TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Re: describing the minority as literate is a circular argument?
Subject:Re: describing the minority as literate is a circular argument? From:"Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:17:00 -0700
I wouldn't argue this point in a discussion of language in general, but within
the narrower
subject of technical writing./communication, I would. Whether you're creating
documents
in English or a different language, deviating from the "standard" grammar for
the source
language does impede effective communication, not to mention the obvious
difficulties
when the material is fed into the various translation tools that have become
today's
standards for globalizing information. Most of us are "bilingual" to some
extent, in that
we may use various dialects of our primary language conversationally but conform
to
"standard" when we write professionally. The ability to do that is one of the
skills that
distinguish us as communications professionals from those who are not.
> To condemn either notion of "proper" or of "good but not *quite* proper"
grammar seems to me to be a useless exercise. Just as with most other areas of
our lives, we can learn to appreciate both--and use both--without doing either
notion harm. For example, many communities within the U.S. and elsewhere grow up
as "bilingual" people when considered from the linguistic sense in English
alone. The most evident example lies with many of the educated parts of the
Black community, who learn a form of slang as well as "standard" English and can
usually switch between the two with no conscious effort. (There are, of course,
many other examples but this is one I believe most list members will readily
recognize, even if it pertains to different minorities within their own
society).
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.732 / Virus Database: 486 - Release Date: 7/29/2004
ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
