Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

Improper word choice 
„ 
Using ambiguous words which can have more than one meaning in a particular
context. 
Unclear pronoun reference 
„ 
Pronouns must co-refer only with the noun phrase intended by the writer. 
Squinting modification
„ 
Sometimes a word can modify the phrase preceding it to give one meaning but 
also modify the phrase following it to give a different meaning. 
Ambiguous relationships 
„ 
Using co-ordinating conjunctions such as “and” when a subordinate relationship
is intended. 
Sentences 
If words represent the colors of the palette available to the writer, sen-
tences are the lines that create shapes in a composition (Houghton-Alico 
1985:54). 
Having looked at a number of factors relating to word choice and clarity, 
the next logical step is to look at how sentences affect the quality of a user 
guide. In line with our previous discussion of why texts should be concise, 
the issue of repetition and redundancy is worth examining. Firstly, we need 
to distinguish between repetition and redundancy. Repetition involves re-
peating words and phrases throughout a document in order to reinforce in-
formation, reiterate product benefits or to get readers to do or remember 
something. There is a definite purpose to repetition – perhaps merely to as-
sist in the habit formation process (Raskin 2000:18-21). Redundancy, on 
the other hand, is “stated or implied repetition with no purpose” (Mancuso 
1990:202). Redundancy can take the form of superfluous adverbs, hedge 
words, unnecessary emphasis or repeating information in a different form. 
The flow of information in sentences is also of great importance with re-
gard to the readability of the text. Indeed, Weiss (1985:150) argues that 
“the secret of the readable sentence is that the ‘payload’ of the sentence […] 
is at the end”. The payload is essentially the most important part or “nug-
get” of information the author wants to convey using the sentence. The 
reason why the payload should be at the end is, according to Weiss (
ibid.
), 
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Technical Communication 
that the last part of the sentence is the best remembered by readers. Simi-
larly, in the case of instructions, a cause-effect format should be adopted 
(SAP 1997:4ff ). Accordingly we would, for example, rewrite the following 
sentence: