A Programming Primer  

The easiest way to gain the respect of programmers is to learn to speak their language. If you can do that, they’ll inevitably recognize the effort you've invested in learning to appreciate their work and will treat you as an equal thereafter. With that goal in mind, I present this glossary of key programming terms you should master.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2004). Articles>Language>Programming>Glossary

Project Management in Technology-Enabled Translation  

In today’s world of fast-paced production and even faster communication, the demand for translation is growing at a phenomenal rate. As a result of the big Silicon bang, multilingual reproduction of software, web sites, robotics manuals, and a multitude of other technical linguistic materials, is in high demand. This demand translates into dollars, marks, and yen for translation companies around the world: more words equal more money. The role of computer-aided translation (CAT) tools is increasing due to an ever-growing demand from international clients, coupled with an insufficient number of human translators. To handle the complex technical issues surrounding translation, multi-skilled project managers are becoming increasingly important to the success of projects.

Driggs, Amy L. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Language>Localization

Punctuation by Languages

Not too long ago, I was managing a translation project in Access (English to Greek) when I discovered that the translator hadn't used question marks similar to those used in the English source. Instead of question marks, he was using semicolons. I was sure that this was a mistake and that the computer was acting strange again. But it wasn't a mistake. In the Greek language, the question mark is like a semicolon, and the semicolon is instead a raised period. I've started to check on other projects as well, and I've learned quite a few interesting things about punctuation and their separators.

Bratu, Felicia. WTB Language Group (2005). Articles>Language>Localization>Grammar

¿Qué Traducción? Los Métodos de Traducción en el Análisis Contemporáneo

Todavía no existe uniformidad por indicar un método universal ni una explicación al fenómeno de la entropía, la fatal pérdida de significado que ocurre siempre que pasamos de un texto a otro. Tradicionalmente, para superar este obstáculo, se ha intentado encontrar aquella equivalencia dinámica de la que habla Nida, guardando el mensaje y no la forma del original.

Francesconi, Armando. Translation Journal (2005). (Spanish) Articles>Language>Translation

Reducing Costs and Maximizing Localization ROI  

The percentage of revenue that companies are generating from global markets is increasing rapidly. Not only does the global nature of sales help to increase overall corporate revenue, it also aids in building global brand equity, maintaining competitiveness against global competition and reducing geographical market reliance. In today's challenging economic environment, though, international efforts are often given low priority within the corporation. With this backdrop, localization teams are forced to do more with less in order to meet global market needs. Consequently, achieving a high Return On Investment (ROI) from localization initiatives is more important than ever.

Shapiro, Tom. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Language>Localization

Reducing Translation and Localisation Costs

These days, staff in localisation departments spend their time essentially on project management, translation and quality assurance. However, by using one of the emerging systems that integrate content creation, localisation and content management into an efficient system, many of these activities can be automated or avoided all together. We are now seeing the emergence of technical content control systems that can be used to improve the turn-around time, translation costs and the quality of the translations themselves. In recent projects, where these systems have been implemented, organisations have seen substantial savings in localisation costs, with word count reductions and translation costs of around 30%.

Pratt, Ellis. Cherryleaf (2004). Articles>Language>Localization

The Relevance of Selected English-Usage Principles    

STC members (382) rated the relevance of 20 selected English-usage principles that were generally left unedited in a previous study. All 20 principles were rated as important to the professional writing of STC members, although ranking differences occurred. This article presents the findings of this study along with recommendations for STC members.

Perry, Devern J. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Language>Writing

Retronyms: Looking Back on Progress

Technology changes the way we live. It also affects the way we speak. As the gadgets we make and use grow more complex, we’re sneaking in complexities into the words we use too. Like ‘printed book’. What was always called just a ‘book’ (hard cover or paperback) is now called a printed book, simply because now we have e-books. What was once simply a guitar is now an acoustic guitar, because of the growing popularity of electric guitars.

Dalvi, Meghashri. Indus (2003). Articles>Language>Technology

Revisiting Plain Language    

This essay reviews resources related to the plain language movement and examines criticism of the movement in the context of plain language resources and the information design field.

Mazur, Beth. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Language>Writing

SALTing the Alphabet Soup

The language industries are rapidly embracing the use of translation tools such as automatic terminology lookup, terminology mining, terminology consistency checkers, and machine translation. Authoring tools that involve access to a termbase are also appearing, at least in the context of controlled language, but will over time no doubt also be used in the authoring processes where the syntax is less controlled.

Wright, Sue Ellen. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Localization>Machine Translation

Scientific Jargon, Good and Bad    

Scientific and technical jargon--specialized vocabulary, usually Latinate--plays a vital role in scientific and technical communication. But its proper use continues to be a point of discussion because of our concern with audience adaptation, rhetorical exigence, rhetorical purpose, and ethics. We've focused on teaching students--and on convincing scientists, engineers, and other writers/speakers--to gear their specialized language to the recipients of their communication, to the occasion calling for their communication, to what they wish to accomplish through their communication, and to the ethical goals of safety, helpfulness, empowerment, and truth. These are exactly the sorts of things we should be doing. My contribution to this conversation is a reinforce ment and, I hope, an extension of the argument that we should also be teaching and convincing students and professionals: 1) to fully appreciate what makes jargon either good or bad; 2) to carefully distinguish jargon usage from other aspects of scientific and technical style; and 3) to recognize that in every context, even in communication among experts, jargon should be used judiciously--that is, in the most helpful, least taxing way. Jargon, i.e. scientific terminology, is essential for designating new entities for which the language has no name. It makes for economy and for the accuracy and precision required in scientific research [1, p. 319]. Does the excessive use of technical terms impede the advance of science? I think it does. It kills the grace and purity of the literature by means of which the discoveries of science are made known [2, p. 116]. What if it should turn out that we are all jargon makers and jargon users, and that jargon is necessarily involved in the growth and change of language? That we are consumers of jargon as we are eaters of sliced bread? [3, p. 3]. To attempt a definition of jargon threatens unusual dangers [4, p. 69]. The above epigraphs are glimpses into discussions about both the uses of jargon and its definitions. My article enters in on such discussions, offering a point of view about the definitions and about the proper uses of jargon.

Hirst, Russel. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2003). Articles>Language>Scientific Communication

Semiotics at Work: Technical Communication and Translation in a Multilingual Corporate Environment    

In this paper an attempt is made to find a unifying approach to the study of the translator’s praxis, assuming that translation is guided by certain, recognizable, semiotic processes. Computational, corpus-based methods intended to aid in the research of large text bases are introduced. Alignment of text segments from files in different languages contained in a corpus, where these text files are known to be mutual translations is described. Text encoding in order to allow comparison of the results of translation studies performed by different scholars is also demonstrated. One goal is to establish qualitative and quantitative variables, on the sentential as well as the textual level, which would permit generalizations about the concrete procedures performed by professional translators in authentic work situations, e.g. in multi-lingual corporate environments.

Larsson, Arne and Magnus Merkel. Linkopings Universitet (2002). Articles>Language>Localization

Settings and the Institutional Organization of Language  

Discursive activity in any setting (classrooms, coffee bars, laboratories, greenhouses, or the virtual settings of the Internet), occurs within a semiotic system, and it is useful to think of settings in this way. And, because I've be recently integrating an Activity Theory perspective into my teaching of qualitative research en methods, I wanted to describe the socially-situated organization of talk-in- context in Minneapolis's neighborhood coffee houses. I'm very pleased that Beth Sokolowski's drawings capture the typified activities indigenous to the settings and demonstrate what an important role the setting plays.

Berkenkotter, Carol. University of Minnesota (1998). Articles>Language>Assessment>Cognitive Psychology

Shifty Adverbs

Decide where to place the adverb in parentheses in these sentences to best advantage -- for the sound of it and for best sense. That is, place it near the word in the sentence you wish to emphasize. One sentence doesn't involve a decision about placement next to the verb at all.

Stoughton, Mary. Editorial Eye, The (2003). Articles>Language>Style Guides

Should I Use Machine Translation?

Machine translation is somewhat like the child who, when good, was very nice to have around but who, when bad, was just awful. For some guidance in deciding whether machine translation is likely to succeed in your particular environment.

Melby, Alan K. TTT (1995). Articles>Language>Translation>Machine Translation

Software Localization in the Windows Environment

Atsushi's presentation focused on two areas of Windows software localization: the internationalization of source code, and the actual localization of the user interface.

Kaneko, Atsushi. SDL International. Articles>Language>Localization>Software

Speaking Ebonics in a Professional Context: The Role of Ethos/Source Credibility and Perceived Sociability of the Speaker    

Within a theoretical context of speech accommodation theory, this study follows Lambert et al. (1960) matched-guise technique. Seventy-two African-American students at a mid-south university listened to and evaluated a tape-recorded excerpt of a speech given by Jesse Jackson at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. The first version of the speech was translated into Ebonics. After students listened to the first four-minute speech in Ebonics, students then proceeded to answer a questionnaire concerning the ethos/source credibility and perceived sociability of the speaker. Next, students listened to the same audiotaped speech (given by the same speaker), except the text of the speech was translated (and subsequently delivered) in Standard English. The students then rated this second speaker on those same ethos/source credibility and sociability scales. The speaker who used Standard English was viewed as more credible (i.e., more competent and having a strong character) and sociable than the Ebonics speaker. Both of these scores were significant at the p .05 level. Future research replicating these results is urged across other African-American samples.

Payne, Kay, Joe Downing and John Christopher Fleming. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2000). Articles>Language>Workplace>Ethnicity

Still Another Rule?  

Bush questions the wisdom of rigid grammatical rules that do not take into consideration the complexities of English.

Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2000). Articles>Language>Style Guides

String-Related Issues (part of Globalization and Localization Issues)

This article discusses common occurring problems related to string resources include the text that appears in an application's user interface and tips on how to avoid them.

Microsoft (2004). Articles>Language>Localization

Stylistic Differences in Multilingual Administrative Forms: A Cross-Linguistic Characterization    

This article studies the stylistic variation in the design of administrative forms in three European countries--the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain-- through the linguistic analysis of a small corpus of multilingual administrative forms dealing with pension benefits and other kinds of allowances written in four different languages--English, Spanish, Italian, and German. The analysis included both monolingual administrative forms--written in English, Spanish, and Italian--and bilingual Italian/German and Italian/ English forms. The purpose of the study was to search for cross-linguistic regularities in the design of administrative forms which would enable their characterization as a genre, both in terms of its staging structure and of the linguistic and formatting features of the elements which configure it as such. The analysis performed on the small corpus yielded interesting stylistic differences and tendencies in the design of comparable administrative forms in the different countries, characterized by different socio-cultural backgrounds. It is suggested that these differences are a reflection of the social attitudes of the different administrations toward their citizens.

Lavid, Julia and Maite Taboada. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2004). Articles>Language>Business Communication>Forms

Synonym Rings and Authority Files

In part 3 of the continuing series on controlled vocabularies and faceted classification, the authors explain synonym rings and authority files and how their use can bridge the gap between natural language and complex controlled vocabularies (taxonomies and thesauri).

Fast, Karl, Fred Leise and Mike Steckel. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Information Design>Indexing>Language

Taking Words to the Bank

Lexicographers call a collection of writing and speech samples used to analyze words, meanings, grammar, and usage a corpus. Since 1991, Cobuild (a special division of HarperCollins Publishers in Glasgow) and the University of Birmingham, England, have been working together to assemble an electronic corpus. The intent was to acquire contemporary (post-1975) samples that illustrate the everyday English most people read, write, and speak.

Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Articles>Language>Linguistics

Technical Communication and Cross Cultural Miscommunication: Usability and the Outsourcing of Writing      

Writing is a culturally situated activity. When writing is outsourced to other cultures, because of a lack of knowledge of the users' culture and also because of influences from the writer's local culture, those doing the writing and designing, despite various strategies adopted for overcoming the disadvantage of not knowing the users' culture, may not know how to culturally situate writing. It is, therefore, important that bicultural people, who know the users' culture, as well as the culture of those doing the outsourced work, give writing teams feedback about the users' culture. Doing so can make outsourced writing more culturally situated.

Jeyeraj, Joseph. IEEE PCS (2005). Articles>Language>Localization>Offshoring

Technical Writers Gain Control

In the field of technical writing the use of Controlled Language (CL) attracts more and more public interest. However, the merits of controlling language in the context of technical documentation are not uncontroversial.

Reuther, Ursula. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Localization>Technical Writing