Creating Technical Documents In English For Global Audiences

eddie hollon

Creating Technical Documents in English Creating Technical Documents in English for Global Audiencesfor Global Audiences

eddie hollon

• From Fort Worth, TX, USA• My wife and I moved to South Korea in

January of 2007• Master’s Degree in Technical Writing and

Bachelor’s Degree in English Composition from University of North Texas

• Technical communicator for 5+ years:– Search Engine Optimization– Federal proposals, policies & procedures,

marketing documents, web content, and training documents

– User guidance, white papers, research, document analysis, editing, and training for Hansem EZUserGuides, Inc.

• In my free time, people shoot at me!

About the PresenterAbout the Presenter

eddie hollon

Why Create Technical Documents in Global Why Create Technical Documents in Global English?English?

• Estimated 800 million to 1 billion current English users

• Potential for 3 billion by 2040 (roughly 40% of the estimated world population)

2005 2011 2024 2050

English Users

World Population

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

World English users and population (in billions)

eddie hollon


• English is the current lingua franca for technical documentation.

• English is also the most common language used in machine translation.

a language that is widely used among speakers of

other languages

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• Increase the usability of documents designed for global audiences.

• Improve the quality of your translated documents.• Strengthen the image of your company and your

products.• Reduce translation costs and errors.• Reduce customer complaints and service calls.• Improve the performance of translation memory

(TM).• Improve the performance of machine translation

(MT).

eddie hollon

Who Uses Global English?Who Uses Global English?

• Many people use English as a second language to communicate for business or with people from other cultures.

هالو، مرحب

tere! 表示问候

¡Hola! Hello!

eddie hollon

Who Uses Global English?Who Uses Global English?

• Mostly non-native speakers:– Native: about 41%– Non-native: about 59%

• Some are fluent, but most have varying skills (e.g., may speak well, but read poorly)

• Read documents in multiple languages

eddie hollon

How to How to WriteWrite for Global English Users for Global English Users

W1.W1. Write short, simple, and complete sentences.• Write sentences with 20 words or fewer.

To complete the sequence, enter a User ID, scroll to an option, press OK to select the option, and then press Save

To finish, perform the following steps:1. Enter a User ID2. Scroll to an option3. Press OK to select the option4. Press Save

eddie hollon


W1.W1. Write short, simple, and complete sentences.• Use the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order.

An ID must be entered The latch must be secured

Enter your user ID (implied “you”) You must secure the latch

Subject(who or what)

Verb (action

)

Object (acted upon)

eddie hollon


W1.W1. Write short, simple, and complete sentences.• Include all grammatical parts (it is okay to imply

a subject).

Press the Next button to- Start playing a file or- Skip to the next file

Press the Next button to do one of the following:- Start playing a file- Skip to the next file

eddie hollon


W2.W2. Write in active voice.• Avoid passive voice (a form of to be + a verb in

past tense) by naming the subjects or “actors” of your sentences whenever possible.

• Use the imperative form for steps and instructions (e.g., “Press the button,” “Enter a password.”

An ID must be entered The latch has been secured

Enter your user ID (implied “you”) The latch is secure (present tense)

eddie hollon


W3.W3. Avoid noun stacks (noun + noun + noun…)• Use three nouns or fewer to name an object.• Break long noun strings with prepositions,

when possible.• Use common, easy to remember names when

possible.• Avoid creating new acronyms.

Press the mode switch key icon …built-in Dual-level Security Code Encryption (DSCE)

Press the key icon to switch modes. …built-in encryption that uses two levels of security

codes.

eddie hollon


W4.W4. Remember to include articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.• Use articles to introduce nouns and show

whether they are singular, plural, or collective (this improves translation for many languages).

Enter user ID and password Use appropriate keys to type your message

Enter a user ID and a password Use the appropriate keys to type your message

eddie hollon


W4.W4. Remember to include articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.• Repeat prepositions to make actions clear,

especially around conjunctions.

Press Next to add a new entry or save your entry

Press Next to add a new entry or to save your entry

2

1a 1b

1

eddie hollon


W4.W4. Remember to include articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.• Always use appropriate conjunctions (e.g., “Set

or change the time” is very different from “Set and change the time).

• Don’t use “and/or” – choose the correct one!

• This and that = (a + b)• This or that = (a); (b)• This and/or that = (a + b); (a); (b)

• Enter your ID and press Enter = do both• Switch your computer on or off = do either• Save and/or send a file = do ???

eddie hollon


W5.W5. Standardize your terms and phrasing.• Use each technical term to represent only one

object. Use the same term to refer to objects of the same type.

• Flat-panel display

• Flat-panel monitor

• Flat-screen display

• Flat-screen monitor

• Widescreen display

• Widescreen monitor

eddie hollon


W5.W5. Standardize your terms and phrasing.• Use the same phrase to describe the same

action.

To adjust the display settings, you must access the options menu

Alter the paper handling options by accessing the options menu

At the options menu, you can manipulate the timer settings

To change the display settings, go to the options menu

To change the paper handling settings, go to the options menu

To change the timer settings, go to the options menu

eddie hollon


W5.W5. Standardize your terms and phrasing.• Develop terminology guides and style guides to

support your standards (or adopt existing style guides, dictionaries, and standards).

• Consider using a controlled vocabulary to limit the number of terms used in your documents.

eddie hollon


W6.W6. Avoid non-technical language when writing technical documents.• Avoid jargon, slang, idioms, and colloquialisms

(i.e., use language that all of your audiences will understand).

Cutting-edge technology. (latest) Machine translation boils down to… (relies on) A handful of hot new features (many popular)

eddie hollon


W6.W6. Avoid non-technical language when writing technical documents.• Use clear, precise language when writing

instructions or when describing things

Use the handy carrying case to store your stuff Twist the object on the back cover…

Use the handy carrying case to store your accessories Twist the screw on the back cover…

eddie hollon

How to How to DesignDesign for Global English Users for Global English Users

D1.D1. Always consider your primary audience and its needs. Then consider your secondary audience and its needs.• Who are your primary readers?• Where will they use your documents?• How will they use your documents?• What problems do they need to solve? • Who are your secondary readers?• How are they different from your primary

readers?

eddie hollon


D2.D2. Design for translation—even if you don’t plan to translate the document.• Translated text may be 30-40% longer than the

original text.• Provide clear navigational aids that don’t

require translation (e.g., use numbers or colored tabs to denote chapters).

• Don’t embed text in your graphics.

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D3.D3. Use a neutral style ingraphics and photos.• Try to include photos or

graphics that are relevant to a global audience.

• Avoid images that are stereotypical or ethnocentric.

Readers associate images with many things:Gender RolesReligionPhysical Challengesand more…

EthnicityAgeCultural MoresNationality/Politics

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D4.D4. Make technical illustrations clear and universal.• Use clear line illustrations that

show single ideas, actions, or assembly steps.

• Be consistent with proportions, orientations, and labels.

• Use standardized or widely-accepted symbols, shapes, and styles to represent objects and actions.

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D5.D5. Avoid offensive colors or designs.• Color has different meanings to many cultures

—choose your combinations carefully.Color Color Pleasant meaningsPleasant meanings Unpleasant meaningsUnpleasant meanings

Red Passion (US), love (Greece), luck (China), truth (India), holiness (Israel)

Death (Mexico), bloodshed (Africa), danger (US)

White Purity (US), leisure (UK), victory (Africa), rebirth (India)

Death (China), mourning (Taiwan)

Black Formality (UK), respect (Mexico), sophistication (US)

Death (UK), grief (Germany), mourning (Brazil)

eddie hollon


D5.D5. Avoid offensive colors or designs.• Use a color palette that coordinates with the

corporate colors.• Avoid gratuitous use of color (e.g., for

“decoration”). It is better to have a blank page in a manual than it is to offend or confuse your audience.

• Research the possible meanings of logos and designs.

eddie hollon

SummarySummary

• Global English is the lingua franca for a large portion of the world’s population.

• The majority of English users in the world are non-native speakers.

• If you write documents to support both global English users and translation, you will create documents that can be understood and used by a larger number of people.

• Design documents with global audiences in mind to enhance usability.

eddie hollon

Thank you for attendingThank you for attending

Creating Technical Documents in English Creating Technical Documents in English for Global Audiencesfor Global Audiences

eddie hollon

ResourcesResources

Graddol, David. English Next. 2006. British Council, UKGraddol, David. The Future of English. 2000. British

Council, UKKohl, John R. The Top Ten Global English Guidelines.

2005. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina, USASingh, Nitish and Pereira, Arun. The Culturally

Customized Web Site: Customizing Web Sites for the Global Marketplace. 2005. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK

The Top Ten Global English Guidelines, is © 2005, SASInstitute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission of SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC

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Creating Technical Documents In English For Global Audiences