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.
I don't think anyone would argue that the average
native-English speaker would have no trouble with it.
To wit, I stated that very fact myself. I don't see
any value in spending time trying to "prove" things
that aren't being disputed.
Still, your assertion about reading ease doesn't touch
on translation, which was one of the reasons I stated
that audience is king. What happens if a translator
doesn't get the verb tenses correct? Is there a
possibility for misunderstanding? What if one verb was
translated in the future tense and one was translated
in the present tense? In that case, because the verbs
don't agree, the reader could mistakenly interpret the
directions to imply that one action must take place
before the other (e.g., write first, draw second).
Most likely, this is not a problem for signing your
name on a picture, but it has the potential to be a
problem for more critical processes.
In any event, the assertion that a passage is "good
enough," because it works for a native English speaker
is both ethnocentric and short-sighted. As
professional communicators in , our words have the
potential to be translated into any language and
distributed across the globe--whether that is your
intent or not. Although you may not be writing for an
international audience, making faulty assumptions or
generalizations about the language you use opens the
door to all kinds of problems. Therefore, writing with
your audience's needs and limitations in mind is the
only logical advice to give, which was my original
point.
--- Lauren <lt34 -at- csus -dot- edu> wrote:
> A general and valid, assumption about readers of
> English sentences
> (regardless of native language) is that they will be
> able to read at the 7th
> grade level and understand a simple composition of
> an English sentence. In
> this case, the sentence, according to Word, has a
> Flesch Reading Ease of
> 100% and a Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level of 1.5. I
> would not expect that a
> technical writer would post a grammar question to
> this forum for an audience
> that cannot read at the second grade level.
>
> Additionally, adding "will" to the sentence raises
> the grade level to 1.8
> because of the addition of a word. Adding "will"
> and qualifying "it" by
> stating instead, "the picture," raises the grade
> level to 3 and lowers the
> reading ease.
>
> Even non-native English speakers should be able to
> read at the second grade
> level. In some cases, words and an phrases that are
> simple for native
> English speakers may require adjustment for
> non-native English speakers, but
> when the sentence is composed for a second grader,
> then we can assume that a
> non-native English speaker will, or should,
> understand it.
>
> Lauren
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
