21st Century relational backgrounding for technical and professional communication [Thematic tracks in Languages for Specific Purposes]

Abstract

An approach to technical and professional learning that recognizes and makes use of the social and material contexts of participants as well as the contexts of technical and professional content in the learning environment can be seen to cater to the ‘21st century skills’ that are ‘needed most’, according to the World Economic Forum (Soffel, 2016) at this time of great change (Schwab & Malleret, 2020). Such an approach will be presented here: drawing primarily on epistemic fluency (Markauskaite and Goodyear 2017), but also scientific autobiography (Goetz, 2019), ethics (Gardner, 2019), critical pedagogy (Freire, 2005), hermeneutics (Ricoeur, 1991), and a work of conceptual art (Micu, 2014). The approach is connected to technical and professional communication by its focus on the relational skills that facilitate and enrich work conducted in multiple contexts. It is distilled into three categories that present the epistemic tasks and tools that can be applied as backgrounding to learning environments. These categories are: creative relational skills, conscientious direction, and dialogic curiosity. Practical application is then illustrated through three examples of TAPP collaborations.