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.
Subject:Re: Who is an ESL writer? From:Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca> To:reshma pendse <reshma_pendse -at- yahoo -dot- co -dot- in> Date:Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:08:32 -0700
On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 10:27 AM, reshma pendse
<reshma_pendse -at- yahoo -dot- co -dot- in>wrote:
>
> What do you think? Would a standard certification requirement make it
> easier for hiring managers to separate the wheat from the chaff, and reduce
> the challenges of working with under-qualified people?
>
Reshma,
I am reminded of the time many decades ago where my band played in a
competition in Tokyo. One of the MCs was heralded for his mastery of the
"New York Style". He spoke Japanese like a native. After all, he was a
native Japanese man. But when he broke into English, his enunciation and
voice morphed into that of an American DJ--or at least what they thought
all American DJs sounded like.
So certification can only take one so far. And it would also depend on who
managed the training. Even if I spoke another language with some degree of
proficiency, I would have to live in a the target cultural area long enough
to understand the differences between how words are supposed to be used vs
how they are used right now. Just listen to a group of pre-teen boys talk
about Herman Melville's classic work, featuring "Call me Ishmael", one
Captain Ahab, and a whale--named Moby Dick.
Sorry to hijack this question, but I wonder if there would be more
consistency in the areas of Plain Language or Simplified Technical English?
Practitioners in those specialized, controlled vocabularies would probably
not use colloquial phrases at all.
-Tony
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>From our sponsor Doc-to-Help: Want to see a Doc-To-Help web-based Help sample with DISQUS for user commenting?
