Communicating the "Write" Values: Developing Methods of Computer-Aided Text Analysis for Instructor Training

Abstract

Computer-aided text analysis has been increasingly recognized as a valuable tool in professional and technical communications (PTC) pedagogy. This research paper explores how such methods can be extended to the less-frequently addressed area of instructor training. It will primarily discuss the development of a methodological pipeline that uses the computational rhetorical analysis platform DocuScope to foster writing instructors’ rhetorical awareness of the genres they teach and evaluate, and then propose the value of this pipeline specifically within PTC instructor training settings. While this paper mainly addresses pedagogical applications, the developed methodology also has implications for the workplace, as it can be modified for industry tutorials or training modules.