over the number of B&IT

teachers who actually completed the survey. Although I had forty-four responses, I don’t know how many

teachers read the survey and decided not to participate and how many decided not to participate without

reading the survey. These limitations, however, do not affect the outcome of the survey.

To determine the size of the survey pool, I contacted the Wisconsin B&IT education consultant at

DPI, Dave Thomas, regarding the number of subscribers to the listserv. He sent me the following response

via electronic mail: “tough question to provide you with an accurate response on the number of teachers.

My last listserv report from last week shows 1083 members; however, some individuals have multiple

accounts (school and personal) and we have numerous other stakeholders (legislators, vendors, CESA

representatives, and educators from other states) who are included in this total” (D. Thomas, personal

communication, January 19, 2016).

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Chapter IV: Results

The purpose of my field project was to determine if middle school and high school B&IT

instructors believe that technical and business communication courses support disciplinary literacy and

21st Century Skills. This is important because many students at this level struggle to transfer the

communication skills learned in the English curriculum to their CTE courses. Students need a method or

conduit for transferring that knowledge.

Item Analysis

My research focused on the following areas: (1) Initially, I wanted to establish the number of

school districts that offered technical writing and/or business communication courses and which

departments taught the courses. (2) Next, I wanted to determine the perceived correlation between

technical writing and business communication courses and both workplace performance and disciplinary

literacy. (3) Lastly, I wanted to determine who B&IT teachers thought are most qualified to teach those

courses. I initiated my research by asking the following questions:

1. Does your school offer technical writing courses?

2. If your school offers technical writing courses, which department teaches the course?

3. Does your school offer business communication courses?

4. If your school offers business communication courses, what department teaches the courses?

5. Do you feel that students who take either technical writing or business communication courses

perform better in the workplace?

6. Do you feel that technical writing and business communication courses support disciplinary

literacy?

7. What department do you think is best qualified to teach technical writing courses?

8. What department do you think is best qualified to teach business communication courses?

34

Questions 1 and 3: Does your school offer technical writing courses and/or business

communication courses. Of the 44 respondents, only 12 districts or 27 percent offer technical writing

courses. And, only 9 districts or 20 percent offer business communication courses.

Figure 1. Number of school districts offering either technical writing and/or business communication

courses

As an additional comment, I asked which students generally took the courses. Based on the

responses that I received, students of all ages and ability levels take the courses; however, most students take

them in either their junior or senior years of high school.

35

Questions 2 and 4: Which department teaches technical writing and/or business

communication courses? After I established the percentage of districts that offered technical writing

and/or business communication courses, I wanted to find out who teaches the courses. Twelve respondents

indicated that their schools offer technical writing. Of that number, eight districts teach technical writing in

the English department; two in B⁢ and, in two districts, the English and B&IT departments team-teach

the course. Of the nine districts that reported offering business communication courses, eight are taught by

B&IT teachers and one is taught by an English teacher.

Question 5: Do you feel that students who take either technical writing or business

communication courses perform better in the workplace? Ninety-five percent of the survey participants

stated “yes,” and only 5 percent stated “no.” Seventeen of the participants commented on this question.

Their comments are listed in Appendix A.

Question 6: Do you feel that technical writing and business communication courses support

disciplinary literacy? Of the respondents, 98 percent stated “yes,” and only 3 percent stated “no.”

Eighteen of the survey participants made comments to substantiate their response. Their comments are

listed in Appendix B.

Question 7: What department do you think is best qualified to teach technical writing

courses? Thirty-seven percent of the B&IT instructors thought the course should be taught in the English

department, and 32 percent thought it should be taught by B&IT instructors. All of the respondents agreed

that the course should be taught in either the English department or some combination of CTE. The results

in descending order are as follows:

1. English—37 percent

2. B&IT—32 percent

3. English and B&IT—12 percent

36

4. English or B&IT—12 percent

5. CTE—3 percent

6. Science and B&IT—2 percent

7. English, B&IT, or Technology Education—2 percent

Question 8: What department do you think is best qualified to teach business

communication courses? The overwhelming majority of B&IT teachers—83 percent—thought the

course should be taught in the B&IT department. Ten percent thought it should be team-taught by B&IT

and English teachers; 5 percent, either B&IT or English teachers; and, 2 percent, CTE teachers. Because

only B&IT teachers answered the survey, these results did not surprise me. Had I queried English teachers,

the answers may have differed. One of the B&IT instructors stated that “I think this course would be best

co-taught. However, I also think that this course implies more emphasis on how communication is utilized

effectively in business. Interviewing skills, resumes, phone calls, e-mail communication, etc., would be best

taught by a business educator. However, I do think that an English teacher’s support would be important

when focusing on business writing technique, spelling and grammar.”

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Chapter V: Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendations

The purpose of my research was to determine if B&IT instructors believe that technical

communication and business communication courses support disciplinary literacy in secondary-level CTE

courses. I did not find any research that answered that question. Additionally, I found minimal research that

addressed technical and/or business communication courses at the secondary level. I did, however, find

research that supported disciplinary literacy as a component of 21st Century Skills. Since developing

effective oral and written communication skills and workplace and college readiness are components of

21st Century Skills, the intent of my research was to establish a link.

Discussion

A survey of forty-four B&IT teachers in the state of Wisconsin found that only 27 percent of high

schools offer technical communication courses and only 20 percent offer business communication courses.

Although most districts offer neither technical communication nor business communication courses,

98 percent of the survey participants believe that the courses support disciplinary literacy and 95 percent

believe that students who take these courses perform better in the workplace.

The number of districts offering these courses surprised me because my district offers both.

Business communication is taught in the B&IT department. Although students receive three technical

college credits upon successful completion of the course, students can’t substitute it for an English class.

The English department teaches a course called Essential English, which is a combined business and

technical communication course that is targeted towards students not attending a four-year institution.

University or college-bound students are strongly encouraged not to take the class in place of a literature-

based English course because many universities and colleges do not recognize it as a valid English course.

To that effect, the course description handbook states the following:

38

This class is intended for students who are deciding among attending [sic] a technical

college, joining the military, or going directly into the work force [sic] after high school.

Various types of literature will be offered. An emphasis will be placed on workplace

literacy, workplace communication skills and work readiness related to English

communication skills (Spencer High School Course Description Book, 2014-2015, p. 13).

Although technical communication and/or business communication courses are not offered in most

districts surveyed, effective oral and written communication skills are essential for all high school students,

regardless if they plan to attend post-secondary education; join the military; or, enter the workforce

immediately after graduation. Kemmery and Cook (2002) stated that “an adequately educated person

should have the ability to communicate effectively—both orally and in writing—in all arenas” (p. 33).

Secondary-level English courses provide students with the fundamental communication skills, such as

comprehending and analyzing literature and developing creative, persuasive, informational, and analytical

writing skills. Generally, however, they do not prepare students for disciplinary literacy—or the ability to

speak and write clearly and concisely within a narrowly-defined discipline. In her article “CTE’s Role in

Adolescent Literacy,” Hyslop (2010) stated the following:

There is a disconnect between the literacy instruction that is provided at the secondary

level, often focused on preparation for college, and real-world literacy requirements. Many

high school English courses emphasize literature, which is certainly critical to literacy

development, but much of the reading and writing students will encounter in their careers is

more informational and technical in nature. (p. 18).

In support of Hyslop, Welker and Berardino (2009) further asserted that “educated persons should be able to

communicate successfully in oral and written form using good grammar, spelling and punctuation to create

meaning, aid communication and link the writer and reader” (p. 68). Many high school language arts

39

curriculums do not include the mechanics of writing, and some students either fail to attain this skill or lose

it through lack of reinforcement.

An important component of 21st Century Skills and disciplinary literacy is ensuring that students

can communicate using industry-specific terminology with an often narrowly-focused audience. Levy and

Murnane (2005) stated that “employers demand fewer people with basic skills and more people with

complex thinking and communication skills” (as cited in Saavedra & Opefer, 2012, p. 8). The West

Virginia Department of Education has stated that “technical writing is a natural partner to academic writing.

It is descriptive, creative, and expository but the format is different and the standards are higher. Technical

writing requires 100% accuracy” (Slide 21). Unfortunately, high school students, because of their

inexperience and developmental stage, oftentimes lack the ability to transfer the skills they learn in one

course or environment to another. They, therefore, need direct instruction and modeling to learn the skills

necessary to make the transfer. Business and technical communication courses provide the bridge or link

between the skills learned in English courses and the discipline-specific communication skills required in

CTE courses. Through these courses students can learn and practice the techniques that their professors

and/or employers will expect and demand.

Conclusion

Although most secondary-level students won’t pursue a career as a technical writer, they will be

required to speak their industry-specific language and read, comprehend, and write technical documents

related to their workplace. Smith-Worthington and Jefferson (2011) stated that “all careers rely on technical

communication to get the job done. Technical writing is the great connector—the written link—connecting

technology to the user, professional to client, colleague to colleague, supervisor to employee, and individual

to community” (p. 9). Honing technical and business communication skills in high school is important

because approximately two-thirds of all occupations do not require a four-year degree (Carnevale, Smith, &

40

Strohl, 2013). The majority, however, require on-the-job training, an apprenticeship, technical or vocational

training, or an associate degree.

To understand and effectively apply disciplinary literacy to post-secondary education and/or

employment, students must understand the fundamentals of technical and business communication. In

other words, they must know how to communicate within the subject area. Horne (2010) stated that “for

the highest achievement, students must be able to apply the knowledge to situations they might actually

encounter in their careers, rather than simply studying the concepts detached from relevant contexts” (p. 11).

Technical and business communication courses help students achieve disciplinary literacy by giving

students extra practice by modeling and reinforcing communication skills.

Worley (2008) further stated that “as a teacher and a student, writing—especially having the ability

to write in a technical format—gives you an advantage. Being familiar with terminology that is used

within a specific industry allows you to read as well as write in a format that others in your field will be able

to understand and learn from” (p. 18). Being able to communicate effectively is as important as

understanding content. In the CTE classroom, for example, teachers can actively encourage disciplinary

literacy by introducing and reinforcing vocabulary, requiring students to read disciplinary-specific literacy,

and write literacy-specific materials.

Recommendations

To achieve the components identified by Saavedra and Opfer (2012), we need to prepare our

students for post-secondary education and the workplace by teaching literacy applicable to the discipline to

facilitate effective communication. This enhanced preparation will ultimately graduate students who are

ready to assume their roles beyond high school. My research found that 98 percent of the survey

participants believed that both business and technical communication courses support disciplinary literacy.

41

To that effect, recommend that high schools offer business communication and/or technical communication

courses to students to promote disciplinary literacy in CTE courses.

Further recommend that the courses, if possible, be team taught by English and B&IT instructors to

ensure the maximum transfer of skills. Thirty-seven percent of the survey participants indicated that the

courses should be taught in the English department and 32 percent thought they should be taught by B&IT

instructors. An additional 12 percent thought the courses should be team taught. Based on the above

findings, combining the expertise of teachers from both disciplines is the ideal situation. Some districts,

however, may not have the ability to offer that option because of financial and/or staffing restrictions. Also,

recommend that the courses be transcripted for technical college credit. By offering transcripted courses,

high schools can ensure that students receive the communication skills that the technical colleges previously

identified employers as needing and wanting.

42

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Appendix A: Response to Question 5

Do you feel that students who take either technical writing or business communication courses

perform better in the workplace?

1. “These students have an edge because they have had some classroom experience using

business documents such as invoices, memos and statements. Technical writing helps students

interpret the reading that comes with new procedures and equipment found in the workplace.”

2. “Exposure to relevant writing is critical to effective communication.”

3. “Better communication skills bring better performance in the workplace.”

4. “Because they have an understanding of the forms required in the business place.”

5. “Skills incorporated, work-ready.”

6. “All writing is a necessary skill.”

7. “Format, mechanics, and grammar are an important part of the course.”

8. “By taking the class, students are exposed to a variety of written communication, need to

evaluate it, and need to reproduce it.”

9. “Have more knowledge than the student/employee without that class experience.”

10. “They understand the basics of communication.”

11. “We teach specific skills to help them learn grammar, spelling, punctuation and fluency. We

also apply these skills to creation of a resume and job search skills.”

12. “The ability to communicate in a professional manner is something many students are missing.

We need these courses to offset the technological habits of instant communication in a very

informal manner.”

13. “Students who take a business or technical writing class can apply what they learn to the

workplace; however, it would be a stretch to say they perform better.”

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14. “Many students struggle with writing in a concise manner. They also struggle with utilizing a

formal tone and the absence of personal pronouns. Technical writing/business communications

would help students add a more professional writing style to their communication arsenal.”

15. “It is valid, hands-on experience.”

16. “I do a technical writing project with my students and I can see definite growth in their

writing.”

17. “They have experience in writing that is actually used on the job.”

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Appendix B: Response to Question 6

Do you feel that technical writing and business communication courses support disciplinary

literacy?

1. “Any time students are exposed to and work with different types of literacy documents, they

have the opportunity to improve their overall literacy.”

2. “We can focus on the current information and data relevant to the industry and/or content.”

3. “Our courses are designed to fit the state standards.”

4. “Writing for understanding by other audiences supports literacy.”

5. “Reinforces core.”

6. “Any time a student is writing their own material it is supporting the English department.”

7. “I believe that these class should support disciplinary literacy. There are many facets of these

classes that support technical writing that is needed in many Career Tech fields.”

8. “Any course that teaches/enhances communication skills will support disciplinary literacy.”

9. “Writing is communication.”

10. “Most students will have to do technical writing for their job, yet, we don’t support that kind of

writing in school.”

11. “Not necessary to be its own class. Concept is taught through all classes so yet it is supported.”

12. “Can write specifically about real world business situations.”

13. “We support and emphasize basic literacy standards and the ability to proofread!”

14. “Any work in the area of writing and communication will support disciplinary literacy.”

15. “The business communication class specifically focuses on reading, writing, speaking, and

listening skills needed in the workplace.”

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16. “Writing is a concise, formal and professional manner that directly supports the ideas of

workplace readiness, appropriate vocabulary usage and good communication skills. All of this

content directly relates to being successful in a business education classroom.”

17. “Technical writing connects to several careers and students should be exposed to this type of

writing.”

18. “These courses teach students to write within the discipline.”