Innovating the Study of Communication: Tech Comm and Linguistics Courses Launch

Innovate at Iowa State, Iowa State University’s slogan, is put into practice in the English department with new courses to address the changing interests and needs of students. Throughout the 25-26 academic year, the department has added five new courses in technical communication and linguistics.

Students planning to work in technical communication fields will inevitably be combining their communication skills with knowledge of the role of technology in conveying messages to an audience. To prepare students, Dr. Eric York, an English and tech comm professor, proposed and is now teaching User Experience Research and Writing (ENGL 2150X) and Software and API Documentation (ENGL 3330X). Each focus on bridging the gap for tech comm students in web development and communication. These courses are especially targeted towards students without knowledge of coding and API tools in order to make them more competitive and to build strong portfolios.

When it comes to tech comm, the curriculum lacked modernity. Recently, the department entered a new phase to keep up with the rapidly changing digital and AI landscape. These new courses are among the numerous changes in the technical communication degree program which is retaining a small list of core courses and offering students a rich set of electives to tailor their degree to their interests. York hopes “to see students utilize these new course offerings to the fullest to be on the leading edge of what technical communicators do.”

Students taking linguistics classes may be heading toward a range of language-related professions, but one of the most popular is in communication disorders. Dr. Lindsey Squires opened the doors to these students this semester in her new class, Introduction to Communication Disorders (ENGL/LING 2210X). The new class allows students to explore speech, language, and hearing differences, from babies to adults; learn about stuttering, aphasia, and voice and swallowing disorders; and increase understanding of person-centered care in a helping profession or related field.

Students across majors from communication to business to engineering will undoubtedly find themselves using human language to communicate with machines as generative artificial intelligence has expanded the communication landscape. For the first time, students are now preparing for the new world of communication with Dr. Carol Chapelle’s course, Human Language and Generative AI (ENGL/LING 3260X). The class invites students into the study of language using methods in linguistics to examine the humanlike language produced by generative AI. Students learn how important language has been throughout the pursuit of artificial intelligence in addition to multiple approaches to assess the humanlike language of today’s AI chatbots. When asked about her inspiration for proposing this course, Chapelle stated, “Our students should be learning about generative AI… they take linguistics courses here [and] then go out into the world where they will be dealing with humanlike language of artificial intelligence. If they don’t know how to make the connection from linguistics courses to AI, it seems like we’ve missed something.”

Many students across campus work with animals in some capacity. Samantha Robinson-Adams’s new course, Animal Communication (LING 1180X) combines her experience teaching linguistics with her long-held fascination with animals. The class allows students to analyze the communication patterns of a wide range of species, use linguistic analyses to judge whether they have “language,” and use AI to attempt “translation” through pattern recognition in animal behavior. The goal is for students to develop their ability to think outside the box, develop a frame of reference for analyzing similarities and differences in systems of communication, and reconsider what they know about human language.

The common theme that emerged in discussion of these new courses was the goal of supporting students’ success in their degree programs and beyond. By embracing an innovation mindset in the English department, faculty address the changing interests and needs of students to mark them as Iowa State graduates.