ABSTRACT
This article examines the emergence of technical communication as an academic field in China from the perspectives of pedagogy, program building, market needs, professionalization, and local sociopolitical contexts. Highlighting the close disciplinary connections between translation and technical communication, it identifies visionary faculty with overseas experiences as national leaders in curriculum innovation. It also explores the close industry–academia connections facilitated by semi-open WeChat groups and existing approaches to building international partnerships with technical communicators in China.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Although the first 100 participants of any WeChat group chats can join the group by scanning QR codes, the next 400 participants can only join through invitation from existing group members. The maximal capacity of a single WeChat group chat is 500. Participants can post messages, PDF documents, images, and links to web content, leave audio messages no longer than one minute, host audio-based lectures, or send red packets of money in the group chat. The owners of such WeChat groups have the right to add or remove any members. Although posts in the group chat can be viewed by all group members, individual users can add other group members as friends and post private messages separately.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Huiling Ding
Huiling Ding teaches technical communication at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on global technical communication, risk communication, health communication, medical rhetoric, and program administration.