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Faculty


Michael Bokor

Michael J. K. Bokor

Associate Professor of English

B.A., University of Cape Coast (Ghana)M.A., Ph.D., Illinois State University

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).