By Lisa Heitzman

Rebecca LeelawatnakulFebruary 9, 2009

Argues that it is crucial that technical writing courses raise the awareness of the implications of intercultural communication, and specifically, how to include the translator as the target audience.

- Why we should teach cultural awareness-The myth of a universal standard-English Language as a Global Language-Striving for Clarity-Rise of Globalization-Localization and Translation-Expanding the Field-Dangers of Localization-Conclusion

So readers in other countries can use the documents that we create.

-In many businesses and workplace there is a diverse group of employees. An awareness of cultural differences will help English speaking employees relate and work with co-workers from different parts of the world.

-It can help sell products.

- It can promote awareness of ethical implications in technical writings.

Why We Should Teach Cultural Awareness

Visual documents are somewhat universal because they do not require textual translations, however, they still carry a large amount of cultural connotations. There is no single Universal standard.

-Too many differences exist between cultures.

-Colors could have different meanings in different countries.

-Ikea- in attempt to eliminate cultural connotations in their instructions, Ikea used more pictures of men than women to avoid offending their customers in Muslim Countries. But then Norway's Prime Minster charged Ikea for not including enough women in their instructions.

The Myth of a Universal Standard

English is the main language of books, newspaper, airports and air-traffic control, international business and academic conferences, science, and technology.

-According to a 2004 statistics, English was spoken by 402 million native speakers and is the most learned second language in the world.

-English is needed to survive in the business and scientific world.

-The English language is not the only international standard- Cultural preferences are also used as a universal idea. For example, the overall design of documents has been suited to western standards.

English Language As A Global Language

Reason for these guidelines for clarity is to create simpler English texts that can be more easily read by nonnative speakers.

-Clarity means using common words, pronouns, active voice, and short sentences.

-Plain English also promotes further clarity by using phrasal verbs, or two-word verbs, such as 'fill in' and 'put off'.

Striving for Clarity

The past of standard of English as the global language allowed technical writers to assume that audiences read English and were familiar with English culture.

-Other languages are beginning to rise and spread throughout much of the globe, such as Mandarin, which is predicted to become the next global language.

-Because of the global marketplace and the decline of English as a form of standardization, technical communicators need to be aware of and learn how to deal with the cultural and linguistic differences they are bound to face instead of assuming that the universality of English is adequate for our diverse readers.

Rise of Globalization

The approach of localization has gained popularity as a method of addressing multicultural audiences. It makes cultural differences its focus.

-Example: different versions of Microsoft Windows in different languages.

Focusing on translation provides solution to the diverse audience issue as technical communicators can write to the translator as a standard audience.

-Point out key issues.-Carefully select word choices.-Provide translator with contextual information.-Chunking information.

Localization and Translation

For localization to succeed, technical writers must become aware of cultural and linguistic differences of their audiences so they can write their documents with these specific aspects of the audience in mind.

-Technical communicators can avoid the dominant mentality of international approach.

-Go outside the field of technical communication. Ex. Anthropology and linguistics

-Establishing a cross-discipline curriculum would help in teaching our students some of the differences they need to be aware of both linguistically and culturally as they write to international audiences.

Expanding the Field

-Does not offer a flawless solution in how do address such a diverse audience.

-Does not entirely eliminate differences between countries and communication.

- Strong trend towards generalization which leads to myth and stereotyping.

- It is time consuming and costly which leads to another ethical concern. Our capitalistic society is focused on materialism and wealth. But, should ethics ever be compromised for the sake of making a profit?

Dangers of Localization

Conclusion

We create standards to help us cope with the wide diversity of the audience. Learning prescribed guidelines for writing for translation writing is an essential tool in addressing intercultural audiences and offers the most ethical standardization. Adaptability is perhaps the most valuable lesson a technical writer can learn because technical communicators must learn to adapt their writing to the situation and the context they are writing for. A technical writer needs to learn when to implement these standards and when to adjust them to fit a specific situation. There is no universal standard because there are too many differences between cultures.