Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

Learning Processes 
In general there are two main approaches to learning theory: behaviourist 
and cognitive. Behaviourist learning theories focus on objective, quantifi-
able behaviour rather than on mental acts which we cannot observe. They 
are concerned with the connection between actions, the role of reward in 
behaviour etc. Cognitive learning theories focus on mental acts such as 
conceiving, believing, expecting etc.
According to Coe (1996:34) we learn using a combination of behaviour-
ist and cognitive approaches. The components of learning include: 
experience 
schemes 
habits 
reinforcement 
interference 
Experience & Schemes 
We learn from experience. When we are met with an experience or situa-
tion we either create a new scheme or we use/modify an existing one. 
Thus any information provided, for example, in an instructive text such as a 
user guide, must either take advantage of readers’ existing schemes or help 
them create new schemes quickly and easily. The easiest way to leverage 
existing schemes is to give examples based on schemes they already have. 
Habits 
Habits are learned connections between a stimulus and a response. The 
strength of the connection is called the habit strength. Related habits are 
grouped into habit families, each of which has a hierarchical pecking order. 
The most effective habits which we tend to use first or most frequently are 
located higher up in the hierarchy. 
New habits can be introduced by comparing and contrasting old habits 
with new habits or building on existing habits. We will discuss habits in 
more detail below. 
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Understanding Users 
Reinforcement 
Reinforcement is the process of using events or behaviours to produce 
learning. These are known as reinforcers and they can be either positive or 
negative. If we relate this idea to software user guides, one possible example 
of positive reinforcement would be if it tells a new user about using the 
keyboard shortcut CTRL-P to print a document. Each time the user does 
this, the document is printed, thereby reinforcing the knowledge that the 
shortcut works and is another way of printing a document. 
Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an unpleasant or unde-
sirable situation. For instance, if a user accidentally deletes all of the text in 
a document, pressing CTRL-Z will undo the previous action and restore 
the deleted text. This removes the undesirable condition and reinforces the 
user’s knowledge of the undo function. In this way, the information in a 
user guide reinforces learning of functions by allowing users to do some-
thing useful or to correct problems. 
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ded into the following types: