Writing for International Readers

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this chapter are to

Establish a perspective on international cultures. Discuss the importance of understanding readers from various cultures. Explain how to interject a cultural variable in the planning process. Provide skills for writing to readers in other cultures. Examine how cultural background affects reaction(s) to graphics.

TEACHING STRATEGIES

Like the previous chapter on communication ethics, this information on international readers can be used in a variety of ways. You can use the differences in perception as a means to get your students to explore their own comfort zones and expectations in terms of truth, power relationships, uncertainty, etc. With today’s mixture of students, you may even be lucky to have some international students who can offer some depth of understanding, as well. Beyond self-reflection, this chapter can be used to add a neat slant on the typical technical writing projects; have students write a set of instructions to an international audience, require students to research different cultural approaches to business and write a recommendations report to a hypothetical boss who is considering overseas expansion, or have students compare the style and design elements of Web pages published in very different countries (Japan and Canada, for example).

Regardless of how you apply the chapter, it really offers a super chance to get students to think about corporate culture. They may be surprised upon graduating and entering the workforce how different their lives become. This surprise can help them feel like they’re finally “growing up,” or it can be a shock as they try to adjust and find a place in a new community of professionals. Asking themselves where they stand on these cultural beliefs can also be a good introductory exercise to brainstorming how these beliefs will shape their audience-centered writing.

We’ve all heard from numerous sources that our world is shrinking—due to the instantaneous and inexpensive communication offered via the Internet and the more widespread ability to travel to foreign countries. The “exotic” nature of considering other cultures and how they intertwine with the professional world can be a nice, thoughtful change from or an intriguing addition to the more run-of-the-mill technical writing assignments.

103

WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES

Here are some ideas for workshop activities to help students learn about writing for international readers covered in Chapter 6.

Traditional Classroom

1. Interview an international student regarding the cultural traditions of his/her country. This can be done via the Web—through e-mail pals or listservs or discussion threads—or by the instructor contacting the on-campus international student association. International students who are new to the English language benefit from conversation partners who have English as their primary language. The practice helps these new students master the language, feel more comfortable, and make new acquaintances. Pair up your students with conversation partners for a substantive amount of time, maybe as much as four 30-minute meetings over a two- to four-week period. Encourage students to use their chat time to find out about cultural practices in the international student’s home country. Make sure to emphasize to your students, however, that the time together should benefit both participants—it should not be a time of grueling interview questions for the international student. A more formal approach to this can take place via the Web, where students can find cyber pen pals in other countries and interview them regarding cultural practices. Remind online students of the time differentiation and of potential language barriers.

2. Interview a professional about international business practices. Students may do this individually or in groups, and they may interview professors or professionals who they know or who they have found for this assignment. If the relationship with the interviewee is just for the assignment, make sure the students use excellent interview etiquette by contacting the interviewee ahead of time, brainstorming a specific set of (open-ended) questions, and conducting the interview in a way that is most conscientious of the interviewee’s time and trouble. Remember that e-mail interviews may be an excellent choice in this situation.

3. Brainstorm how a persuasive document would be tailored to a specific international audience. Assign student teams to plan a highly persuasive proposal aimed at a specific international audience (an engineering firm VP in Mexico or a research funding grant committee in Japan, for example). Have them brainstorm how their proposal content, graphics, design, and style will differ in light of the audience’s cultural background. Some online or library research into different cultural traditions may be helpful.

4. Gather three published articles (or books or reputable Web sites) concerned with how cultural practices affect international business in a particular country. For example, students (or small teams) might research the impact of cultural differences on business practices in Central America, Russia, or China. If done individually, let students form small discussion groups according to country or region and discuss their findings.

104

Computer Classroom

1. Compare the content, style, and design of an internationally based Web site to one of a similar company based in the United States. Have students find two Web sites for similar-type businesses (research, retail, food service, travel, etc.). Encourage them to look carefully at details of the site. Do the style and design follow the cultural differences described in the text? If so, how? If not, where do students see the divergence? Does the Web site seem to be written by an international audience but for an American reader?

2. Contribute to a discussion of where your perspectives fit into the continuums presented in the reading. Assign students to small teams with specified discussion threads, listservs, chat areas, or e-mail lists. Allow them to explore their own beliefs through online discussion. (This will often promote a more thoughtful approach than sitting down in person because it takes longer and putting thoughts in writing is done with more deliberation than when just speaking back and forth.) As instructor, you may need to provide occasional encouragement, follow-up thoughts or questions, or redirection to keep the conversation going. Encourage student-to-student discussion, and try to coach from the sidelines.

3. Using the descriptions in the chapter, do some online role-playing in terms of international perspectives. Have pairs or small teams write a letter of complaint, proposal rationale, or job application letter together. One student should be assigned to interpret the whole interaction and respond in accordance with the cultural perspectives of another country. See how this added perspective shapes the document development.

WRITING PROJECTS

This chapter can serve as the central tenant of an assignment or as an addition to add a new level of depth to more run-of-the-mill work. Throughout a semester, you can even use it in both capacities. Here are some ideas for a variety of projects related to Chapter 6.

Traditional Assignments 1. Write a report describing cultural practices in the country or region of your choice

and comparing them to American perspectives. This assignment can be an extension of the fifth workshop activity above or stand alone. Make sure that students check for information availability before committing to a specific country or region. Think broadly in terms of sources; a student who supplements two good articles with an analysis of two good Web pages in his country will fare just as well as a student who has four good articles or a student who has two articles and an extensive interview.

2. Write a persuasive proposal aimed at an international audience. Continuing with the context described in the fourth workshop activity above, have students work through the

105

proposal. The proposal context could be up to the students (let them apply it to their specific field interests), or you can assign the proposal purpose.

3. Write a memo reporting on the results of your interview(s) with international students and/or professionals. Again an extension of the workshop activity described above, this can be nicely woven together with the first or second writing projects above. Remember to encourage students to provide detail and thoughtful analysis, not just generalizations or a Q&A transcript (unless these are what you want!). Quotations, examples, or illustrations will make the report much more concrete and applicable.

Distance Learning Assignments

1. Plan, conduct, and report on an interview with a current professional who works with an international audience/partner/client. This project may be wonderfully easy and interesting or very difficult, all depending upon the availability of interviewees and the time students are given to complete the interviews. Students can brainstorm questions about audiences, purposes, cultural practices, even technology and business practices in small, online teams. Remind them about interview etiquette, including the need to contact the professional ahead of time for permission to interview him/her, the helpfulness of thoughtfully organizing questions, and the advantages/disadvantages of different interview media (phone, in-person, e-mail, chat room). Emphasize the importance of putting the professional’s obligations and valuable time ahead of everything else. Have them write thank-you notes to the professional as a follow-up exercise, and, if possible, send the professional a copy of the report. If this project is conducted over several weeks, you can also require a post-interview/pre-writing progress report. If interviewee response is poor, students can fall back on published information regarding culture and business.

2. Participate in an online discussion of cultural perspectives and differences; summarize your team’s main points and special insights. Have small online student groups use an e-mail list, listserv, chat room, or discussion thread to explore their own cultural perspectives and how these will shape their own professional lives. Remind them to explore all the characteristics listed in the reading, from Individualism versus Collectivism to Masculine versus Feminine. Emphasize the difference between what they expect as future professionals and where on the spectrums they are now. They may consider how they will or will not have to adjust their attitudes to work within their future fields. At the conclusion of the discussion, have the students write an independent summary of their team exploration, highlighting interesting points as possible.

3. Locate a Web site designed for an American audience, and then recommend changes to the Web site to make it appropriate for a particular culture or country. Have students select a Web site clearly intended for an American audience. Then have them select an audience from another culture or country for whom they may redesign the Web site. The students must research the culture and compile a list of communication guidelines for that culture. You may then have students use the information to write a recommendation report for you in which they discuss how the Web site should be changed to accommodate the new audience, or you may have them actually redesign the

106

Web site and submit the HTML document and perhaps the recommendation report if you would like to combine the two documents for this assignment.

RELEVANT LINKS Untangling the Web: Going International

(www.eeicommunications.com/eye/utw/96feb.html) Appreciating Cultural Differences Makes Good Business Sense

(www.media3pub.com/bizonline/articles/culture.html) The International Communication Association (http://www.icahdq.org) Nancy Hoft Consulting: What Are the Most Important Skills for Creating International

Technical Communication? (http://www.world-ready.com/stcorlando.htm) Nancy Hoft Consulting: Sources in International Communication: An Annotated

Bibliography (http://www.world-ready.com/biblio.htm)

WORKSHEETS

You may wish to reproduce the following worksheets for use in class or as homework.

107

International Reader Portrait Worksheet

Context NotesTopic & Purpose

Audience(s)

International InfluencesAudience’s Home Country/Region

Views of Individualism/Collectivism

Views of Business/Private Relationships

Views of Distance between Social Ranks

Views of Universal/Relative Truth

Views of Expected Content of the Text

Views of Uncertainty

Views of Power, Value of Time

Views of Masculine/Feminine

108

International Communication Planning Checklist

1. Document audience?

2. Age(s)? Interests? Education? Job Responsibilities? Title?

3. Attitude(s) toward you? Toward your topic/purpose?

4. Specific audience characteristics as noticed in prior communications?

5. Non-U.S. culture characteristics? Oriented toward individual or group? Separate business and personal relationships? Value success of individuals or groups? See truth as universal or situation-specific? Want entire message in document text? Value time and efficiency?

6. Ability to read English?

7. Situation that led to you write this document?

8. Intended purpose? Desired resulting action or outcome?

9. Choices necessary about Structure (inductive/deductive)? Organization of ideas? Degree of specificity? Type of information disclosed about you/your organization? Stylistic choices (word, sentence, paragraph levels)?

109

Culture is . . .

A shared system of meanings, derived from the environment in which people live.

Examples:

A mind-set, people’s response to their physical and human environment; a survival mechanism passed from generation to generation.

Examples:

A transmitted system of values, ideas, and behaviors; a set of common understandings.

Examples:

110

OVERHEADS

The figures on the following pages may be reproduced as overhead transparencies or simply shown on a computer. The following set of discussion questions associated with each of the figures may be used to elicit student reflections on the concepts.

Discussion Questions for Figure 6-1

Where do your values fit? Where will your typical audience’s values fit? How can you tailor your writing to address these audience traits?

Discussion Questions for Figure 6-2

What evidence of the above have you seen or heard in the news lately? Will you have to work against your American upbringing to adopt any or these

perspectives? Brainstorm and share some examples that apply these perspectives to working-world

situations.

Discussion Questions for Figure 6-3

Do you see any trends in the relationships among data? What fundamentals of culture do you think drive these differences? Do you think a 2010 survey would show any significant differences? Why or why not?

Discussion Questions for Figure 6-4

Look at the sample U.S., Pakistani, and Mexican business letters in Chapter 6. Mark the places in the letters where the sections identified here are located. Discuss how each letter accomplishes its goals: For instance, what kind of language does the letter use as it presents its message or seeks to build rapport? What tone does the letter take? What strategy does the letter use to develop its point?

Discussion Questions for Figure 6-5

Review the rationale behind some of these dos and don’ts. How might some of these pieces of advice also be applicable to intra-national

communications (American to American)? Brainstorm some examples of how these guidelines have been used successfully or

unfortunately ignored. What were the ramifications?

111

International Audiences and Cultural Differences

Achievement Emphasis

Individual----------•----------•----------•--------Collective

Time

Hurried-------•----------•----------•---------Slower Paced

Professional Relationships

Businesslike-------•----------•----------•-------Personal

Power Relationships

Questioned-------•----------•---------Highly Respected

Truth

Relative-------•----------•----------•----------•---Absolute

Figure 6-1: International Audiences and Cultural Differences

Perspectives for Success with International Audiences

Cultures vary, but one is not superior

Audience ground rules are your guide

U.S. culture is dramatically different

Everyone is ethnocentric, thinking his/her culture is best

Figure 6-2: Perspectives for Success with International Audiences

Sample Cultural Dimension Scores*

Country Individualism Power Distance

Uncertainty Avoiding

Masculinity

USA 91 40 46 62G. Britain 89 35 35 66S. Africa 65 49 49 63Israel 54 13 81 47Japan 46 54 92 95Iran 41 58 59 43Mexico 30 81 82 69Taiwan 17 58 69 45Panama 11 95 86 44* From Greert Hofstede, Cultures and organizations: Software of the Mind (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991).

Figure 6-3: Sample Cultural Dimension Scores

Three Examples of Organizing According to Reader Expectations

U.S. Business Letter News up front Support in body Requested action in closing

Pakistani Business Letter Rapport building first Suggested purpose last

Mexican Business Letter Introduction to establish rapport Background development News in the middle More development follows Conclusion reestablishes rapport

Figure 6-4: Three Examples of Organizing According to Reader Expectations

Culture & Graphics Guidelines

Do… Use arrows or numbers to show directions of

flow in graphics Think about which side of the page is the more

prominent placement Use plain typefaces Use graphics that are internationally

recognized Use black and white rather than colors if

possible Use gender-neutral clip art and other

representations Determine how fluent in English your audience

is, and write accordingly Use page design carefully Expect common formats to vary with cultures

Don’t… Use acronyms, abbreviations, jargon, slang,

and colloquialisms Attempt to use humor Use graphics that provoke strongly different

interpretations in different cultures Use graphics that depict hand gestures

Figure 6-5: Culture & Graphics Guidelines