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This article examines the current climate for translation and the new and expanding market presented by globalization and the Internet. It discusses the need for a clear and concise form of English as a means of communicating information to both native and non-native speakers of English. It looks at areas where streamlined, “International English” is useful, and presents a number of ways of achieving this through style, grammar, and syntactic recommendations.
Introduction
The increasing globalisation of world trade has led to quite significant changes in international
markets and communication. Indeed, one only needs to look to the thriving localisation industry for proof of this. However, we typically think of the flow of information as being from English into foreign languages. This is largely true but an increasing amount of information is flowing in the opposite direction as more and more foreign companies are using English as a working language and as a means of promoting their business in the world markets. The exponential growth of the Internet and in the numbers of users, for example, has seen the appearance of a plethora of web sites many of which are in several languages. Whereas traditionally all software of note was produced in the English speaking world, software produced in other countries is becoming increasingly common.
Why Do We Need International English?
Problems arise, however, in countries where English, despite being a working language, is not the first language of the people who speak it. It has been estimated that there are some 1,200 million speakers of English of which only 350 million are native speakers. We can already see the potential for divided loyalties. Do we use “proper” English which will be interesting, colourful and which uses the full capabilities of the language but which will only be fully understood by university-educated native speakers of English or do we strip the language down to its bare minimum in order to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Of course, neither option is particularly desirable – surely there must be some way to accommodate both varieties of English speaker? There must be some form of compromise. So how do we ensure that a text is acceptable to a native-speaker of English while being understandable to those who have English as a second or foreign language?
If we look at the needs and capabilities of non-native speakers of English we find that, depending on their level of ability, they typically have a more restricted vocabulary than a native English speaker. So we now begin to see some similarities with Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) appearing: we must try to use a restricted vocabulary of essential yet familiar words while still maintaining natural language usage. This also applies to the type and complexity of grammatical constructions. An interesting fact which is echoed in various works on technical writing is that a text should ideally be aimed at a reading level of approximately 11 years of age. The reason being that the average reading level of native speakers in the western world is quite young with the result that we need to word our texts so that a child of 11 or 12 years of age could understand it. Indeed, as Gleeson and Wackermani wrote on the subject of language in an “ideal” manual “the text is conversational and easy to read, geared toward an eighth-grade reading level” (Gleeson & Wackerman, 1992). Thus, we begin to visualise the type of text we need to produce: clear and concise with familiar constructions and vocabulary. The text should not be intimidating nor would it require endless rereading in order to elicit the information.
Where And How Is International English Of Use?
Naturally, questions are already being asked as to the validity of proposing that a more consistent and simplified version of English be used as opposed to the standard variety complete with all its nuances, subtleties, shades, devices and means of conveying both meaning and metalingual information. How can one justify translating a screenplay which contains colourful colloquial expressions and cultural references into simple, practical English? How can one justify rendering an eloquent, expressive piece of prose as a functional, uncomplicated piece of text with limited vocabulary and syntax? Indeed, how can complex specialist texts in areas such as science, medicine, economics, law and so on be translated into this “universal” form of English without provoking ridicule or, at the very least, destroying the text and meaning?
The answer is that it is not possible to use such a means of expression for these types of text. However, this strategy for cross-cultural communication – between both the source language and target language audiences as well as the different audiences within target language ii – is not intended as an all encompassing strategy for all types of texts and translation types. Quite the opposite, in fact. This approach represents a means for translating a specific type of text or part of a text or more precisely, a specific type of communicative interaction. So what are these areas of language use which can benefit?
As we have already stated our ultimate aim is to achieve language usage which is clear and concise and contains familiar vocabulary and grammatical constructions. This is quite obviously conducive to the rapid and unproblematic transfer and assimilation of information – in other words, texts where the primary objective of is to inform the reader rather than to entertain. Texts such as instruction manuals, user documentation, training materials, reference guides, scientific procedures and texts describing processes and methodologies are texts which are generally suited to a more free style of translation. In these texts dynamic equivalence rather than a literal translation is required and the focus of the translation exercise is on the content of the source text rather than on the form of the text. As stated above, the Internet, in particular the World Wide Web has seen astonishing increases in the numbers of users – many of whom do not speak English as a first or even second language. In the business world (where the main demand for translation exists) the primary function of web sites is similar to that of a showroom or marketing department in that it “sells” the company and provides nuggets of concise yet focussed information. Often sites will provide descriptions of products, terms and conditions, contact details, comments etc. So here too we see another text type where the skopos of any translation is to convey information as easily as possible to as wide an audience as possible – both native and non-native alike.
Another area which is often overlooked but which is important nonetheless is that of producing translations which themselves will be translated into other languages. In a number of large corporations and translation agencies – with either in-house translators or a network of freelances – English is used as pivot language. In other words, English is used as an intermediate or transition language. The reasons for this are often to do with the lack of translators for certain language pairs or for economic reasons where it is cheaper to translate from English into the final target language rather than directly from the source language to the target language. Regardless of the motivation, this is a real situation in which we as translators are a target audience for a translation. A common complaint of professional translators is that source texts are all too often poorly written, ambiguous, complicated and occasionally impenetrable. This is something which has direct and undesirable consequences for us – such texts take longer to translate and ultimately cost us money through reduced through-put.
Exactly How Do We Write International English?
As we have discussed already, we need to find a form of language which represents a limited subset of the English language but which is acceptable to both native speakers and non-native speakers of English in specific communicative situations as described above. Often a style is assumed which represents a midway point between American English and British English – sometimes referred to as “Mid-Atlantic English”. As appropriate as this term seems, for the reasons mentioned above it is more useful to use the more common and less exclusive term “International English”. International English has many different varieties owing to the lack of a cohesive standardisation. Most large corporations have their own particular style guides all claiming to represent International English and indeed most translators and writers have their own methods for producing a “neutral” variety of English which is neither American nor British. The following strategies are some of the more common approaches to producing International English. They are compiled here from my own experience as a translator and technical writer and from leading style guides produced by prominent German, American and Irish companies as well as from academic literature on technical writing.
Strategies
- Write simple sentences and use clear, short and familiar words. Do not, however, overload a sentence with information. It is always better to have several short sentences than to have a long, complicated and ambiguous sentence which requires re-reading in order to be understood.
- Write to your audience. This can be achieved by using:
– the active voice instead of the passive;
– imperatives
– a conversational style.
- Avoid the use of “latinisms” and unnecessary abbreviations. In American English the tendency is to avoid them and many non-native English speakers will not necessarily understand them. You should also bear in mind that not all latinisms are to be found in standard bilingual dictionaries. So for example, the following common examples, despite their obvious concision, would be rendered in English:
– i.e. = that is, in other words;
– etc. = and so on;
– e.g. = for example;
– a fortiori = all the more so, for this and more compelling reasons;
– de facto = actual, in fact, by virtue of facts.
- Use personal forms such as you. Specifically, using “you” in a text has many advantages as regards the register of a text, not least because:
– you establish a rapport with your audience;
– the reader becomes personally involved;
– you will not be perceived as “talking down” to the reader;
– you can express technical ideas and concepts much more clearly than if you were using the impersonal;
– you can avoid the awkward problems associated with gender-marked constructions. For example instead of “The user must enter his or her password”, you can say “Enter your password”.
- Use parallel constructions. Using similar structures to present similar information helps to reduce the amount of new information in a text and expedites the transmission of information.
– Use: If you logged on as Administrator, you can access all areas of the system. If you logged on as a level 2 user, you can only access certain areas of the system.
– Not: If you logged on as Administrator, you can access all areas of the system. Access for level 2 users is restricted to certain areas of the system.
- Structure information logically in a sentence. For example, mention the “what” before the “how”.
– Use: To save your work, choose SAVE.
– Not: Choose save in order to save your work.– Use: Enter your password, then press enter.
– Not: Press enter once you have entered your password.
- Structure conditional sentences logically. Where a sentence contains one condition, put the condition first, then the action. Where a sentence contains more than one condition, put the action first and list the conditions after it.
– Use: If the disk is full, delete the file.
– Not: Delete the file if the disk is empty.– Use: You must create a user profile if you want to:
– Share the computer with other people;
– Create your own preferences
– Connect to a different service provider– Not: If you want to share the computer with other people, create your own preferences and connect to a different service provider, you must create a user profile.
- Use simple tenses and use the present instead of the future. For example, “This function creates a list of all active jobs” instead of “This function will create a list of all active jobs”.
- Avoid the use of hedges such as usually, normally, apparently, probably and so on. Texts need to be confident about the information contained in them – hedges result in imprecise statements and create uncertainty and cast doubt on the reliability of the information and the source.
- There is a tendency to use American English spellings for all words. However, a compromise which may be more palatable to speakers of British English would be to use British English with American spellings for computer related terms such as “dialog” or “program” and words such as “utilize” and “recognize”.
- Avoid using ambiguous pronouns.
– Use: When you delete an item from a production order, all of the values associated with that item are automatically deleted.
– Not: Deleting an item from a production order automatically deletes all of its associated values.
Conclusions
In the above paragraphs we have examined aspects of the current climate for translation and the new and expanding markets presented by globalisation and the Internet. We have discussed the need for a clear and concise means of communicating information for the benefit of both native speakers of English and non-native speakers alike. We also discussed the requirements for a streamlined usage of English and looked at areas where International English can be used as well as ways in which we can implement it. These requirements and strategies, however, are not definitive. As with most things a translator does, discretion determines the areas where International English can be of use. By the same token, translators also have the power to decide whether to use all or some of these recommendations.
However, it cannot be denied that these recommendations and suggestions do simplify the English language. The issue is whether individual translators acknowledge a need for them – a translators
perception of the target audiences requirements and the texts function determines each choice the translator makes in the course of a translation. This perception of the target audiences needs and the texts function create the environment for using International English. As already stated, the strategies which are presented here are recommendations; descriptive rather than prescriptive. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that improved communication can only be a good thing, for translators, our clients and above all for the readers.
Notes:
Gleeson J.P. and Wackerman, J.P. (1992) Manual Dexterity – What Makes Instructional Manuals Usable. In
David Beer (Ed.) Manuals and Instructions: Giving Directions That Work. New York: IEEE
ii By virtue of the fact that there are essentially several different types of English speaker, we can deduce that
these represent distinct target audiences within the umbrella group of “English speakers” with different
expectations, needs, backgrounds, culture etc.
