Visual Elements in Cross-Cultural Technical Communication: Recognition and Comprehension as a Function of Cultural Conventions

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah S. Bosley
Keyword(s):  
Technical Communication ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Visual Elements

scholarly journals Han Yu (2015). The Other Kind of Funnies: Comics in Technical Communication. New York, NY: Baywood Publishing Company.

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 25-27
Author(s):  
Suzanne Rintoul
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
The Other ◽  
Graduate Courses ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
Communication Challenges

Han Yu’s "The Other Kind of Funnies: Comics in Technical Communication" challenges the notion that technical writing is too “rational” or “serious” to accommodate the conventions of comics-style communication. She does this by illustrating comics’ unique ability to distill and reinforce information in ways entirely appropriate not just for complementing the purposes of many technical writers, but also for fulfilling the needs of their diverse audiences. The book’s major strength lies in Yu’s capacity to locate the productive nexus between two ostensibly dissimilar modes so that by the final chapter those connections seem not only probable, but natural. This text will be especially useful to scholars of rhetoric (particularly those invested in visual culture and/or technical writing) and practitioners of technical writing eager to embrace new (or in some cases re-embrace older) ways of seeing the relationship between textual and visual elements. The clarity with which Yu distils complex theoretical concepts makes this book appropriate reading for undergraduate or graduate courses as well as for non-scholarly audiences.

Feedforward (ff) en Metaforische Transfer (mt) -Dimensies Van Technical Writers'

1984 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 116-124
Author(s):  
J.W. Broer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Identity ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
Writing Problems ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
The World ◽  
Technical Writer ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

A map of the world of 'technical' communication shows the (a, ß)-universe, flat country filled with language experts and scientists, including engineers. In the centre Technical Writing is situated, a territory in turmoil, on the border of α-land and ß-land. In the U.S.A. the territory is developing fast as the professional core of a new skill. As emigrants, many people of an α-type or ß-type nature end up in the territory. Having a problem of professional identity they possess a hy-brid personality. The attention paid to this problem causes them to lose sight of the two 'natural' forces of an emigrating individual, that is to say feedforward — an anticipative composition principle — and metaphoric transfer — 'as-if use of knowledge from the individual's professional past, to solve the communication problems met at present. Feedforward (Ivor A. Richards, 1893-1979) is a principle of creative action, proceeding from more generic to less (a top-down hier-archy); a number of 'formators' (Charles W. Morris and Bess Sondel), the tools for making text according to the feedforward scheme, are discussed. Nowadays visual elements as formators receive more emphasis. Text is seen as a distribution of three types of elements ('knowing', 'feeling', 'acting') glued into a unit, the communicative 'whole', by the formators. The textual whole should match the type of readers as originally anticipated by the technical writer (27 types, a classification based upon estimating three levels of knowing, feeling, acting; examples are included). Some prescriptions for solving Technical Writing problems found by metaphoric transfer are discussed. To illustrate the traffic of ideas arising from metaphoric transfer, a detailed map of the border area science/ technical writing is shown.

scholarly journals Internationalization vs. Localization: The Translation of Videogame Advertising

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel de Pedro Ricoy
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Cultural Dissemination

Abstract A study of the translation of advertising material cannot be restricted to the analysis of language transfer, as the effectiveness of advertisements is contingent upon the successful linkage of (audio)visual elements, media of dissemination and written text. This paper analyses the cross-cultural dissemination of advertisements for the video-game industry, examining commercial arguments from a linguistic and cultural perspective. It is posited here that, in spite of their apparent disparity, the disciplines of translation theory and marketing interface to a large extent in the context of cross-cultural advertising. In the global marketplace, multinationals are faced with the choice to either internationalize or localize the promotion of their products, an issue that mirrors the long-standing debate on naturalising (or domesticating) vs. foreignizing translation strategies. The conclusion reached is that the cross-cultural dissemination of advertising material is best served by adopting an instrumental approach to translation, as described by Nord (1989).

Cross-Cultural Languages Behind Technology-Enhanced Language Learning

2018 ◽  
pp. 16-46
Author(s):  
John Alexander Roberto
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Visual Language ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Digital Language ◽  
The Relationship

Technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) is the result of the evolution of digital language, that is, a special code created by human beings to interact with computers. Digital language has, in turn, allowed for the creation of more specific languages. On the web, TELL is supported by three cross-cultural languages: natural language, visual language, and artificial language. A natural language, such as English or Spanish, becomes cross-cultural when it is processed by automatic means. A visual language is a system of communication using visual elements, such as pictograms. An artificial language, such as programming languages, is designed to communicate instructions to a machine. The author calls this trilogy of languages W3langs. This chapter explores the relationship between TELL and W3langs.

An Online Approach to Teaching International Outsourcing in Technical Communication Classes

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk St. Amant
Keyword(s):  
Technical Communication ◽  
Production Method ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
International Outsourcing ◽  
New Production ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Online Interactions ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Communication Practices

The growth of international online access has given rise to a new production method—international outsourcing—that has important implications for technical communication practices. Successful interactions within international outsourcing require individuals to understand how cultural factors could affect online interactions. Today's technical communication students therefore need to understand how factors of culture and media could affect the success with which they operate in international outsourcing activities. This article provides technical communication instructors with a series of Web-based exercises they can use to familiarize students with different aspects that can affect intercultural online interactions. It also provides a series of online resources students can use to enhance their understanding of cross-cultural communication in cyberspace.

Uncle Leo’s adventures in East Asia

Target ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-49
Author(s):  
Michal Daliot-Bul
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Economic Opportunity ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Cultural Specificity ◽  
Korean Chinese ◽  
Asian Languages ◽  
Different Cultures

Abstract The best-selling children’s book series Uncle Leo’s Adventures by Yannets Levi became a sensation in Israel when it was translated into several Asian languages including Korean, Chinese, English for the Indian sub-continent, and Japanese. More than just a simple story of cross-cultural exchange, the globalization of the series allows for a look into the ways editors and translators in different cultures handle translation as a cultural and economic opportunity. This article focuses on the Gordian knot that links translation to culturally specific preferences. Combining interviews with a comparative study of the different solutions to the translation of literary and visual elements used in Uncle Leo, it explores the relations between entrepreneurship and culture, the politics of culture, and the universality/cultural specificity of imagination and of being a child.

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