Michael J. K. Bokor
Associate Professor of English
B.A., University of Cape Coast (Ghana)M.A., Ph.D., Illinois State University
michael.bokor@liu.edu
Description
Research Interests: The Cross-cultural Dimensions of International Technical Communication; The Role of World Englishes in International Technical Communication Education in the United States Academy; The Impact of Outsourcing on Technical Communication, Education, Practice, and Research; The Significance of African Traditional Proverbs to African and Caribbean Oral and Wisdom Literature; The Visual Rhetoric of Color and Imagistic Rhetoric as Cultural Identity; and Non-Western Rhetoric (New Media and Political Activism in Africa).
Specialties
Rhetoric and Composition, Technical and Professional Communication, Literature, Linguistics, and Pedagogy.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
- “West African Culture and Schools, Language, and Identity” The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, First Edition. Edited by John I. Liontas (Project Editor:
Margo Delli Carpini). 2018. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.;
- English Language Teaching, First Edition. Edited by John I. Liontas (Project Editor: Margo Delli Carpini). 2018. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (2008);
- “When the Drum Speaks: The Rhetoric of Motion, Emotion, and Action in African Societies.” In Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric 32(2) (2014): 165–194. (June 2014);
- “New Media and Democratization in Ghana: An Impetus for Political Activism.” In Net Journal of Social Sciences, 2(1), (Jan. 2014): pp. 1–16. (Jan 2014);
- “Connecting with the ‘Other’ in Technical Communication: World Englishes and Ethos Transformation of U.S. Native English-Speaking Students.” Technical Communication
Quarterly, 20(02), (2011):208–237. (2011);
- “Moving International Technical Communication Forward: A World Englishes Approach.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 41(2), (2011):113–138. (2011);
- Book Chapter: “Africa Goes for Outsourcing.” In Outsourcing Technical Communication: Issues, Policies, and Practices. Eds. Barry Thatcher and Carlos Evia. Amityville, NY: Baywood. (March 2008).
- Book Chapter: “Libya: Who Can Satisfy a Rebel”? In Opposing Viewpoints: 2012 Libya (OVPLIB), Gale (Cengage Learning). (2012)
- Novel: The Last Laugh, Baltimore, MD, PublishAmerica, 2009.
- Online journalism: Articles on topical issues concerning Ghana, Africa, and the world, published by electronic and print media. (2008-Present)
Non-Peer Reviewed Publications
Invited Contributions
- Opinion piece: “A Greater Problem in Nigeria” published in The New York Times’ online opinion forum called “Room for Debate.” (See http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/04/20/
is-religious-extremism-and-terrorism-spreading-in-central-africa), (April 20, 2014);
- Interviewed by Sandy Kenyon, film critic and entertainment reporter for WABC-TV Eyewitness News on the topic “The Nigerian Film Industry” and broadcast on March 28, 2016.;
- Interviewed by Matthew Davies (Senior Broadcast Journalist, Business Programs), BBC World Service on my feature article entitled “As Ukraine Burns, Africa Vanishes from Global Political Affairs!!” (March 18, 2014).
- Manuscript: “The Academic Value of Bilingual Education: Factors in Learning on Culture and Language” for Journal of Educational Research and Reviews (Sept. 2017);
- Manuscript: “Investigating English Language and Literature
Students’ Lifelong Learning Dispositions in Terms of Different Variables,” Journal of Educational Research and Reviews (July 2017);
- Manuscript: "Analyzing Global Communication: Implicit Oppression Within the World Health Organization’s Webpage On Female Genital Cutting," for Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization (July 2017);
- Manuscript: “Examination of Leadership and Personality Traits
on the Effectiveness of Professional Communication in Organizational Settings” for Journal of Healthcare Communications (Feb. 2017);
- Manuscript: Chapters 1 and 7 of proposed book, Learning to Edit: An Introduction to Technical Editing, for Oxford University Press (Feb. 2017);
- Manuscript: “International Organizational Communication Assessment (IOCA): Message Analysis and Effectiveness for a Global Age” for Connexions: International Professional Communication Journal (Nov. 2016);
- Manuscript: “Using IPC in Textbooks” for Connexions: International Professional Communication Journal (Nov. 2016);
- Manuscript: "Smoke Signals: Communicating and Negotiating Face within Friend Groups in Public Contexts," for Journal of Rhetoric and Professional Communication in Global Contexts (June 2016);
- Manuscript: “Learning English for an Academic Purpose: The Errors of an English Learner” for International Journal of English and Literature (Sept. 2015);
- Manuscript: “What’s Right Here? Introducing the Positive Deviance Approach to Community-Based Work” for Connexions: International Professional Communication Journal (Aug. 2015);
- Manuscript: “Guiding Large-Scale Organizational Changes In Today’s Economy,” for Advanced Journal of Business Management and Entrepreneurship (Aug. 2014);
- Manuscript: “Taiwanese Nationalism from a Pan-African Perspective: Applications of Kwame Nkrumah’s Philosophies and Frantz Fanon’s Theories in Examining the Taiwan Independence Movement” for Online International Journal of Arts and Humanities (Feb. 2014);
- Manuscript: “Indigenous Mechanisms of Dispute Resolution among the People of Adaboya Traditional Area” for Net Journal of Social Sciences. (Sept. 2014);
- Manuscript: “Guiding Large-Scale Organizational Changes in Today’s Economy” for Advanced Journal of Business Management and Entrepreneurship (AJBME). (Aug. 2014);
- Manuscript, “Dictates of Globalization and Management of Regional Conflicts and Security in Africa” for Net Journal of Social Sciences. (Dec. 2013);
- Manuscript, “The Impact of Internally Generated Revenue (Igr) on the Growth of Local Governments in Nigeria” for Advanced Scholars Journals (Dec. 2013);
- Manuscript, “Cultural Dissonance First, Freirean Consciousness-Raising Second!: Cultural UR and the Classroom (+meddlesome Twin Tautologies of Use) for Technical Communication Quarterly (Sept. 2013);
- Proposed book, How So? The Writer’s Style, a new, concise style guide, for Oxford University Press (May 2013);
- Manuscript, “Leadership Styles and Administrative Practices and their Impact on School Administration: A Case of Primary Schools in Mashonaland Central,” for African Educational Research Journal (April 2013);
- Manuscript, “Healthy Communication: Producing Medical Information for Diverse Audiences,” for Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization (April 2012);
Peer Review of Manuscripts/Books
- Manuscript, “Review of The Global M&A Tango by Fons Trompenaars and Martin Nijhoff Asser,” for Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization (Nov. 2011);
- Manuscript, “Re-assembling Technical Communication: Mapping out a Framework for Studying Multilingual-Multimodal Practices in the Context of Globalization” for Technical Communication Quarterly special issue on “New Developments in Inter/transcultural Professional Communication,” 2nd quarter, 2012 (Nov. 2011);
- Book Proposal by Dr. Han Yu and Dr. Gerald Savage: “Negotiating Cultures: Case Studies in Intercultural Engineering and Technical Communications, New York: John Wiley/IEEE (Sept. 2010);
- Manuscript: (Book review: Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century; 1st rev. and expanded ed., New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006) (Aug. 2010);
- Manuscript: “We’re All in This Together: What English for Science and Technology Has to Offer Professional Communicators, "for Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization (Mar. 2010);
- Book: Technical Communication, 8th Edition by Mike Markel, Bedford St. Martin’s, New York. (Dec. 2007);
- E-Book: Mike Markel’s TechComm Web (Technical Communication e-Book), Bedford St. Martin’s, New York. (June 2007).
Editorial Work
- Sub-Editor: Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW), (2008-2019);
- Copy Editor: Journal of Iranian Studies, Vols. 39–40 (2005-2007); Journal of Planning and Changing, Vol. 37(1), Educational Administration and Foundations, Illinois State University (2006).
Honors/Awards
- Recipient: David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching (2013);
- Recipient: Ora Brettal Award for Scholarship, Illinois State University (2008);
- Recipient: University Club Award, Illinois State University (2008);
- Recipient: International Studies and Programs Office Fellowship Award, Illinois State University (2004 and 2005);
- Recipient: Writing Programs Administration Award for facilitating a professional development workshop for new international graduate teaching assistants, Illinois State University (2003).
Professional Affiliations
- Member: Editorial Review Board, Journal of Rhetoric and Professional Communication in Global Contexts (2009-Present);
- Member: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE); Council of Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC), an Organization of Global Communicators; Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW); and The National Scholars Honor Society (Lambda Cum Laude).