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Subject:Examination for Japanese tech communicators From:Noriko Yotsuyanagi <noriko -at- BOOMBOX -dot- MICRO -dot- UMN -dot- EDU> Date:Tue, 7 Mar 1995 08:47:17 -0600
I did not follow all the discussions on testing for technical writers, but I
have found the topic interesting, because I (a Japanese student of TC) am now
conducting research on the profile of Japanese technical communicators. In
Japan, one of the professional TC organizations is trying to establish a
technical communicator certification examination, which contents seem to include
Japanese technical writing skill, visual and other communiation skills,
knowledge on PL, ISO, etc., documentation planning and management, and so on.
One of the reasons is that (they hope) this kind of examination can help enhance
the status of technical communicators, whose profession is almost unknown to the
general public in Japan, and help make tech communicators/writers more visible
specialists in companies (manufacturers). I hear tech communicators are often
regarded as second-class citizens by engineers in Japan. Does this make sense?
