don’t get lost in translation: a discussion of best

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Technical Communication Capstone Course Technical Communication

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Don’t Get Lost in Translation: A Discussion of BestPractices for Creating Translation-Friendly Textand Related Curriculum for TechnicalCommunicationAdrienne UrbanMinnesota State University, Mankato

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Running Head: TRANSLATION-FRIENDLY TEXT AND RELATED CURRICULUM

1

Don’t Get Lost in Translation: A Discussion of Best Practices for Creating

Translation-Friendly Text and Related Curriculum for Technical Communication

Adrienne Urban

Minnesota State University, Mankato

TRANSLATION-FRIENDLY TEXT AND RELATED CURRICULUM 2

Abstract

Within global companies, a single source document, created by a technical

communicator, is often translated into more than twenty-six languages. Simple

modifications to semantics and style that are incorporated upfront in the source

document can save multinational companies who rely on translations vast quantities

of time, money, and labor. However, the perception of English as the lingua franca

has led technical communication programs to discount the importance of teaching

students to write for translation. In order to address this issue, institutions of higher

learning should consider revising their technical communication programs to include

a writing-for-translation component. Moreover, comprehensive sources need to be

made available to those already immersed in the field. This project seeks to address

the above gaps by sharing strategies for integrating aspects of translation into

technical communication curriculum as well as a comprehensive list of best practices

for writing for translation.

Keywords: best practices, cross-functional collaboration, curriculum,

globalization, writing for translation, technical communication


Don’tGetLostinTranslation:ADiscussionofBestPracticesforCreatingTranslation-FriendlyTextandRelatedCurriculumforTechnicalCommunication

Introduction

Technicalcommunicatorscontinuallystrivetomakeinformationdigestibleandaccessibleto

targetaudiences.However,theyoftenoverlooktheirmostimmediateaudience:thetranslator.Withinglobalcompanies,asinglesourcedocument,createdbyatechnicalcommunicator,isoftentranslatedintoupwardsoftwenty-sixlanguages.Eachtranslationprocessisfraughtwithstumblingblocks—manyofwhichcanbeeliminatedupfront.Bymakingsimplemodificationstosemanticsandstyleinthiscentralsourcedocument,technicalcommunicatorscanaccommodatetranslators,internationalaudiences,andcompaniesatlarge.

TimothyWeiss(1995)foundthattranslatorscitedsourcetextsthatwerenotwrittenwithtranslationinmindastheirmostsubstantialobstacle.AstranslationexpertKlausSchubertpointsout,thesourcedocumentis“thestrongestcontrollinginfluenceintranslation”(2009,p.27).Yettechnicalcommunicatorsremainlargelyunawarethattheirsourcedocumentsteerstheentiretranslationprocess(Schubert,2009).StevenIverson(2002)oftheAmericanTranslatorsAssociationimplorestechnicalwriterstothinkoftranslationasanextensionofwritingasopposedtoaseparateendeavororamereafterthought.

Uninformedwritingandalackofcommunicationbetweentechnicalcommunicatorsand

translatorscancauseunnecessarydelaysandrackupunnecessarycosts(Eriksson,2005;Spyridakis,Holmback,&Shubert,1997).Applyingtranslation-friendlypracticesalsodecreasestheincidenceoferrors(Eriksson,2005).Flaweddocumentationcanposesafetyhazards,resultinginawholehostoflegalproblems,raisingcosts,anddamagingpublicperceptionfarintothefuture(Lipus,2006).Batova(2015)arguesthattechnicaltextscandirectlyinfluenceacustomer’shealthandsafety;andthereforetranslators—andbyproxytechnicalcommunicators—havea“legaldutyofcare”tocreatecleartranslations(p.225).Compoundingthis,inadequateproductdocumentationcanleadtorejectionoftheproductintheoverseasmarket(Lipus,2006).AsByrne(2006)remindsus,userexpectationsremainthesamewhetheradocumentisatranslationoranoriginal.

Inaddition,documentsintendedsolelyfordomesticdistributioncanalsobenefitfromtheadoptionoftranslation-friendlypractices.ThisstemsfromthefactthatasignificantproportionofthedomesticaudiencedoesnotspeakEnglishasafirstlanguage.TheUnitedStatesCensusBureau’s2016AmericanCommunitySurveyrevealedthat21%,ormorethanone-fifth,ofAmericansdonotspeakEnglishathome.AlthoughthemajorityoftheseindividualsarefluentinEnglish,theyfacethesamedifficultiestranslatorsencounterwhenitcomestogrammarandterminology.Thesedifficultiesarisebecause“secondlanguagereaderstendtoperceivetargetlanguagetextintermsofnativelanguagesyntacticstructure”(Barnett,1989,p.61).Insummary,practicesintendedtoaccommodatethetranslatorandtheinternationalaudiencearealsopertinentwhenitcomestoaconsiderableportionofthedomesticaudience.

Evenifcompaniesaren’talreadytranslatingtheirdocumentation,thetransitionmightbejustoverthehorizon.Currently,90%ofallprofessionallytranslatedworkrelatestotechnicaldocumentationandthetranslationindustryissettogrow18%through2026,makingitthefourthfastest-growingindustryintheUS(Depalma,Stewart,Lommel,&Pielmeier,2017;Kingscott,2002;USDOLBureauofLaborStatistics,2017).

Meanwhile,recentsurveyresultsindicatethatthefieldsoftechnicalcommunicationand

translationarealreadyconverging.Gnecchi’s2011surveyof88NorthAmericantechnicalwritersrevealedthat32%workinacombinationofthetranslationandthetechnicalcommunicationfields(Gnecchi,Maylath,Mousten,Scarpa,&Vandepitte,2011).

Thoughwritingfortranslationisclearlybecomingavitalcomponentinthetechnical

communicator’stoolbox,thetechnicalcommunicationfielddoesnotdevoteasufficientamountof


spacetothestudyofsuchknowledge.Evenhighlyrespectedsourceslargelyignoretheissueormerelymentionitinpassing(Thrush,1993).

Flammia(2005)conductedabriefreviewofleadingtextbooksinintercultural

communication(InterculturalCompetence,ExperiencingInterculturalCommunication,InterculturalCommunication,andCommunicationBetweenCultures)anddiscoveredthatnoneincludechaptersonwrittencommunication.Acorrespondingreviewoftechnicalcommunicationtextbooks,alsoconductedbyFlammia(2005),revealsthatthemajorityoftextsrarelymentionorincorporateaspectsofinterculturalcommunication—letalonespecificallydiscusswritingfortranslation.NotableexceptionsincludeHoft’sInternationalTechnicalCommunication,Bosley’sGlobalContexts,Andrew’sTechnicalCommunicationintheGlobalCommunity,andVarnerandBeamer’sInterculturalCommunicationintheGlobalWorkplace(Flammia,2005).

Moreover,fewacademicprogramsfeaturewritingfortranslationcoursesorcurriculum.In

their2013study,LisaMelonconandSandyHenschelfoundthatonlyninepercentof65undergraduatetechnicalcommunicationandprofessionalwritingprogramsintheUnitedStatesrequiredacourseininterculturalorglobalcommunication.Perhapsmoresignificantly,only18%ofthoseprogramsofferedelectivesthatfellintothiscategory(Meloncon&Henschel,2013).

Inaddition,a2011surveyindicatesthat47%ofNorthAmericantechnicalwriters’formal

educationdidnotincludecoursesorinstructionintranslationorpreparingtechnicaldocumentsfortranslation(Gnecchietal.).AsGnecchinotes,“OnecanseethatacademicprogramsinNorthAmericahavenotfullyprovidedtheinterdisciplinaryinstructionorcross-trainingthatcurrentprofessionalsfindnecessaryordesirable”(2011,p.174).

Recentstudies(Batova,2015;Flammia,2005;Gnecchietal.,2011;Maylath,1997;Maylath&Thrush,2000;Starke-Meyerring,Duin&Palvetzian,2007;andThrush,1993)havearguedthattechnicalcommunicationprogramsshouldrevisetheircurriculumtoincludeawriting-for-translationcomponent.However,thesestudiesfailtoprovidetheguidancenecessarytomakethisshift.

Thisarticleseekstoaddressthesegapsbysharingstrategiesforintegratingaspectsoftranslationintotechnicalcommunicationcurriculumthroughcourses,assignmentsequences,andpartnershipsaswellasacomprehensivelistofbestpracticesforwritingfortranslation,spanningfivecategories:grammar,sentencestructure,terminologymanagement,controlledlanguagesystems,andcollaboration.

BestPracticesforWritingforTranslation

Ifyourcompanyisglobal,chancesareyourdocumentswillbetranslateddowntheline.

However,thetranslationprocessisoftenhinderedbythefactthatthetranslatorsarerarelyconsideredpartoftheaudience.Theresourcesincludedinthissectionprovideanoverviewofdifferentapproachesthatcanhelptechnicalcommunicatorshelptranslators.Inshort,theyanswerthequestion:Whatarethebestpracticesforcreatingtranslation-friendlytext?Grammar

ThetranslationprocessisfullofstumblingblocksasmanygrammaticalstructuresinEnglishcanbemisleading.Priorresearch(e.g.,Barnett,1989;Crum,1991;Eriksson,2005; Flint,VanSlyke,Starke-Meyerring&Thompson,1999;Haara,1998;Hoft,1995;Kaynak&Herbig,2013;Maaks,2003;Maylath,1997;andSpyridakis,Holmback,&Shubert,1997)synthesizesinformationfrommultiplesourcestoprovideahostofpracticalsolutionstocommongrammarissuesthatprofessionalcommunicatorsmayencounterwhenwritingfortranslation.

Averybroadnethasbeencasttoobtaintheserecommendations.Furthermore,thefollowingguidelineshavebeenpiecedtogetherfromreliablesources,whosecredibilityisreinforcedbynumerousconcurrentarticles.Manyoftheauthorsofthesearticlesaretechnicalcommunicationexpertsandasubstantialnumberalsohaveextensivetranslationexperience.Pleaserefertothe


appendixforacompletecatalogueofthewriting-for-translationguidelinesthatfollow.

Includefunctionwords.

Translatorsaretypicallynon-nativespeakersandreadersofEnglish.Assuch,translatorsrelymoreheavilyonfunctionwordssuchasarticles(a,an,the),prepositions(to,in,after,on),conjunctions(but,that,when,than),andpronouns(he,she,them,it)thannativespeakers(Barnett,1989).Functionwordsprovideimportantgrammaticalcuestonon-nativespeakersandhelpclarifytheintentofthesentence(Flintetal.,1999;Maylath,1997).Meanwhile,native-speakingtechnicalwriterstendtoomitthesefunctionwords(Crum,1991).Asaresult,technicalwritersshouldmakeaconcertedefforttoincludethetypesofwordsthatappearinTable1below.Replace:Gotomainmenu.With:Gotothemainmenu.

Table1IncludeFunctionWordsPartsofSpeech Suchas Example Referencedin

Articles a,an,the Goto[the]mainmenu. (Flintetal.,1999)Prepositions to,in,after,on Itwillbeavailable[on]Friday. (Flintetal.,1999)Conjunctions but,that,when,than Theclass[that]hetook. (Maylath,1997)Pronouns he,she,them,it [Doyou]wanttocontactus? (Flintetal.,1999)

Avoidthefollowingwordsandphrases.

Technicalcommunicatorswritingfortranslationshouldtrytoavoidinvisibleplurals,gerunds,

phrasalverbs,helpingverbs,andshiftsinnumber.PleaseseeTable2foracondensedlistofrelatedexamples.

Invisibleplurals.

InEnglish,adjectivesthatdescribeanounarealwayswritteninthesingularformevenifthereismorethanoneofthem(Hoft,1995).Consequently,itisoftennotclearwhetherthefirstwordissingularorplural(Globalme,2011).Forexample,“programsettings”canbeinterpretedintwodistinctways:1)theseparatesettingsforasingleprogramor2)thesettingsformultipleprograms.ItisparticularlyimportantthatindividualsworkingonSpanishdocumentsareabletoreachthecorrectconclusionasthesetranslatorsmustultimatelyreconstructthephraseasapreposition(TheTranslationCompany,2011).Forclarificationpurposes,identifytheexactnumberofprogramsearlyoninthedocument(Hoft,1995).Replace:programsettingsWith:thesixseparatesettingsfortheprogramORtheindividualsettingsforeachprogram

Gerunds.

Also,avoidtheuseofgerundsastheydon’texistinmanylanguages(Maaks,2003).Gerundsareverbswith–ingaddedtomakeanounphrasesuchasstarting,setting,orrunning(Haara,1998).Forexample,“running”canbequiteconfusingbecauseitcanfunctionaseitheraverbasin“Theprogramisrunning,”oranounasin“Runningburnslotsofcalories,”oreven“Sheisafraidofrunningoutoftime.”Thetranslatormayhavetroubledeterminingwhichpartofspeechthe–ingtermisfunctioningas,andtheycaneasilymissthefactthatinmanyinstances–ingwordsactuallyactasanounandshouldthereforebetranslatedassuch.Sentencescontaininggerundscanbereconstructedbysubstitutinganinfinitive(to+baseformofaverb)constructionasseenbelow(Maylath,2007).


Replace:Settingthetimerisimportant.With:Itisimportanttosetthetimer.

Phrasalverbs.Writersshouldalsoavoidphrasalverbsastheycanobscurethemeaningofthedocument

fortranslators(Crum,1991).Phrasalverbscombineaverbwitheitheranadverboraprepositiontoformanewmeaning.Examplesofphrasalverbsincludeshutoff,hookup,andholdon.Phrasalverbsaredifficultfornon-nativespeakerstocomprehendbecauseoftheiridiomaticnature(Thrush,2001).Thatis,theirmeaningrarelyhasanycorrelationwiththemeaningoftheindividualwords.Essentially,phrasalverbsaredifficulttodecipherandoftenaggravatingtotranslate.Replace:hookupWith:connect

Helpingverbs.Haara(1998)andMaaks(2003)acknowledgethathelpingverbsalsocreateaconundrumfor

translators.Helpingverbsincludewordssuchasmight,can,could,should,may,andwould,whichamongotherthingsareusedtoconveyawidevarietyofmoodsandstatesrelatedtopermission,possibility,andpoliteness.Althoughtheyareprimarilyusedintechnicalwritingtosoftenrequests,helpingverbsoftenremainambiguous,anditisperhapsbesttousemorestraightforwardlanguageinordertoexpressrequirements(Maaks,2003).Replace:mightwantto,maywanttoconsider,shouldWith:must,needto,werecommend,orthecompanysuggests

Shiftsinnumber.

Anillogicalshiftinnumberoccurswhenawriterfluctuatesbetweenasingularandapluralpronouninseparatereferencestothesamesubject(Maylath,1997).Forexample:Ifsomeone(singular)wantstoopenthefile,they(plural)must...Whilethetranslatormaybeabletodeterminewhichonetousefromcontext,keepingthepronounsconsistentensuresthetextiscoherentandthatsubjectsandverbsagreethroughoutthedocument.Replace:CroatiaisthenewestmemberoftheEuropeanUnion.Inordertojointheyhad...With:CroatiaisthenewestmemberoftheEuropeanUnion.Inordertojoinithad...

Table2AvoidtheFollowingTypesofWordsandPhrasesWords/Phrases Example Referencedin

InvisiblePluralsx programsettingsR thesixseparatesettingsfortheprogram

(Haara,1998)

Gerundsx Settingthetimerisimportant.R Itisimportanttosetthetimer.

(Haara,1998;Maylath,1997)

PhrasalVerbs x shutoffR stop (Thrush,2001)

HelpingVerbs x Youmaywanttoconsider...R Werecommend...

(Haara,1998;Maaks,2003)

ShiftsinNumber

x Croatiaisthenewmember.Theyhad…R Croatiaisthenewmember.Ithad…

(Maylath,1997)

Avoidthesefiguresofspeechandformsofexpression.


Practitionersoverwhelminglyagreethatmetaphors,idioms,comparatives,andsuperlativesshouldbeavoided(Flintetal.,1999;Haara,1998;Maylath,1997).PleaseseeTable3forspecificexamples.

Metaphors.Metaphorsarereplacementtermsusedinordertosuggestalikenessoranalogy.Metaphors

includetermslike“tableleg”or“footofthestairs,”buttheyalsoextendtoexpressionssuchas“websitesarevehicles”and“timeismoney.”Typically,metaphorsareusedtoclarifycomplexideas.However,theycanhaveanadverseeffectontranslation.Flintetal.(1999)andHaara(1998)agreethatmetaphorsshouldbekepttoaminimumduetothefactthattheyoftentakeextratimetotranslate.Translatingmetaphorsrequiresadditionaltimebecausetranslatorsmayneedtoconfirmwhatisbeingreferredtoandthenreformulateitinanewwaythatmakessensetotheirtargetaudience(MTMLinguasoft,2015).Replace:Attachthetableleg.With:AttachPartA.

Idioms.

Maylath(1997)stressesthatidiomssuchasspillthebeans/revealasecret;dropinthebucket/aninsignificantamount;blowafuse/eruptinanger;andpieceofcake/easycanalsobetime-consumingifnotimpossibletotranslate.Sinceidiomsarelearnedthroughcontactandcontext,theirmessageisoftenuncleartotranslatorsandtheiraudiences(MTMLinguasoft,2015).

Althoughanidiom’sequivalentmayexistinthetargetlanguage,chancesarethatthe

languageusedtoconveytheideaisn’texactlythesame.Forexample,theEnglishidiom“kickthebucket”appearsinFrenchas“tobreakone’spipe”andinSpanishas“tostretchyourleg”(BMJOpinion,2012). Theassociationbetweenthesephrasesisnotevidentastheyeachincorporatevastlydifferentterminology.Additionally,translatingthesephrasesintoEnglishdoesnotmakeitanyeasiertoinfertheidioms’meaning.Ifsomeonetoldyouthattheirneighborhadrecently“brokenhispipe”youmighttakeitliterallyandbeleftwithlittle,ifany,insightintotheactualmeaning.Tryandcurtailtheuseofidiomsbyreplacingthemwithmorestraightforwardapproximations. Replace:Inordertocompletetheproject,youmuststayontheball.With:Inordertocompletetheproject,youmustbeefficient.

Comparativesandsuperlatives.

Writersshouldalsobewaryofusingcomparativesandsuperlativesduetothefactthatincertaincountriesitisillegaltoclaimsomethingisthebestwithoutproof(Haara,1998).ComparativeadvertisingisoutlawedeverywherefromGermanytoItaly(Kaynak&Herbig,2013).InChina,usingsuperlativesinadsordocumentscanresultinsignificantfinesrangingfrom$30,000to$160,000(Jie,2015).Insteadofrelyingoncomparativesandsuperlatives,tryemphasizingthelongevityorpopularityofthebrandinstead.Replace:ABCProductisthebest!ItisbetterthanXYZproduct.With:For#years,ABCProducthasbeentheproductofchoiceforover20,000users.

Table3AvoidtheFollowingFiguresofSpeechandFormsofExpressionExpressions Example Referencedin

Metaphorx Attachthetableleg.R AttachpartA.

(Flintetal.,1999;Haara,1998)

Idiom x Stayontheball. (Maylath,1997)


R Beefficient.

Comparative x betterthanR Since1950,XYZhasserved1millionusers.

(Haara,1998)

Superlative x thebestR (Sameasabove.Stresslongevity/popularity.) (Haara,1998)

SentenceStructure

Sentencestructureentailseverythingfromclausestoconditionals.Payingcloseattentiontotheseelementswillimprovetheclarityandcoherenceofthesourcedocumentaswellastheanysuccessivetranslationsgeneratedfromthatdocument.

Avoidambiguoussentencestructures.Adams,Austin,andTaylor(1999)recommendthatwritersavoidambiguoussentence

structures.Otherauthorsprovidemoreexplicitexamplesofwhatambiguoussentencestructuresmightentail.RefertoTable4forasummaryofwhichsentencestructurestoavoid.

If...statements&when...statements.

Hoft(1995)suggestsusing“if...statements”and“when...statements”withprecision.

Thesetwostructuresarenotinterchangeableandshouldeachbeusedinverydistinctcircumstances.Onlyuse“if”whenevertheeventdependsonanotherevent,andonlyuse“when”incaseswheretheeventisinevitable(Hoft,1995).Replace:Ifyouseethepopupwindow,selectyes.With:Whenyouseethepopupwindow,selectyes.

Dependentclauses.

Maylath(1997)suggestsavoidingdependentclausesorsentencesthatcannotstandalone.Dependentclausescanbeidentifiedbythefactthatthetwosentencesbeginwithorarejoinedbysubordinatingconjunctions(after,although,as,because,if,once,since,that,though,till,unless,until,when,whenever,where,while)orrelativepronouns(that,what,which,who,whoever,whom,whose).Althoughadependentclause(suchasthisone)containsasubjectandaverb,itcannotstandonitsownasacompletethought.Thiscanbeeasilyremediedbyremovingthesubordinatingconjunctionorrelativepronounandreformulatingthesentenceastwoseparatesentences.Replace:Pullthelever,whichislocatedontheupperleft-handside.With:Pullthelever.Theleverislocatedontheupperleft-handside.

Passivevoice.

Theuseofpassivevoiceisgenerallydiscouragedintechnicalwriting.However,itisespeciallyimportanttoavoiditwhenwritingfortranslation.BothFlintetal.(1999)andSpyridakisetal.,(1997)notethatpassivevoicecanmakethesubjectofthesentenceunclear.However,theproblemswithpassivevoicegomuchdeeper,anditsusepresentsthetranslatorwithanumberofuniquechallenges.

PassivevoiceisstructurallydifficulttotranslateinlanguagessuchasMandarinChineseandisreservedforrareoccasionsinlanguagessuchasSpanish(OneHourTranslation,2014;TheTranslationCompany,2011).Incasessuchasthese,translatorsmustpainstakinglyrecasttheentiredocumentinactivevoicebeforeattemptingthetranslation(OneHourTranslation,2014).Translatorswhoskipthisstepriskproducingadocumentthatisunnaturalsoundingintheirtargetlanguageor—worseyet—hasobjectsandverbsoutofplace(OneHourTranslation,2014).Ifyoumustusepassivevoice,makesuretoidentifytheactor(MTMLinguasoft,2015).Fortranslationsintocertainlanguages,


suchasSpanish,theadditionofareflexiveverb(yourself,herself,himself,itself,myself)canalsobevaluabletothosetryingtoconvertitintothetargetlanguage(MTMLinguasoft,2015).Replace:TheletterwaswrittenbytheCEO.With:TheCEOwrotetheletter[himself].

Table4AvoidAmbiguousSentenceStructuresStructures Example Referencedin

If...vs.When…Statements

Ifyouseethepopup,(dependsonotherevent)Whenyouseethepopup,(inevitable) (Hoft,1995)

DependentClauses

x Pullthelever,whichislocated...R Pullthelever.Theleverislocated...

(Maylath,1997)

PassiveVoice x TheletterwaswrittenbytheCEO.R TheCEOwrotetheletter[himself].

(Flintetal.,1999;Spyridakisetal.,1997)

TerminologyManagement

Manypractitioners,includingEriksson(2005),Haara(1998),Maylath(1997),andSpyridakisetal.(1997)stresstheimportanceofterminologymanagement.Terminologymanagementinvolvescollecting,describing,updating,anddistributingdatabasesofterms(Perälä,2014).

Whenitcomestoterminologymanagement,consistencyiskey.AsBatova(2015)reminds

us,translationtendstobeoutsourcedanddifferenttranslatorsmayworkonvariousdocumentsbelongingtothesameproject.Teamsoftranslatorsmayalsoworkonadocumentoveraperiodofyears,usingasingledatabase.Therefore,thewordingchosenbyonememberwillbeimmediatelyavailabletoallmembers,spreadingbothgoodandbadtranslations(Schubert,2012).

Perälä(2014)suggeststhatinconsistenciescanevennegativelyimpactdomesticbranding

efforts.Creatingguidelinesforthewordsandphrasesyourcompanyusesallowsyoutomaintaincontinuityacrossbothindividualdocumentsandtheorganizationasawhole.

Glossaries.Differentpractitionersseemtohavedifferentwaysofsharingtheirterminology

managementdocuments.Haara(1998)subscribestotheideathatglossariesshouldbeincludedinthefootnoteareaofthepageforeasyaccess.Eriksson(2005)takesthisideaastepfurther,sayingthattechnicalwritersshoulddefineallterminologyinanonlinedatabasethatcanbeupdatedbasedonfeedbackfromtranslators.Eriksson’smorerecentadviceisperhapsmorerelevantasagrowingnumberofcompaniesmovetheirterminologydatabasesonline.

Eriksson’sassessmentbringsattentiontothefactthatthetranslationandwritingprocessareoftenongoingandthatterminologymanagementshouldbemaintainedthroughouttheproductcycle(2005).Ideally,terminologyupdatesshouldbeputintoeffectatthebeginningandendofaproductcycle(Perälä,2014).Thereafter,additionaltermscanbeaddedatpredeterminedintervalsofeverythreemonthsorsoratherthaneverysingletimeanewtermisapproved(Perälä,2014).Inanycase,Perälä(2014)cautionsthattermsshouldbeclearlydefinedfromtheoutsetofaproject.Inaddition,updatestoglossariesshouldbeorchestratedbyasingledesignatedparty(Perälä,2014).

Avoidordefinethefollowingterms.

Inordertoaccommodatetranslators,technicalcommunicatorsshouldremoveacronyms,synonyms,homographs,andhomophonesfromtheirwriting.Incaseswherethisisnotpossible,thesetermsshouldbedefinedinaglossary,sharedwiththetranslator.PleaseseeTable5foradditionalexamplesoftermsthatshouldbeusedwithcare.


Acronyms.Acronymscanposeproblemsfortranslators,namelybecausedifferentversionsofthesame

acronymoftenexist(Haara,1998).AcronymFinder,anonlinerepositoryofsuchterms,has135possibledefinitionslistedunderPDAalone("PDA,"2018).UCLAstandsforUniversityCenterforLearningAssistanceaswellasUniversityofCaliforniaatLosAngeles(“UCLA,”2018).FIFAisshortforFédérationInternationaledeFootballAssociation,butcanalsorefertoFertilizerIndustryFederationofAustralia(“FIFA,”2018).Acronymsmayalsovarybetweencountries(Hoft,1995).IntheEnglish-speakingspheretheWorldHealthOrganizationisknownasWHO.Meanwhile,inFrenchitisreferredtoasOrganisationMondialedelaSantéorOMS(Hoft,1995).Accordingly,Maylath(1997)suggestsavoidingacronymsaltogether.However,Hoft(1995)statesthatwritersshouldinsteadinvesttheirtimeindefiningacronymsthroughoutthetextaswellascompilingalistorglossaryofacronymstobesharedwiththetranslator.Replace:NATOWith:NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization(NATO)

Synonyms.

Eriksson(2005)emphasizestheimportanceofstickingtoasingletermandcautionsagainsttheuseofsynonyms.Thatis,differentterms,suchas“adolescents”and“youth,”referringtothesamething(Hoft,1995).Althoughitmayseemrestrictiveorrepetitivetofavorasingleterm,thispracticehelpsensurethatbothclarityandconsistencyaremaintainedthroughoutthetranslation(Minacori&Veisblat,2010).Makesureallthingsdiscussedthroughoutthedocumentgobyone—andonlyone—name(Hoft,1995).Replace:Translatorsneedmanyskills.Thesecompetenciesinclude...With:Translatorsneedmanyskills.Theseskillsinclude...

Homographs.

Spyridakisetal.(1997)remindustoavoidusingthesametermtomeantwoormoredifferentthings.Likewise,Adams,Austin,andTaylor(1999)warnustoavoidwordswithmultiplemeanings.Forinstance,“ring”canmeanapieceofjewelrywornonthefinger,acircle,orabell-likesound.Allofthesetermsarespelledandpronouncedexactlythesame.Yettheyhavetheirowndistinctmeanings.Fortranslators,contextisnotalwaysenoughtodeterminewhichmeaningisintended(Hoft,1995).Asaresult,encounteringwordsofthisnaturecanbeafrustratingandconfusingordealfortranslators.Itisprudenttocompletelyavoidhomographswheneverpossible(Adamsetal.,1999)Replace:Theredsuitdidnotsuithim.With:Theredtuxedodidnotflatterhim.

Homophones.

Maylath(1997)andHoft(1995)takethissentimentastepfurtherandsuggesttheavoidanceofallhomophonesorwordsthatarepronouncedthesamebutarespelleddifferently(i.e.hearvs.here,knewvs.new,orserialvs.cereal).Attheveryleast,replaceonesetofterms.However,itisbesttoreplacealloffendingtermswithnon-homophoneequivalents(Hoft,1995).Replace:Hecouldnotseethesea.With:Hecouldnotviewtheocean.

Table5AvoidorDefinetheFollowingTermsTerms Example Referencedin


Acronymsx NATOR Spellout:NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization

(Haara,1998;Mayath,1997)

Synonymsx skills/competenciesR Chooseoneandchangeotherinstances:skills

(Eriksson,2005;Hoft,1995)

Homographsx suit/suitR Eliminateandreplace:tuxedo/flatter

(Spyridakisetal.,1997)

Homophonesx sea/seeR Eliminateandreplace:view/ocean

(Hoft,1995;Maylath,1997)

ControlledLanguageSystems

Itseemsthatdifferentpractitionershaveconflictingopinionsontheappropriatenessofcontrolledlanguagesystems.ControlledlanguagesystemssuchasPlainEnglish,SimplifiedEnglish,andcontrolledlanguageemployshortersentencesandusealimitedvocabularythatadvocatesclaimmakestranslationeasier(Lipus,2006).Thougheachofthesethreedoctrineshasitsownsetofrules,thesetermsareregularlyusedinterchangeablyandtheintentofcontrolledlanguagesystemsisthesame:toincreasetheaccuracyandspeedofbothhumanandmachinetranslationwhilesimultaneouslyproducingdocumentationthatisaccessibleanduser-friendly(Thrush,2001).

Attheveryleast,translatorsseemtopreferwhenPlainEnglishisused.Thirty-ninepercent

oftranslatorssurveyedindicatedthattranslationismoreburdensomewhendocumentsdonotusePlainEnglish(Gnecchietal.,2011).However,SimplifiedEnglish—aformofControlledEnglishthatwasdevelopedbytheEuropeanAssociationofAerospaceIndustries—ismuchmorerestrictivethanPlainEnglish(Thrush,2001).

SimplifiedEnglishomits–ingverbs,restrictswordstoonlyonemeaning,andlimitstheuseofpassivevoice.SimplifiedEnglishalsolimitsthelengthofsentences.Furthermore,SimplifiedEnglishguidelinesspecifytheintroductionofonlyonetopicperparagraphandoneinstructionpersentence(Spyridakis,Holmback,&Scubert,1997).

SomepractitionersbelievethatSimplifiedEnglish’sshort,succinctsentencescanactuallyhaveadverseeffectsonthetranslationprocess.Lipus(2006)raisesthepointthatshorteningsentencesoftenstripsawayvitalcontext.Consequently,theauthorsuggestsincludingsyntacticcluesdespitethefactthattheymayaddtosentencelength(Lipus,2006).Meanwhile,Weiss(1998)pointsoutthatinternationalaudiencesmayassociateashort,directsentencestylewithalackofeffortonthewriter’spart.Limitationsmayalsomakeitimpossibletoconveycomplicatedideas.Flint,VanSlyke,Starke-Meyerring&Thompson(1999)criticizetheuseofControlledEnglish,sayingitsreducedstructuresarenotsuitablefordocumentationthatconcernshigh-techproducts.

DetractorsalsopointoutthatwhileControlledEnglishiseasytounderstand,itmaybedifficulttoadopt.Kohl(2008)notesthat“theamountofeffortandknowledgethatisrequiredfordevelopingandimplementingControlledEnglishisconsiderable”(p.243).Inaddition,restrictionsonvocabularyandsyntaxcancomplicatethewritingprocess.Weiss(1998)reiteratesthisideasaying,“AttheextremeofSimplifiedEnglish,thetaskofthewriterresemblesdoingawordpuzzle”(p.258).

Kohl(2008)suggeststhatimplementingControlledEnglishcanleadtoanincreaseincostsaswell.Kodak,whodevelopedoneoftheearliestversionsofControlledEnglish,foundthatitwascheapertoteachtheirservicetechniciansenoughEnglishtodeciphertheEnglishversionsoftheirmanualsthantotranslateservicemanualsintomorethan40languages(Kohl,2008).However,thiswasin1989—wellbeforetheadventoftheInternetasweknowit.Nowadays,customersrelylessontechniciansandmoreononlinehelp.Obviously,trainingeverysinglecustomertodeciphertheEnglishversionsofonlinehelpisnotanoption.

Moreover,post-editingcostsmaynothavebeentakenintoconsiderationintheKodakanalysis.AccordingtoNyberg,Mitamura,andHuijsen(2003),incaseswherethedocumentistranslatedintomultiplelanguagesthedecreaseinpost-editingcostscanoutweightheincreasein


trainingandimplementationcosts:

[I]ncreasedpost-editingisavoidedwhenauthorshelptodisambiguatethetexts.Thisisdesirableindomainswherethesourcelanguageistranslatedintoseveraltargetlanguagesandincreasedcostofpost-editingisprohibitive.Indomainswheretherearefewertargetlanguages,theothersideofthistrade-offmightbeexplored,ifthenumberofambiguoustermsandtypesofpost-editingoperationsrequiredallowcost-effectivepostediting.(Nyberg,Mitamura,&Huijsen,2003,p.243)What’smore,Spyridakisetal.(1997)providecompellingevidencethatSimplifiedEnglish

documentsareeasiertoreadandtranslatethantheircounterparts.Intheir1997study,translatedversionsofSimplifiedEnglishdocumentswereratedhigherthantranslatedversionsofregulardocuments.EighteenChinesespeakersand15Spanishspeakerstranslatedoneoffouraircraftindustrydocumentsintotheirnativelanguage.TwoofthedocumentswerewritteninSimplifiedEnglish;andtheothertwowereoriginalnon-simplifiedversionsofthesamedocument.Thecompletedtranslationsweregiventoraterswhosenativelanguagewasthesameasthatusedinthetranslation.Theseratersgradedthetranslation’saccuracy,nearnessinstyletotheEnglishversion,easeofcomprehension,numberofmistranslations,andnumberofomissions.AnANOVAwasthenusedtoanalyzetheresults.InbothcasestheSimplifiedEnglishversionsofthedocumentsperformedbetteroverall.Unsurprisingly,theSpanishtranslationsbenefitedsignificantlymorefromtheuseofSimplifiedEnglishthantheChinesetranslations(Spyridakisetal.,1997).

Itseemsthatasmachinetranslationbecomesmoreandmorewidespread,abasicunderstandingofcontrolledlanguagesystemsisbeneficial.However,adheringtoeveryaspectofcontrolledlanguage,especiallywhenprocedurescontradictthefoundationalrulesofwriting-for-translationorcompanyprotocol,canimpedeandovercomplicatethedevelopmentofdocumentation.Whilecontrolledlanguageisavaluabletool,technicalcommunicatorsshouldusetheirowndiscretionwhendecidingwhichaspectsofittoadoptandwhichtoignore.Perhapsthebestapproachistoembracethosepracticesthatbestalignwithyourcompany’sobjectivesandthatatthesametimesupportseamlessinterdepartmentalcommunication.Collaboration

Bothtranslatorsandtechnicalcommunicatorsmustnavigateawholehostofpotentialpitfallsinordertomaketheendproductacceptableforanewaudience.However,thesepitfallsextendbeyondthesyntaxandgrammarguidelinesoutlinedabove.Thetranslatorandtechnicalcommunicator’sabilitytocollaborateinacross-functionalgroupisalsocentraltoasuccessfultranslation.Technicalcommunicatorsandtranslatorsmustlearntocontinuallycommunicateandshareresourceswithoneanotherinordertoavoidunnecessarydelays,costs,andcomplications.

Communication.

Haara(1998)urgestechnicalcommunicatorstoopenupthelinesofcommunicationwhileAdamsetal.(1999)emphasizehoweffectivecommunicationbetweentranslatorsandtechnicalwritersisabsolutelyvitaltoproducesuccessfuldocumentation.Ideally,technicalcommunicatorsmustnotonlyestablishbutmaintaincontactwithtranslatorsthroughoutthewritingandtranslationprocess(Haara,1998).Batova(2015)echoesthissentimentaddingthattechnicalcommunicatorscanimprovetheirprocessesonbothendsbydevelopingasharedunderstandingofthe“limitsandpossibilitiesinherentineachoftheirpositions”(p.230).Shegoesontonotethat:

Inmanyways,translatorsandtechnicalcommunicatorsarenaturalalliesandabettermutualunderstandingcouldhelpbothgroupsdevelopricherargumentsforbestpracticesinglobalcommunication.”(Batova,2015,p.231)

Althoughoutcomesareenhancedininstanceswheretranslatorsandtechnical

communicatorsworkincloseproximity,communicationcanbeaccomplishedthroughface-to-faceoronlinemeans(Adamsetal.,1999).Ineithercircumstance,itisvitalthatthetechnicalcommunicator


identifyresponsiblepartiesforeachlanguageintowhichthesourcedocumentistobetranslatedandensurethateachoftheseindividualsisfamiliarwiththepreferredterminologymanagementpracticesandhasaccesstoanyadditionalresourcesneededtoenhancethequalityofthetranslation(Batova,2015).

Sharingresources.

Translatorsmustmakecertainthattheycomprehendadocumentfromtoptobottombeforeattemptingatranslation.Externalresources,suchasdictionariesandglossaries,helpthemefficientlyclarifywordsandconceptsneededtomoveforward(Spalink,2000).Amongotherthings,translatorsrelyonexternalresources“toconfirmahypothesisonmeaning,checkormonitortheadequacyofaninterimtranslationsolution,andfindorinspirenewsolutions”(Raido,2014,p.24).Duetolinguisticorrhetoricaldifferences,translatorsmayneedtoeducatethemselvesonthesubjectmatterorevenexpressinformationthatisnotincludedinthesourcetext(Flintetal.,1999).

AuthorssuchasEriksson(2005),Flintetal.(1999),Haara(1998),andMaylath(1997)underscoretheimportanceofsharingresourceswithtranslators.Eriksson(2005),whohasworkedasbothatechnicalcommunicatorandatranslator,evengoessofarastoclaimthatthequalityoftranslationsdirectlycorrelateswiththetranslators’accesstosuchresources.

What’smore,Eriksson’sobservationsarebackedupbyevidence.InherbookTranslationandWebSearching,VanessaEnriquezRaido(2014)examinesoveradozenstudiesontheefficacyofreferencematerialsontranslationquality.Althoughmostofthesestudieswereconductedonpaperreferencematerialsratherthantheonlinereferencematerialsthatdominatetheindustrytoday,asignificantproportionofthem“establishedapositivecorrelationbetweenthefrequencyofdictionaryuseandthequalityoftranslations”(Raido,2014,p.25).

Typesofresourcestosharewithtranslators.

Referencemanualssuchasdictionariesandglossariesarejustthebeginning.AccordingtoFlintetal.(1999),beneficialresourcesmayincludeillustrations,specsheets,andevenpromotionalbrochures.Itmayalsobeadvantageoustosharequalityexamplesofpreexistingforeignlanguagedocuments(Eriksson,2005;Flintetal.,1999).

Haara(1998)notesthattechnicalwritersshouldalsoprovidetranslatorswithalistofpropernames.Armedwiththislist,translatorscaneasilypinpointterminologythatcanremainintact,suchasproductnames(Globalme,2011).Thisextrastepmayseemunnecessarytothoseofuswhoareunacquaintedwiththetranslationprocess.ButVermes(2003)pointsoutthatpropernamesareoftenmodifiedbymeansoftranslationorsubstitution:

Thetranslationofpropernameshasoftenbeenconsideredasasimpleautomaticprocessoftransferencefromonelanguageintoanother,duetotheviewthatpropernamesaremerelabelsusedtoidentifyapersonorathing...thetranslationofpropernamesisnotatrivialissuebut,onthecontrary,mayinvolvearatherdelicatedecision-makingprocess,requiringonthepartofthetranslatorcarefulconsiderationofthemeaningsthenamehasbeforedecidinghowbesttorenderitinthetargetlanguage.(Vermes,2003,pp.89-90)Byrne(2006)callsattentiontothefactthattechnicalwritersandtranslatorsbothobtain

informationfromvariousoutsidesources,suchasdictionariesandglossaries,inordertoproduceatext.Sharingresourcesoftentakeslittleeffortastheyarealreadyatone’sdisposal.However,therewardsarenumerous.AlistofrecommendedresourcesispresentedinTable6below.

Table6TypesofResourcestoSharewithTranslatorsResources Referencedin

Dictionariesandglossaries (Flintetal.,1999)


Listofpropernamesandwordsthatshouldnotbemodified (Haara,1998)Pre-existingtranslationsorforeignlanguage-usedocuments (Eriksson,2005)Specsheets (Flintetal.,1999)Illustrations (Flintetal.,1999)Brochuresorotherpromotionaldocuments (Flintetal.,1999)

Writing-for-TranslationinTechnicalCommunicationCurriculum

Globalizationisprofoundlyinfluencingtechnicalcommunicationintheworkplaceand,inthe

process,highereducation(Starke-Meyerring,Duin,&Palvetzian,2007).AccordingtoMaylathandThrush(2000),theneedtoaccommodatetranslatorsissosignificantthat“Manytechnicalcommunicationandtranslationcompanyofficialspleatohaveuniversitiesandcollegesteachtechnicalcommunicationstudentstopreparedocumentsfortranslation”(p.233).Maylathgoesontoexplain:

Inadditiontoraisingsensitivitytotheculturesinwhichone’swritingwillberead,technicalwritingcoursesarenowobligatedtoraiseawarenessoflanguage,particularlyone’sownlanguage,andthewaysinwhichitcancauseconfusion—notonlyforanonnativereaderofthelanguagebutevenforawell-practicedandknowledgeabletranslator.(1997,pp.342-343)

Themajorissuethatstandsinthewayofproducinglearningenvironmentsthatfosterglobal

literaciessuchaswriting-for-translationisthattechnicalcommunicationissituatedamongawidevarietyofdisciplinessuchasEnglish,masscommunication,informationdesign,engineering,andcomputing.Whatworksinoneinstancedoesnotnecessarilyworkinanother.Inotherwords,aone-size-fitsallmodelcurriculumsimplydoesnotapply(Flammia,2005).

Moreover,becausetechnicalcommunicationisaninterdisciplinarystudy,manyfacultyinterestedinintegratingaspectsofwritingfortranslationfindthattheyareunabletogaintheadministration’ssupportasestablishedconventionsforcoursecontentdonotnecessarilyincludeafocusongloballiteracy.Forinstance,manyEnglishdepartmentsconcentrateoninterpretingliteratureratherthanwritingforexternal—letaloneinternational—audiences.Suchcircumstancesmakeitdifficulttogaintheapprovalneededtonurtureglobalcompetencies(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).

Stillotherpractitionerscautionagainstintegratingtranslationcompetenciesintoprogramming,claimingthattoocloseanassociationwithotherfieldscanbedetrimentaltotheautonomyoftechnicalcommunication.Rude(2009)pointsoutthatbeingseenasaservicetoamoredominantfieldcanmaketechnicalcommunicationanditscontributionsmarginalized,diminishingtheindustry’sagencyandvalue.

However,technicalwritersdonotworkinisolationandotherssuchasBlakeslee(2004)arguethatpractitionersneedtoseekyetmoreopportunitiesforacademicstointeractandcollaborateonjointprojects.Inresponsetothis,therehavebeenagrowingnumberofinstitutionsincorporatingsuccessfulgloballiteracystrategiesinrecentyears.

Giventhelackofacademicpreparationcoupledwithanintenseneedforrelevanttraining,I

arguethattechnicalcommunicationprogramsshouldstrivetoincorporatesimilarstrategiesintotheircurricula.Thebestpracticesoutlinedabovemayseemsimpleenough—yetarechallengingtoimplement.Fortunately,technicalcommunicationscholarsandprofessorshavedevelopedcourses,assignmentsequences,andevenpartnershipsthatofferstudentsessentialwriting-for-translationopportunities.

Courses


MadelynFlammia(2005)hasperhapsaddressedthisissuemostdirectlybysharingawealthofresourcesandassignmentssheusesinherownundergraduateInternationalTechnicalCommunicationcourseattheUniversityofCentralFlorida,whichintroducesstudentstowritingfortranslation.Flammiaincorporatesinternationaltechnicalcommunicationwithinaframeworkthatreinforcescoretechnicalcommunicationskillswhileprovidingawidearrayofassignmentsthatcanbeintegratedeitherindividuallyoraspartofasequence.

AccordingtoFlammia(2005),studentsmustunderstandthebroaderimplicationsofinternationaltechnicalcommunicationbeforetheydelveintothespecificsofwritingfortranslation.Asaresult,hercourseisspecificallydesignedsothatstudentsnarrowtheirfocusasthesemesterprogresses,buildinguponpreviousprojectsastheygo.AsBradyandJosé(2009)note:

Ifstudentscometogethertonegotiatetheirdisciplinaryunderstandingsofwhatitmeanstowriteanddesigndocumentsforcomplexaudienceneeds,theywillentertheirownprofessionalcommunitieswithagreaterappreciationforavarietyofperspectivesandapproachestosolvingproblemsaswellasadeeperrespectforwhatitmeansforotherstofunctionintheirowncommunitiesofpractice.(p.49)

Thesemesterbeginswithaninterviewassignmentthatdevelopsintoacountry-specific

reportandculminatesinadocumentationprojecttargetedtowardsaninternationalaudience.Studentsareassignedacountryatthestartofthesemesteranddedicatetheentiretyoftheirprojectstothisregion.Inthisway,studentsbecomeincreasinglyfamiliarwiththeintricaciesofthelanguageandcultureforwhichtheyultimatelycreateasourcedocument(Flammia,2005).

Interviewwithatechnicalcommunicatorworkingabroad.

Atthebeginningofthesemester,eachstudentcreatesabrieffivetoten-questioninterview

aimedatatechnicalcommunicatorwhoisworkingabroad.Inordertoensurethatquestionsarepertinenttointerculturalissues,allmaterialispreapprovedbytheinstructorpriortotheinterviewdate.Actualinterviewsareconductedthroughe-mailandstudentssharefindingswiththeirpeersthroughshortoralpresentations.

Flammia(2005)hadgreatsuccessrecruitingintervieweesthroughinternationalprofessionalorganizationssuchastheIEEEProfessionalCommunicationortheSocietyforTechnicalCommunication.Inoneinstance,Flammiareachedouttochapterpresidentsintargetcountries,whohelpedenlistparticipantsfromtheirmemberbase.Besidesintroducingstudentstointerculturalissuesintechnicalcommunication,theassignmenthonesinterviewskills,whichtechnicalcommunicatorsroutinelyusetogatherinformationfromsubjectmatterexperts.

Country-specificreport.

Aftercompletingtheinterview,studentscollaboratewithothersinordertoresearchthecountrywheretheirintervieweeisbased.Thisinvolvesexaminingseveninternationalvariables:political,economic,social,religious,educational,linguistic,andtechnological.Studentsareencouragedtoselectothersignificantfactorsbasedontheuniquecharacteristicsofthecountrytheyhavebeenassigned.

Overthecourseoftheresearch,studentsmayutilizesourcesbeyondthescopeofroutine

meanssuchastheLibraryofCongressCountryStudies,UnitedNationsWebsite,U.S.DepartmentofStateBackgroundNotes,andevenlocalChambersofCommerce.Duringthistime,studentsworkingroupsoftwoorthree,integratingfundamentalteamworkskillsintotheexperience.

Documentationproject.

Lastly,eachteamistaskedwithpartneringwithalocalagencyorcompanytocompletea

documentationproject,whichwillideallybetranslatedforactualuse.Theprojectcanbeaprintdocumentorawebsiteandshouldaccommodateareal-lifeneedinthecountrywheretheiraudience


resides.Inadditiontofollowingwriting-for-translationguidelines,thedistributionmethod,documentdesign,andcontentchoicesshouldallbeinformedbythestudents’newfoundawarenessoftheirtargetculture.

SomeexamplesofprojectsincludearesourceforMexicanbusinessexecutiveswishingto

tradewithAmericansandCanadianssincethepassingoftheNAFTAagreement;awebsiteforenvironmentallyconsciousindividualsinNorway;andaplantingguidetobedistributedbyanonprofitseekingtoeliminatehungerindevelopingnationsbysupplyingseeds(Flammia,2005).Dependingonthetopicofchoice,theprojecthasgreatpotentialtoengagestudentsinservicelearningwhilesimultaneouslypreparingthemtowritedocumentsthatbetteraccommodatethetranslationprocess.

AdditionalofferingsemployedbyFlammia(2005)include1)introducingstudentstoculturalmodels,includingtheIcebergModel,TheoryofContexting,andCulturalValueDimensions2)havingstudentsreadnewsarticlesthathavebeentranslatedintoatargetlanguageandthentranslatedbackintoEnglish;3)invitingtranslatorspeakerstohighlightthechallengesinadequatesourcedocumentscancreateandthecostsineffectivetranslationcanincur;4)discussingcasestudies,suchasMaylath’s“TranslatingUserManuals:ASurgicalEquipmentCompany’s‘QuickCut’”inordertoshowcasefurthertranslationchallenges;5)creatingastudentactivitywhereteamsusewriting-for-translationguidelinestorewriteasetofinstructionsorotherrelevantdocuments;6)lettingstudentscompiletheirownguidelinesbasedonsourcesthey’veencounteredoverthecourseofthesemester;and7)havingstudentsusethoseguidelinesasthestandardonwhichtoevaluatetheworkoftheirpeers.AssignmentSequences

Maylath(2007)maintainsthatunlessatechnicalwriterispreparingforadualprofessionasatranslator,acompletecourseontranslationisexcessive.Sourcedocumentsareoftentranslatedintosomanylanguagesitisalmostimpossibletobecomefamiliarwiththeintricaciesofeach.Moreover,suchpracticescanskewthedivisionoflaborbetweentechnicalwriterandtranslator(Maylath,2007).

Forthisreason,Maylath(2007)suggeststhattranslationcomponentsshouldsimplybeaddedtoexistingintroductorytechnicalwritingcoursesandgoesontoexplainwhatexactlythesecomponentsshouldentail.AccordingtoMaylath(2007),theadditionsshouldfocusonfourelements:clarity,terminologymanagement,spaceandsignposts,andculturalandrhetoricaldifferences.Theauthorgoesontoprovideactualexamplesofactivitiesmeanttohelpstudentsmastertheseareas.

Reworkapreviousassignment.

Studentsaregiventwoweekstoreviseadocumentthattheycomposedearlierinthecoursesothatitaccommodatestranslators.ThisprocessdriveshomethefactthattypicallytextspreparedwithanEnglish-speakingaudienceinmindarenotsuitablefortranslationwithoutfirstundergoingsomealterations.Intheinterimperiod,instructorsshouldexposestudentstoavarietyofactivitiesthatacquaintlearnerswiththefinerpointsofwriting-for-translation.

IntroductiontoissuesthroughaletterorotherdocumenttranslatedintoEnglish.

Inordertoillustrateissuesthatmaycauseconfusionormisunderstandingamongtranslators,theinstructorcanelecttopresenttheclasswithaninaccuraterenderingofadocumentintoEnglish.Maylath(2007)usesaletter,whichhasbeentranslatedfromSwedishintoEnglish.However,anyawkwardtranslationofatextfromanotherlanguageintoEnglishshouldsufficientlyshowcasethevariousissuesthatcanariseasaresultoftranslationandhelpstudentsenvisionwhataninternationalaudiencemightencounterasaresultofapooroutcomeoftranslation.Ideally,theinstructorisfluentinthesourcelanguageorhasstudiedspecificelementsofsaiddocument,sotheycanprovideinsightsintohoworwhyspecificissuesarise.


Follow-upwithexamplestoavoidfromstudentdocuments.Asafollow-up,theinstructormaychoosetoshareactualexcerptsfromthedocuments

studentsaresettoworkon.Theseexcerptsshouldcontainkeymistakestoavoid.Sincethesedocumentswerenotpreparedwithtranslationinmind,studentsdonottendtobeembarrassedbytheseerrors.However,theinstructormayelecttouseexamplesfromapreviouscoursetoavoidthisscenario.

Articleswithfurtheradvice.

Maylath(2007)alsorecommendsthatinstructorsassigntextsthatacquaintstudentswith

additionalwriting-for-translationissues.Althoughthereareplentyofrelevantmaterialstochoosefrom,thesuggestedtextsincludeGlobalTalk,Intercom,and,InternationalTechnicalCommunication.

Line-by-lineexaminationofownpaper.

Aspartofthis,studentsscourtheirowntextsforidioms,acronyms,andotherissuesthattheycaneliminate.Inordertoaidtheirefforts,theinstructormaychoosetoshareachecklistofwriting-for-translationtipsthatstudentscanuseasaguideline.

Writing-for-translationcommonerrorsscavengerhunt.

Foremphasis,theclassmayalsotakepartinanactivitywherestudentstryandfind

examplesofwhatnottodoontheweborinprintadvertisements.Studentscancompletethisactivityontheirownorinsmallgroups.Eitherway,thisactivityculminatesinsharingfindingswiththeclass.

Identifyareaslackingessentialinformation.Lastly,studentsscourtheirtextforinformationgapsthatnativespeakersmaytakefor

grantedbutthatcouldimpedethetranslator.Examplesofthisincludenotspecifyingthatabuttonneedstobereleasedafteritispressedortheuseofaphrasalverbsuchas“pullup.”Thisdirectapproachhelpscallattentiontokeyconceptsstudentsmightotherwiseoverlook.Partnerships

AlthoughmanyinstitutionsarefollowingMaylathandFlammia’sleadbyintegratinggloballiteraciesintotheircourses,otherprogramshaveconcentratedondevelopingpartnershipsasthecruxoftheselearningexperiences.AsStarke-Meyerring,Duin,andPalvetzianaptlyremark“creatinggloballynetworkedlearningenvironmentsfortheirstudentsisnearlyanimpossibletaskforprogramstoaccomplishontheirown.Infact,thenatureofcommunicationinglobaldigitalnetworksrequiresextensiveglobalpartnershipwork”(2007,p.146).

Globalpartnershipsareanemergingtrendintechnicalcommunicationprogramsthatcanbeawelcomeadditiontobothfullcoursesandindividualcoursecomponents.Inasurveyof81facultyandprogramadministrators24%currentlyhadoneormoreglobalpartnershipand12%wereinthestagesofplanningone(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).Althoughglobalpartnershipsdonotnecessarilyrelatedirectlytowritingfortranslation,theyplayonrelatedcompetenciessuchasdistancecommunications,collaborationforquality,andlarge-scaleaudienceanalysis(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).

Researchpartnerships.

Somepractitionerschoosetoformpartnershipsthatareresearchfocused.TheTechnical

CommunicationDepartmentattheUniversityofWashingtonandtheDepartmentofCommunicationStudiesattheUniversitiesofTwenteintheNetherlandshavedevelopedcollaborativeresearchinitiatives,whichhaveproducedanumberofpublications,includingajointspecialissueofTechnical


CommunicationandIEEETransactionsonProfessionalCommunication(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).

Inadditiontofacilitatingscholarlyinputthesecollaborationsofferopportunitiesforteamteaching,studentexchanges,facultysabbaticals,andjointcoursedevelopment.(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).

Classroompartnerships.

Oneofthemostsuccessfulinternationalpartnerships,whichfocusesonwritingfortranslation,hasbeentheTransatlanticProjectinitiatedbyBruceMaylathin1999(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).Overthecourseoftheproject,studentsdevelopterminologyglossariesanddocumentationwhichisultimatelytranslated.Perhapsmoreimportantly,studentsengageinelectroniccross-culturalcollaborationandlearntonegotiateappropriaterhetoricalchoicesforinternationalaudiencesalongtheway.

TheprojectinitiallyhadasingleclassofUniversityofWisconsin-Stoutstudentswriteinstructions,whichweretranslatedbyHogeschoolGentstudents.SincethenithasexpandedtoincludeallsectionsoftheTechnicalCommunicationCourseatWisconsinStoutandvariousEuropeanuniversities,encompassing13instructorsand200–300students.

MichiganTechnologicalUniversityconductsasimilarexercisewherestudentsworkinteamstocomposeinstructionalpamphletsforinternationalstudents,whotheylatercollaboratewith(BradyandJosé,2009).Topicsincludepracticalapplicationssuchas“HowtoopenabankaccountintheUS”or“SafetytipsfordrivingduringthewinterintheUpperPeninsula”(BradyandJosé,2009).Technicalcommunicationstudentsreceivefeedbackfrominternationalstudentsandseefirsthandwhatstumblingblockstheirwritingcreatesfornon-nativespeakersandlearnhowtoovercomethesepitfalls(BradyandJosé,2009).

AsBradyandJosé(2009)pointout,instructionsare“theperfectgenreforincorporatingmoreinterculturalissuesandworkplacewritingintheclassroom”astheyarethemostcommondocumenttypetobetranslatedintomultiplelanguages(p.51).Althoughtheprojecthasmeritinitself,thisexercisecouldalsoveryeasilybeadaptedtocontainatranslationcomponent(BradyandJosé,2009).

Partnershippitfallsandpotential.

Unfortunately,notallprogramshavethemeansandbackingtoconductclassroomorresearchpartnerships.Overhalf(51%)ofsurveyrespondentswhoarenotcurrentlyengagedinpartnershipscitedlackofresourcesastheirbiggestchallenge.

Inorderforsucheffortstoflourish,practitionersshouldconsiderthefollowingrecommendations:sharebestpedagogicalpractices,assignments,andinstructionalstrategies;buildarepertoireofinstructionalmaterialdesignedsolelyforsuchclasses;andcollaborateonteachingmaterials,textbooks,andotherlearningresources(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).Programsinhighereducationthatwishtoforminternationalpartnershipsmustactivelyseekoutvariousmethodstoconnectwithlike-mindedindividuals,whetheroverseasoracrosstheUnitedStates.

Themoreconnectionsthatcanbemade,theeasieritwillbetobuildleadershipcapacityand

tostoketheinternalinterestneededtoultimatelyachieverelatedaims(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).Starke-Meyerringetal.(2007)setouttogiveexplicitexamplesofhowtofostersuchgrowth.Thetriourgesstakeholderstocreatenetworkingopportunitieswithotherinstitutionsviatechnicalcommunicationconferences.Interestedfacultycanalsodevelopacommitteeorsharedspacewheretheycanexchangeideaswithintheirinstitution.Throughthesevenues,facultymayfostercollaborativeresearchcontributions,developacollectionofsourcesorforumspertinenttotheirinterestsandresearchaims,andshareinformationconcerningfundingopportunitiesrelatedtointerculturalcommunication(Starke-Meyerringetal.,2007).


Perhapsthesepartnership-enrichingactivitiesarethemostpromisingstartingpointfor

thoseinterestedinovercomingtheconventionalinstitutionaldivisionbetweenlocalandgloballearning.Morethaneverbefore,technicalcommunicationprogramsneedtoencourageacultureofsupportbyexploringasmanyoptionsaspossibleandsharingtheirvictoriesandvisionwiththoseofasimilarmindset.

Conclusion

TheperceptionofEnglishasthelinguafrancahasledtechnicalcommunicationprogramstodiscounttheimportanceofteachingstudentstowritefortranslation.Inordertoaddressthisissue,universitiesshouldconsiderrevisingtheirtechnicalcommunicationprogramstoincludeawriting-for-translationcomponent.However,comprehensivesourcesalsoneedtobemadeavailabletothosealreadyimmersedinthefield.

Theofferingaboveisasmallsampleofabodyofworkthatisonlyjustbeginningtoberealized.Researchondocumentsproducedfortranslationisstillscarce,andnumerousscholarshaveadvocatedfurtherexaminationofthisandrelatedareas.

Astheglobalmarketplacecontinuestogrow,evidencethatwriting-for-translationguidelinesandteachingsareeffectivebecomesincreasinglyimportanttomeettheneedsofthisever-expandinginternationalaudience.Thefutureoftechnicalcommunicationdependsuponfosteringwriting-for-translationfoundationalskillswhetherintheclassroom,onthejob,orthroughself-study.

Subsequently,thedevelopmentofspecificevidence-basededucationalmodelsis

increasinglyimportant.Suchcontributionshelpjustifytheinclusionofcourseworkderivedfromoranalogoustothemandadvancethisemergingandmuchoverduedialogue.


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Appendix* GrammarRecommendations

Table1IncludeFunctionWordsPartsofSpeech Suchas Example Referencedin

Articles a,an,the Goto[the]mainmenu. (Flintetal.,1999)Prepositions to,in,after,on Itwillbeavailable[on]Friday. (Flintetal.,1999)Conjunctions but,that,when,than Theclass[that]hetook. (Maylath,1997)Pronouns he,she,them,it [Doyou]wanttocontactus? (Flintetal.,1999)

Table2AvoidtheFollowingTypesofWordsandPhrasesWords/Phrases Example Referencedin

InvisiblePluralsx programsettingsR thesixseparatesettingsfortheprogram

(Haara,1998)

Gerundsx Settingthetimerisimportant.R Itisimportanttosetthetimer.

(Haara,1998;Maylath,1997)

PhrasalVerbs x shutoffR stop (Thrush,2001)

HelpingVerbs x Youmaywanttoconsider...R Werecommend...

(Haara,1998;Maaks,2003)

ShiftsinNumber

x Croatiaisthenewmember.Theyhad…R Croatiaisthenewmember.Ithad…

(Maylath,1997)

Table3AvoidtheFollowingFiguresofSpeechandFormsofExpressionExpressions Example Referencedin

Metaphorx Attachthetableleg.R AttachpartA.

(Flintetal.,1999;Haara,1998)

Idiomx Stayontheball.R Beefficient.

(Maylath,1997)

Comparative x betterthanR Since1950,XYZhasserved1millionusers. (Haara,1998)

Superlative x thebestR (Sameasabove.Stresslongevity/popularity.)

(Haara,1998)


SentenceStructure

Table4AvoidAmbiguousSentenceStructuresStructures Example Referencedin

If...vs.When…Statements

Ifyouseethepopup,(dependsonotherevent)Whenyouseethepopup,(inevitable) (Hoft,1995)

DependentClauses

x Pullthelever,whichislocated...R Pullthelever.Theleverislocated...

(Maylath,1997)

PassiveVoice x TheletterwaswrittenbytheCEO.R TheCEOwrotetheletter[himself].

(Flintetal.,1999;Spyridakisetal.,1997)

TerminologyManagement

Table5AvoidorDefinetheFollowingTermsTerms Example Referencedin

Acronymsx NATOR Spellout:NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization

(Haara,1998;Mayath,1997)

Synonymsx skills/competenciesR Chooseoneandchangeotherinstances:skills

(Eriksson,2005;Hoft,1995)

Homographsx suit/suitR Eliminateandreplace:tuxedo/flatter

(Spyridakisetal.,1997)

Homophonesx sea/seeR Eliminateandreplace:view/ocean

(Hoft,1995;Maylath,1997)

Collaboration

Table6TypesofResourcestoSharewithTranslatorsResources Referencedin

Dictionariesandglossaries (Flintetal.,1999)Listofpropernamesandwordsthatshouldnotbemodified (Haara,1998)Pre-existingtranslationsorforeignlanguage-usedocuments (Eriksson,2005)Specsheets (Flintetal.,1999)Illustrations (Flintetal.,1999)Brochuresorotherpromotionaldocuments (Flintetal.,1999)

*Examplesaremyown.

don’t get lost in translation: a discussion of best

Documents