Controlled Language and Translation Memory Technology: A Perfect Match to Save Translation Cost

It goes without saying that controlled language makes it easier not only to understand a text, but also to translate it into another language, thereby reducing translation cost. This positive effect can be even more increased by the use of professional translation tools. By "translation tools", I do not mean machine translation systems such as Logos or Systran, but rather terminology database and translation memory applications. Typical examples of such tools are MultiTerm '95 Plus and Translator's Workbench.

Brockmann, Daniel. TC-FORUM (1997). Articles>Language>Localization>Controlled Vocabulary

Controlled Languages in Industry

A Controlled Language is a form of language with special restrictions on grammar, style, and vocabulary usage. Typically, the restrictions are placed on technical documents, including instructions, procedures, descriptions, reports, and cautions. One might consider formal written English to be the ultimate Controlled Language: a form of English with restricted word and grammar usages, but a standard too broad and too variable for use in highly technical domains. Whereas formal written English applies to society as a whole, CLs apply to the specialized sublanguages of particular domains.

Wojcik, Richard H. and James E. Hoard. Oregon Health and Science University (2005). Articles>Language>Technical Editing>Controlled Vocabulary

Controlled Siemens Documentary German and TopTrans

The following paper is a machine-translated text from German into English. And at the same time it explains the technology applied.

Lehrndorfer, Anne. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Language>Localization

Coping with Babel: How to Localize XML

Outlines pitfalls that are often encountered by authors, programmers and localizers when first using XML, as well as ways to avoid these problems. Following Zydron’s advice can save developers time, money and headaches, and can help them reach out effectively to the world.

Zydron, Andrzej. LISA (2004). Articles>Language>Localization>XML

Cost Control for Online Help Localization  

Localizing a large online help system often represents the most expensive part of a localization project. However, when international customers or markets are a product’s lifelines, eliminating the online help translation is not an option, especially when customers have come to expect it. Managers of online help localization are left with a paradoxical mandate: Keep localizing, but quit spending (so much).

Kock, Benjamin C. Intercom (2003). Articles>Documentation>Localization>Language

Creating Effective Translations

Use active voice, because it is easier to understand. If the material is being translated into a language which frequently uses passive voice, such as German, the translator will make the accommodation for that language.

Wright, Ami. Boston Broadside (1997). Articles>Language>Translation>Localization

Critical Discourse Analysis  

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is a type of discourse analytical research that primarily studies the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text and talk in the social and political context. With such dissident research, critical discourse analysts take explicit position, and thus want to understand, expose, and ultimately resist social inequality.

van Dijk, Teun A. Discourse in Society (2001). Articles>Language>Methods>Discourse Analysis

Cultural Colonialism - Is It Real?

I believe technical writers and translators should focus on the real needs of their customers. Any attempt to control language by force of law, internal regulations, or nationalistic feelings that do not reflect reality would be as damaging as adopting foreign, synthetic words for fashion.

Destro, Delio. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Cultural Theory

Current Issues in Software Internationalisation  

The trend toward globalisation of products and services has brought a strong economic imperative to the development of general methods for the localisation of software to different cultural environments. While ad hoc, bolt-on localisation may satisfy immediate commercial objectives, its extension to multiple locales is not cost-effective and an integrated strategy is needed. In this more sustainable approach, known as software internationalisation, the requirements of disparate markets are addressed during analysis and system design, with the architecture developed so that localisation to a particular environment is straightforward, and involves minimal re-engineering. Given the limited size of the Australasian market, detailed attention to the technical issues of internationalisation is of critical importance to the future of software development in the region, as is the availability of graduates adequately prepared for this environment. Thus motivated, this paper examines the state of play in a number of aspects of application level software internationalisation, with our focus the core research challenges of the next few years, and the consequences of these trends for the software engineering curriculum.

Hogan, James M., Chris Ho-Stuart and Binh Pham. Queensland University of Technology. Articles>Language>Localization>Software

Deking for Dignity

Deke, an abbreviation of decoy, is Canadian hockey slang meaning to deceive (usually a defensive player) with a fake shot or movement. The term is frequently used outside of the hockey context.

Goldberger, Dalya. Writer's Block. Articles>Language>Writing

Demystifying Unicode

The concept of the Unicode character set began in 1987, thanks to Joe Becker from Xerox and Mark Davis from Apple. The following year, Becker, Davis, and Lee Collins (currently of Xerox; formerly of Apple) began investigating the design and soon made the case for Han unification to ANSI, ISO. Unicode is, indeed, based on the historic evolution of the Chinese character set (Han). Several people from various high tech companies began holding bimonthly meetings in 1989. By the end of 1990 , an initial, full-review draft was created. In 1991, the group became the Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organization incorporated as Unicode, Inc. Version 1.0 became available to the public for the first time in 1992.

Vine, Andrea and Bill Hall. SDL International (1998). Articles>Language>Localization>Unicode

Designing a Multilingual Document: Lessons for the Manager  

During a very brief 6-month period of 1993, a small group of highly focused individuals undertook a major redesign of a critical piece of the Sun Microsystems Computer Company hardware documentation. We took the hardware installation document from a single language. 100 page book, written in a very 'chatty' style, to a terse, modular, highly graphical, and most importantly, multilingual document of 33 pages. Managing that effort was an exciting challenge, filled with many lessons that are described in this paper.

Hall, Peggy Traughber. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Language>Localization

Designing for a Non-English Audience

I've discovered that foreign language typesetting can be very challenging - even when using the right software and platform, or having the help of a very experienced foreign typesetter. Through solving the problems encountered in the process, I also developed a new appreciation for simple, 'internationalized' designs that are much easier to 'localize' than others. Many problems can be avoided if the graphic designer keeps in mind that the document may be later translated into other languages. Sometimes, an attractive and very professional design in English can be a nightmare for other languages.

Bratu, Felicia. WTB Language Group. Articles>Language>Localization

Designing Hypertext: What We Can Learn from Linguistics and Discourse Research  

Hypertext are implied in complex linear texts like literary analysis. These texts 'model' hypertext nodes and links in their linguistic properties and constitute a system of semantic messages and cohesive ties. A conceptual bridge between conventional and hyper-texts can be constructed for technical and scientific applications based on these linguistic properties. Linguistic analysis can also serve as a cohesive construct extending to visual and auditory displays in hyperdocuments. Hypertext instructional designers are challenged to impose comparable mappings as analogues to these cohesive relationships to test memory, distance, and other variables.

Eiler, Mary Ann. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Language>Linguistics>Semantic

Designing Multilingual Documents: Some Principles, Observations, and Guidelines  

This paper summarizes some basic problems associated with designing, producing, and delivering multiple languages within one document, and our approach to resolving those problems, 'Multilingual in this context is defined as containing one or more languages within a page design, as opposed to 'internationalized' (containing universal symbolic or pictorial text) or 'serially translated' (repeated translated content) documents.

Lorence, Paul. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Language>Localization

Did Somebody Say 'Duh'?

The year 2000 is a big duh for computers. But 2020 is when today's kids will rule the universe, as they already seem to rule the language. We'll have a State of the Union address consisting of 'duh!' with a rebuttal of 'DUH-uh' followed by the analysis, 'Excuse me?' I'm not sure whether this is a bad thing, given the present state of adult rhetoric and the occasional charms of juve-talk, or kid-lish. Concise and animated, the sardonic/ moronic idiom of school kids can slice through our stale officialese. Some of it -- the more cuddly terms, not the hard-edged hip-hop -- tickles that laugh-spot recently located in the brain. Yet, when millions of grown-ups, even those who communicate for a living, start aping little people in baggies, one has to fear for the range of human expression.

Plotnik, Arthur. Editorial Eye, The (2003). Articles>Language>Editing

Different Types of Controlled Languages

There has been much discussion on the topic of Controlled Language (CL) in the past issues of TC-Forum. With several years of experience as a translator, as a trainer of Controlled English writing and translation post-editing, and as a developer of Machine Translation (MT) and Translation Memory (TM) systems, I would like to clarify some points that do not seem to have been presented in other articles. These points do not indicate all of the details of possible CL systems, but I hope that they open up the discussion to cover both past and recent developments in CL system and application research and development.

Allen, Jeff. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Localization>Controlled Vocabulary

The Direct Road  

Firms that export to the USA are faced with the challenge of having to deliver accompanying TD that meets the requirements of that country. This is true not only in legal or safety-relevant terms, but also in terms of the language used. Production and translation of multi-lingual documentation are part of an overall process. Even while creating the source text, the technical writer must keep in mind the translation into the target language. Unambiguous rendering, consistency in the terminology, wording that is appropriate for the target group and reader-friendliness are some of the highest criteria which would justify the use of a controlled language.

Féneyrol, Christian. tekom (2005). (German) Articles>Language>Localization>Controlled Vocabulary

Do We Really Speak the Same Language?

At least England and America speak mostly the same language. What happens when we translate foreign languages and add what we think are correct nuances or words? Sometimes even the best intentions can go a bit stale, as witnessed by some of these translation guffaws that prove we're not alone in our confusion or mistakes. Even the big guns can misfire. I've inserted by own comments at the end of each item.

Gleason, Ruthmeri. STC Williamette Valley (2002). Articles>Language>TC

The Effect of Inductively Versus Deductively Organized Text on American and Japanese Readers      

When document designers localize documents for readers in other cultures, they should consider what text organization will best suit those readers. The study presented here examines American and Japanese readers’ comprehension of and preference for expository text that contains a thesis and is organized either inductively or deductively. The results revealed that while Americans performed equally well with either organizational structure Japanese readers recalled more information from inductively organized text. The implications for document designers in English and Japanese speaking countries are discussed.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Waka Fukuoka. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Articles>Language>Rhetoric

Electronic Resources and Aids for Writing, Editing, and Translation  

The popularity of online dictionaries is growing, so new criteria for evaluating these reference works should be established to help technical communicators evaluate their choices. These criteria could come from the following sources: (1) the criteria that have been used for the evaluation of printed dictionaries, (2) the criteria derived from the characteristics of the electronic form of the online dictionaries, and (3) the studies of the ways technical communicators use online dictionaries. This paper addresses all three of these issues.

Menagarishvili, Olga and William O. Coggin. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Language>Software>Assessment

Eleven Commandments of Localization

Rapid global acceptance of ISO 9000 ensures that quality must be defined in each customer's terms.

Winters, Elaine. bena.com (2003). Articles>Language>Localization>ISO 9000

English for Specific Purposes: The Development of Technical Communication in China's Universities    

Along with China’s rapid development in science and economy, technical communication between Chinese and Westerners is becoming more and more important. The purpose of this study is to promote the teaching of technical communication in China by introducing it into China’s college English for specific purposes. Postgraduate classes from grades 2001 to 2004 at Capital University of Medical Sciences in Beijing were assigned to study English for Technical Communication, a course that integrated the concepts of technical communication into English for specific purposes. In the survey of Grade 2004, over 96% of the graduates claimed that it was necessary for them to study English for Technical Communication; more than 90% of the students confirmed that the course was practical; and 90% of them claimed that the course had significantly improved their abilities in technical communication. Therefore, introducing technical communication in English for specific purposes would be a feasible way to develop the teaching of technical communication in China.

Duan, Ping and Weiping Gu. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Language>Regional>China