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Article published In:
Linguistic Recycling: The process of quoting in increasingly mediatized settings
Edited by Lauri Haapanen and Daniel Perrin
[AILA Review 33] 2020
► pp. 21–46

The invisible supporters

Writing for reuse

| RWTH Aachen University
| RWTH Aachen University

This article examines how written feedback is used to support the production of texts for purposes of reuse. The case study refers to an entrepreneur training program at the University of Texas at Austin. In the program, Korean startups are trained in understanding the US market, and developing pitches that convince US investors. They are supported by Quicklook® reports. A Quicklook report delivers snapshots of the market receptivity for the startup’s product. Market analysts write the reports. In the final stage of drafting, program staff members supervise the report author. This study investigates how supervisors use commenting and how the goal of creating a highly reusable text source guides the feedback process. The database was examined quantitatively (frequency of drafting and commenting) and qualitatively (functional comment types). The results offer valuable insights into actual writing processes in business settings and how professionals interact to ensure a reusable product. The findings indicate a broad range of comment functions. Overall, we distinguish two main categories: feedback activities focusing on Quicklook reports as reusable resource, and feedback activities focusing on collaboration and workflow. Each category includes functional comment types. Further research is needed to learn more about professional strategies of reflecting on text quality, the quality of assessments, or the ratio between detected and real deficiencies of a document.

Keywords: writing and text reuse in business-related environments, entrepreneurship communication, commenting activities, functional feedback types
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The case study
  • 3.Literature review
  • 4.Research methodology
    • Data collection
    • Data preparation
      • Data analysis
      • Quantitative analysis
      • Qualitative analysis
  • 5.Quantitative results
    • Number of feedback providers
    • Number of feedback loops per case
    • Frequency of commenting per draft
    • Frequency of commenting per document structure part
  • 6.Qualitative results: Functions of commenting
    • 6.1Feedback activities focusing on Quicklook reports as reusable resources
      • Feedback activities related to content
      • “Comments co-creating value and knowledge”
      • “Comments raising awareness on divergences between national markets”
      • Feedback activities related to argumentation
      • “Comments asking for clarification”
      • “Comments asking for quantification”
      • “Comments verifying the relevance of information”
      • “Comments asking for evidence”
      • “Comments indicating gaps and failures”
        • Feedback related to the text quality
      • “Comments improving the structure”
      • “Comments improving formulations”
      • “Comments improving visual text design elements”
    • 6.2Feedback activities focusing on collaboration and workflows
      • Feedback activities related to collaboration
        • “Comments serving co-creation”
        • “Comments encouraging the author”
        • “Comments initiating external support”
      • Feedback activities related to the workflow
        • “Comments organizing the next steps”
        • “Comments initiating a media switch”
  • 7.Conclusion and outlook
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 7 October 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00028.jak
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