English technical writing

In this discussion post, we will respond to the two Global Worlds of Practice from ethnographer Takhteyev's (2012) book called Coding Places. In it, he traces the development of the programming language Lua, which originated in a small programming community in Rio de Janeiro. We are reading this to understand how software and technologies involve global and local concerns, where language and locale impact who gets to participate in and across software cultures.

To discuss these concerns about place and language, please respond to the following prompts:

1. How are relations of power evident between Portuguese, English, and Lua? For instance, how did English and the coding place of Silicon Valley organize and shape Lua's development? Who and what concerns were often relegated to the edges of Lua's development in favor of others?

2. As we have been discussing, documentation serves as one of the first points of contact to be either potentially inclusive or exclusive sites for people to engage and use a technology or service. Based on what you understand from Yakhteyev's book excerpts, why was there no documentation of Lua in Portuguese, despite the language's origin in Brazil? How did this lack of documentation seem to create barriers and borders between some groups and bridges to others?

3. Denial and Confession: As a way to enact design's call to belonging, what issues about language and power from these stories about the Lua and documentation can we share as something that we hadn't considered before now? Or, if you have experienced some of these issues, describe one of them and lay out a vision of change that you desire to see enacted.

Read and engage with these discussion questions. Post your response by Wednesday.

Note that your responses cannot be anecdotal, they should be research-based (from the readings) so please closely reference the readings and, as you do, provide citations/page numbers for your sources of evidence.

In addition to your discussion, enter your thoughts in the weekly log.

Finally, step back and reflect on ONE of these issues:

Is machine learning neutral? To respond to this question, engage some with this resource.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-joy-buolamwini.html

As with everything we do, ethical issues arise such as those discussed here. Reflect on what you know about YouTube algorithms -- how you or someone you know has been ensnared by them for good or ill.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/15/technology/alt-right-youtube-algorithm.html

Post your reflection on one of the issues -- make it as personal as you can. Then return to the forum and respond to one of your peers' posts by Friday. This reply should preferably be on a different source than the one you posted about -- if possible.