2.

Translation and Technical Communication

In this module

This module discusses translation from the point of view of technical

communication and it will show that we need to consider scientific and
technical translation as part of a much larger communicative environment
which is based on the development and dissemination of scientific and
technical information. This chapter will describe what technical communication
is and you will discover what type of information is communicated and how it is
presented in different texts. By the end of the chapter, you will have learned
about the key features of typical technical texts and how they affect
translation. You will also learn how the target audience is the most important
variable when communicating technical information and you will learn useful
strategies for understanding their needs.

2.1 Introduction

It is easy to think of translation in isolation, as if it were an island completely

cut off from the shore and everything around it. We can forget that translation,
for all of the theorizing, debating and, sometimes, arguing, is essentially a type
of communication. Even then, its not the only type of communication. Many of
the issues involved in translation are not unique to translation; they are shared
by other forms of communication too.

In practice, there are almost always several ways of looking at a problem, and
simply by holding something upside-down or sideways we can examine it from
a completely different angle and gain a completely new insight into how it
works.

By remembering that translation is just one of many types of communication,

we allow ourselves not only to better understand what it is we are doing but
also to access different bodies of knowledge, knowledge which is developed
and added to by communicators from other areas who are working on similar
problems, albeit from different perspectives. This gives us an insight which is
both highly relevant and useful for our work as translators of technical
documentation. When we talk about scientific and technical translation, our
closest and most helpful neighbour is technical communication.

2.2 What is technical communication?

Producing technical communication involves creating, designing, and

transmitting technical information so that people can understand it easily and
use it safely, effectively, and efficiently.

(Markel 2001:4)
Any time you read a text that contains technical information which either
explains how something works, how to do something or which helps you to
understand technological concepts, the chances are that you are reading a
product of technical communication. Whether you are reading a science
textbook, a user guide for your car, an environmental impact statement, a
journal article or even a health and safety leaflet, you are reading a technical
document.

Technical communication, as the above definition suggests, seeks to help an

audience understand a subject or to carry out a procedure, it helps people
perform things quickly and safely, and may even help readers avoid dangerous
situations or making mistakes when using something. Technical communication
does this by combining text and graphics with an understanding of how to
present information in such a way that what should be complex information is
readily available and easily accessible for a particular audience in a particular
context.

Technical documents are generally produced by two types of people: technical

professionals and technical communicators. Technical professionals are
typically the subject experts who develop the data or knowledge being
communicated in the texts in the first place. In many cases, these engineers,
technicians or scientists write their own texts in addition to performing their
traditional engineer tasks. Some estimates put the proportion of time scientists
and engineers spend on writing at about 40% (Markel 2001:4). This is a lot
when you consider that their primary training is in science and technology and
not necessarily in communication. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that
many do not even want to spend this amount of time writing and that they may
be doing so because they have to, not because they want to.

The other producer of technical documentation is the technical communicator.

This person is the full-time communication professional whose job it is to
produce and communicate technical information. Unlike the technical
professional, the technical communicator may not always have the same in-
depth technical knowledge but they will have a much more detailed
understanding of how best to communicate information and are generally
doing the job because they like to write.

To leave this description of who produces technical documentation as it is

would be to omit another equally important producer. Translators are, without
doubt, an essential part of the technical communication environment but they
rarely, if ever, merit a mention in books on technical communication. For
various reasons, most technical documentation will land at some point on a
translators desk and it is up to the translator to deal with this material, to
present it to a new language audience who will treat it as if it were an original
text.
Now the traditional definition of technical communication limits itself almost
exclusively to technical writing and it means that translators are rarely
mentioned in large sections of the literature. More modern definitions proposed
by professional associations such as the Institute for Scientific and Technical
Communicators in the UK and the Society for Technical Communicators in the
USA and by translation researchers such as Schubert (2009), Gpferich (2009)
and Byrne (2006) regard technical communication as a generic umbrella term
which includes translating, editing and illustrating. In this sense, translators are
included in the term technical communicator along with various other
communication professionals. If we think back to the definition of technical
communication given earlier, it is clear that translation has a rightful and
important place in the process.

In practice, this means that technical communication consists of technical

writing which provides the raw materials which translators will translate. To do
this to the best of our ability, we therefore need to know what it is technical
writers do and how they do it. As Schubert (2009:26) points out, the solutions
technical writers opt for when designing and producing texts ultimately
become controlling influences which affect translators work. Herman (1993:12)
nicely sums this up when he says that the principal stylistic goals of technical
writing, are simultaneously those of technical translation and that in order to
be a good technical translator, you need to be a good technical writer. While
the demands and expectations for quality placed on technical writers equally
apply to translators (see Byrne 2007), it is important not to overstate the
similarities between technical writing and technical translation.

As well as the obvious task of writing texts, technical writing involves various
factors such as information design, fonts and typography, graphics, page
layout, and various decisions regarding the type and format of the document.
Most, if not all, of these things are beyond the normal remit of a translator and
cannot be changed during translation. Nevertheless, as translators we can
benefit from understanding the documents writers produce and how they
produce them, as well as from adopting the writing strategies and audience
analysis methods they use.

2.2.1 Generic features of technical communication

Understanding the main features that shape technical communication

There are numerous different types of documents which fall under the category
of technical communication and defining them all would be next to impossible.
In just the same way as the subject material is vast and varied, so too are the
texts used to convey this information. That said, there are certain key features
which are common to most if not all types of technical document and they can
help us appreciate the complexity of the task being performed.
Technical communication addresses specific readers

All technical documents are produced for a specific purpose, whether it is to

help users perform a task, to demonstrate a particular concept, or to provide
sufficient information to allow a decision to be made. In other words, technical
documents can be thought of as task-orientated tools aimed at a particular
group or groups of people. Sometimes the identity of this audience is made
quite clear, for example through specific requests from a client or as a result of
an identified need, and this means a document can be carefully tailored to that
audiences needs. Some documents will be read by multiple audiences, some
of whom may not even be the intended audience, and this may even require
writers to prioritize these audiences and cater for their needs accordingly.
Regardless of how many potential audiences there are, a technical document is
conceived, designed and produced with the needs of a specific group in mind.

Technical communication is a tool

Whether it is performing a task, understanding a concept or making a decision

based on clear facts, the aim of a technical document is to help readers to do
something. Most people will read a technical text not because they enjoy it, but
because they need to in order to do something else. Texts, therefore, are tools,
a means to an end which is outside the text itself. Consequently, the text
should not be the focus of attention. It is not there to entertain nor is it
supposed to be a vehicle for the writers literary talents and aspirations the
aim is to convey the right information to the right people in the right format so
that they can get on with their jobs.

There is, of course, an exception to this general rule and that is the sub-
category of scientific writing. In this category of text, we are communicating a
different type of information, information that is less pragmatic and more
theoretical. Here, writers may need to invent terms for new concepts, use
various rhetorical devices in order to convince readers of the merits of the
information being presented and, particularly in the case of popular science
texts, to entertain them.

In these cases, creativity and literary prowess are often essential in order to
achieve a communicative goal. Imagine trying to describe the concept of a Red
Giant (a type of star) or the Big Bang (a way of explaining the origins of the
universe) without using literary creativity. This dichotomy of function, however,
involves very specific and easily identifiable instances and it does not detract
from the basic premise.

Technical translation is creative too!

Even though technical texts as opposed to scientific texts do not use

ornate, prosaic and fancy language, it does not mean that they are not
creative. The fact that technical language is supposed to be clear,
straightforward and functional places significant constraints on writers and
translators as they try to communicate technical information when the
number of ways in which they can say something is severely limited. By
effectively excluding vast sections of a language which could be used to
nicely explain various complicated ideas, these constraints mean that only
some of the linguistic tools can be used. While the language is restricted,
the information, events and situations it is supposed to convey are not.
Like subtitlers who need to convey large amounts of information in a very
small box measuring just 40 or so characters across, technical writers and
translators who are working with such limited resources need to come up
with some pretty creative solutions in order to get the message across. For
a good example of creativity in technical translation, see Scenarios and
examples on page 170.

Technical communication is often produced collaboratively

Unlike letters or essays, which are usually the work of one single person,
technical documents are frequently the product of several people working
together. In certain companies, documents may be produced by teams of
technical writers or other contributors, each writing specific sections of the
text. But even where only one writer is involved, documents invariably pass
through several cycles of review by various people such as technical experts,
marketing people, lawyers and users with changes being made to each
iteration or version of the document. With several people working on a
documentation project, it is very easy for stylistic inconsistencies to make their
way into the text simply because different people have different ways of writing
and they may not adhere to style guides consistently.

For translators, this means that sometimes the same concept is referred to
using different terms throughout a document or the text suddenly stops making
sense when we reach a particular chapter. In extreme cases, a text may
suddenly become incredibly difficult to translate because the style and clarity
of the text suddenly deteriorates in comparison to the rest of the document.
Similarly, technical documents are often translated by teams of translators,
particularly in the case of large documents with short delivery times. Again, the
problem of inconsistencies in style has to be dealt with, usually by an editor or
a senior translator, but also by a lone freelancer.

Technical communication uses design to improve usability

Simply presenting information in clear and carefully crafted prose is not a

guarantee that the audience will understand it or that they will be able to do so
easily or efficiently. Often, seemingly simple factors such as the font and its
size, the colours and amount of white space in a document can make the world
of difference to how effectively readers absorb information (see Byrne
2006:68ff). Beyond these cosmetic factors, technical documents frequently use
graphics to reinforce and support textual information or to convey large
amounts of information quickly and clearly.

As a translator, it is not particularly likely that you would need to concern

yourself with issues such as fonts, page layout and graphics (unless they have
particular cultural connotations and need to be changed), but, as we will
discover later on, you will have to work with and around them and you can also
play a significant role in ensuring the usability of information in documents.