Writing comprehensive single-source English

Why English?

Internationalism demands the use of English. The USA plays a major role and, in particular, multinational corporations. Outsourcing has made an enormous impact on the choice of corporate languages. Western European countries turn to India, Asia and increasingly Eastern Europe to take advantage of low-cost software solutions and increase competitiveness. The shared language is inevitably English.

The availability of translators is also an important factor. It is often easier to find a professional translator of English as the source language than it is to find someone who can translate a more "exotic" language combination.

When entering international markets, companies often decide that they can save translation costs and avoid discriminating against countries that speak less common languages for which it is more difficult to find a translator by distributing their products in English only. Readers prefer documentation written in their native language, but the Internet is a classic example that an alternative to English is often not available.

Do readers really understand?

Some 329 million people in the world speak English as a first language. Around 422 million people have learned English as a second language. Paradoxically, the widespread use of English has not facilitated communication. The millions of English speakers throughout the world do not use English uniformly. In technical documentation, intelligibility and accuracy are a main concern. This presents a strong case for a form of international standardisation.

Writing comprehensive English

The differences between regional variations in English are not just a matter of terminology and regional colloquialisms. The linguistic distinctiveness of English varieties has evolved as part of a far more complex process, concerning cultural, social and political identity. Nevertheless, attempts are constantly being made to establish a world standard English that focuses on uniform grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation. These four linguistic areas are also important in establishing a common writing system for technical English, such as "clear identifiers", "active voice", "standard word order (subject + verb + object)".

One particular aspect of English that affects the quality of documentation is second-language phenomena. English is an international language of business for practical reasons and not because it is a particularly easy language. If writers are not native speakers of English, other points can be included in a checklist, such as "false friends", "direct translation of idiomatic phrases and expression", "unnatural vocabulary (dictionary vocabulary)".

A reluctance to reword text for fear of changing the meaning can be overcome by establishing rules. No writers guide will ever be complete, but even a simple checklist can help improve readability. Furthermore, clear, concise, correct, in short comprehensive English also improves translatability by reducing the risk of misinterpretation and translations times.

Writing single-source English

The added value of a standardised English is not limited to improvements in intelligibility and translatability. Consider the following case scenario:

A software manufacturer requires product documentation for different readerships to be published in multiple output media and translated into several languages. The source language is English and the published documentation consists of different document types, such as:

System description
User manual
Administration manual
Online help system
Marketing material (Internet)

Through the implementation of a carefully planned single-source strategy, the software manufacturer can save significant costs and shorten documentation production and translation times. However, a successful single-source project is equally reliant on a standardised and structured form of English.

Single-source publishing is not just a matter of content management or merely a technical solution. To derive all benefits from a single-source strategy, the language must comply with a writing system that enables consistent handling of information types at the language level. For example, if a software product runs on a Windows operating system, writers and translators must use correct Microsoft interface terminology to avoid confusing readers. Furthermore, one type of wording for procedures must be chosen and consistently used to distinguish information types clearly. Look at the following sentences:

On the "Tools" menu, click "Options", and then click the "View" tab
You open the "Tools" menu by clicking "Options" and then clicking the "View" tab.

This is the same procedure, but there is a clear difference in wording. The second procedure is longer, but more importantly, the information type is not clearly identifiable. Is this a procedure or narrative text? Which document type does it belong to? How is it to be translated?

Now consider the following chapter titles:

5 User administration
5 Creating a user account

The content of these chapters is seemingly related. The difference is perhaps subtle, but the different wording of the two example titles is not purely coincidental. In these cases, the writer has thought about the purpose of the information and chosen the appropriate grammatical structures: "User administration" implies a concept (system description), "Creating a user account" a procedure (user manual). If a writer chooses wording that is grammatically correct in isolation, but inappropriate for the category of information (or inconsistent in usage), the reassembled information will appear haphazard and possibly unintelligible in the published documentation. These examples show how language usage supports the intention of the information and must be used to create a consistent and organised structure, enabling content to be meaningfully reused.

Summary

Although English is a world language, it is by no means a uniform language. A comprehensive writing system is therefore necessary if documentation is to be intelligible for an international readership, easily translatable and reusable for different readerships and output media. Appropriate language usage can frequently help companies achieve an international presence, reduce the cost of and time needed for documentation and translation processes and provide greater flexibility in the choice of a cost-effective documentation solution.