Ellen Barton, professor in the Wayne State English department, has received the 2005 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Award for the best article reporting qualitative or quantitative research in technical or scientific communication.

The article, "Discourse Methods and Critical Practice in Professional Communication: The Front-Stage and Back-Stage Discourse of Prognosis in the Discourse of Medicine," appeared in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication Special Issue on Critical Practice in Professional Communication.

"Professor Barton\'s article is part of an important research project in which she seeks to understand the communicative patterns of physicians in delivering prognoses to (particularly) terminally ill patients,” said Richard Grusin, chair, department of English. “The impact of this research concerns the relation between these communication practices and the attitudes patients take toward their treatment and long-term survival. The NCTE award is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of technical communication."

Barton, a resident of Royal Oak who received her Ph.D. in linguistics from Northwestern University in 1985, has now won all three NCTE awards in Technical or Scientific Communication. In 2002, she won the award for Best Article on Philosophy or Theory in Scientific and Technical Communication, and in 2004, she won the award for Best Article on Methods of Teaching Technical/Scientific Communication.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.