Technical Communication

Code:

MTSL049

Acronym:

COMT

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Linguistics

Instance: 2017/2018 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Germanic Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Master of Arts in Translation and Language Services

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MTSL	13	MTSL - Study Plan	1	-	3	30	81

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The objective of this course is to make it possible for students to contact with technical communication (its origins and definition), from a more theoretical point of view and also to enable them produce technical documents for various purposes.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of this course the successful student should: understand how technical communication (TC) has developed as an interdisciplinary area since the 19th century; recognize the importance of TC in the world today; be able to work in interdisciplinary groups in the production of TC within the context of work or as part of a company specializing in the production of TC; write original documents in the area of TC; be able to evaluate the quality of a variety of types of technical texts.

Working method

Presencial

Program

• Historical development and definition of technical communication (Schriver, 1997); the present needs for TC


• Ethical and legal responsibilities of the technical writer; collaborative writing;  analyzing the audience; researching the subject; organizing information; internationalization of communication


• Text analysis and production: communicating persuasively; sentence production; text production / adaptation


• Applications: technical articles; proposals and reports; web sites 

Mandatory literature

Hargis, Gretchen 070; Developing quality technical information. ISBN: 0131477498
Markel, Michael H.; Technical communication. ISBN: 0-312-44197-5

Teaching methods and learning activities

The teaching methodology uses texts on technical communication to provoke discussion and comparison of attitudes towards technical texts of all kinds. In a short introductory phase, students study and produce presentations on the historical perspective that helps to understand the development technical communication. Different phases of preparing TC and the corresponding translations are presented and discussed in relation to the teamwork needed for research on the subject, its context, purpose and audience.  Students are expected to discuss problems such as coordinating teamwork, the ethics of producing TC and translation without plagiarising or presenting misleading information, and the preparation of texts destined for both local and international markets. As they work through the programme, they prepare plans of possible work schedules before moving on to producing the texts themselves. 

keywords

Humanities > language sciences > Linguistics

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Defesa pública de dissertação, de relatório de projeto ou estágio, ou de tese	30,00
Participação presencial	30,00
Trabalho escrito	40,00
Total:	100,00

Calculation formula of final grade

Active participation in class and group work: 30% 
Oral presentation on a topic related to the syllabus: 30% 
Written work: 40%