Technical Procedure for Translation

Overview

Core assignment

In the scenario for this assignment, you work for an organization in your major field and have been asked to document a procedure in complete detail.  As part of the scenario, the procedure you are documenting is relevant to readers in a European Union country, so your document will eventually be translated by specialized staff in the destination country.

Your procedure document should be about 6 to 7 pages long, including graphics, with the text double-spaced.  Follow the formatting guidelines in Course Handbook > Formatting Assignments.

Translation element

Usually a week or so after the Technical Procedure assignment is due, you’ll send your Technical Procedure to a student or small group of students at a European University.  These students, your “translation partners,” will translate your file into their language for one of their major assignments.  This aspect of the assignment is described in the Instructions > Working with your translation partner section.

Related Reading

• All reading assigned to-date, especially Ch. 14, Instructions and Procedures
• Translation Assignment—Supplementary Reading (course website > Assignments > Technical Procedure for Translation)
• Course Handbook:
• Achieving a Technical Writing Style
• Using Instructional Writing Style
• Using Your Field’s Citation Style
• Creating Basic Visuals
• Style and Mechanics Reviews

Audience

For this and the other writing assignments this semester, your audience, or primary reader, is the person who needs the information in your document in order to perform a task or make a decision.

Your primary reader is not me.  Instead, your primary reader is a person with whom you share a professional relationship.  For example:

• To perform a task: Your reader could be a colleague, person in another department, or customer who is unfamiliar with the procedure but needs to perform it in order to achieve the desired end result.
• To make a decision: Your reader could be a manager or who needs to decide whether to add or remove this procedure from staff tasks, whether to buy or update similar devices or products, whether to hire more staff at a certain pay grade to perform this procedure, etc.

Your audience cannot be a friend, family member, or close acquaintance.  Writing to people you know well outside of a workplace setting will cause your phrasing and tone to be conversational and relaxed, which will undermine your ability to maintain a technical and professional writing style.

Instructions

Refer to the related reading as you write your assignment.  The flowchart below shows the major stages of this assignment:

Note that this flowchart gives you a helpful overview of the major stages of this assignment.  The sections below are named and organized to follow the flowchart.

You’ll include this type of stage-related flowchart for your reader in the Introduction section of your procedure, to help your reader in the same way.

Selecting a topic

Some of you will be able to document a procedure that involves a device or piece of equipment related to your major, such as how to use, operate, assemble, or test it.

If you can’t come up with a technical procedure related to your field, you can document a technical procedure related to work, or to an outside interest (e.g., how to disassemble a bike, how to assemble and attach a snowboard carrier, etc).

Documenting software will not work for this assignment.

Filling out the Communication Objectives Worksheet

The Communication Objectives Worksheet, found in Appendix B of this file, prompts you to analyze your procedure’s audience in great detail, to understand your document’s purpose, and to create a document structure suitable for a technical procedure.

Creating the flowchart of the procedure’s major stages

The worksheet’s next-to-last question asks you to create a flowchart of your procedure’s major stages (see student sample).

1. Start by thinking of your procedure’s major stages, each stage being a set of related steps that must be complete before the next stage (set of steps) can begin. Think of as many stages as you can, from the very first stage to the very last stage.
2. Put the stages into a flowchart (see Course Handbook > Creating Basic Visuals > Flowcharts as needed for using PowerPoint).

Writing the outline

The outline at the end of the worksheet should follow the structure of a typical procedure document:

Introduction

Background section [see step 4 in next section]

List of Materials and Equipment Needed [as applicable]

Procedure

Conclusion

Writing the technical procedure

As you document the procedure, refer to all of the materials listed in the Related Reading section, as well as Appendix D: Student Sample.

1. Remember that your document will be translated. As you write, refer to the Course Handbook > “Achieving a Technical Writing Style” section, and keep the following in mind:

• Use precise, unambiguous words and direct phrasing.
• Avoid conversational words and phrases
• Avoid slang and clichés.

2. Include a purpose statement in the “Introduction” section.
3. Include a flowchart of the major stages near the end of the introduction. Give the flowchart a figure number and caption (see step 6).
4. Include a background section after the introduction and before the procedure. Title this section “Theory of Operation,” “History,” or another suitable heading according to the type of procedure you’re documenting.

NOTE: The student sample does not include this section, but your assignment needs to have it.

1. Use at least one authoritative source in this section to explain the theory or principles behind the procedure, the invention of the device or method, etc.
2. Follow the citation style most common in your field (Course Handbook > Using Your Field’s Citation Style)
3. Use either in-text citations or footnotes/endnotes.
4. Write the “List of Materials and Equipment Needed” section as applicable. Adjust the heading as needed to refer to materials, equipment, or both.
5. As you write the procedure, include graphics (e.g., drawings, digital photos) whenever your reader needs them in order to understand the action being described.

• Pictures from a digital camera and hand sketches are sufficient. Hand-drawings are often better than images found online, because you can focus on the essence of the element or step you’re illustrating.
• Illustrations should be detailed enough to clearly show what you’re describing.
• Make sure that the terms you use in the illustrations (e.g., names of parts) are identical to the terms you use in the text of the procedure. Using different terminology for the same items confuses a reader.
• If an illustration doesn’t exist in electronic format, such as a hand sketches or a photocopy from a textbook, scan the file in the library, in one of the computer clusters around campus, or at FedEx/Kinko’s.
• If you aren’t familiar with inserting graphics into copy files, ask a technical person (computer lab staff) for assistance.

7. Use numbered figure captions under the illustrations (see the student sample).
8. Number figures consecutively starting with “1” (e.g., “Fig. 1.”). Add a statement describing the image shown (e.g., “Fig 1. Preparing Computer Components for Bagging.”).
9. Format figure captions consistently throughout your document.
10. Refer to the figure in the text before the figure appears. Refer by figure number and a brief description of the information shown in the figure.  You can do this in different ways:
    • In parentheses: “Teen pregnancy rates in Nigeria far exceed the international norm (Table 3).”
    • In a complete sentence: “Figure 5 compares performance and highlights the best option.”
11. Make sure that your “Conclusion” section is suitable for a technical report, not an academic paper. See Course Handbook > Achieving a Technical Writing Style > Content Development > Conclusion.
12. Turn in your Technical Procedure assignment as described in the Semester Schedule.

Filling out the Translation Brief (Appendix C)

When you’re done writing your procedure, you’ll be ready to fill out the Translation Brief (Appendix C).

A translation brief typically accompanies a document to be translated.  Your translation partner will use the information in your Translation Brief to better understand the document’s intended audience, purpose, and other characteristics.

1. Copy the two pages of Appendix C: Translation Brief into a new Word document, and save the file to your computer.
2. Answer the 10 questions on the Translation Brief.
3. Turn in the Translation Brief as described in the Semester Schedule.

Working with your translation partner

Some time after you turn in your Technical Procedure and Translation Brief, you’ll send the files to a translation student, or small group of students, at a European university.  Your translation partners will have sent you e-mails introducing themselves, so you’ll be able to reply to their e-mails when you send your files.

1. Proofread your Technical Procedure one more time for words and phrasing that might be confusing to a person who is not a native English speaker.
2. According to the date on the Semester Schedule, send your translation partner your Technical Procedure and Translation Brief files as e-mail attachments. Do the following in this message:
3. Use a professional workplace tone—serious but friendly. See the sample introductory e-mail message in the “Translation Assignment—Supplementary Reading” file.
4. Introduce yourself the way you’d introduce yourself to a new friend or acquaintance, and reply to any questions that your partner might have asked you in his or her introductory e-mail message.
5. Express interest in your translation partner’s assignment, and eagerness to answer your partner’s questions about the procedure.
6. Follow professional e-mail format as described in the Course Handbook > Using Professional E-mail Style.
7. Copy the other professor and me on this message (see Semester Schedule for the other professor’s e-mail address). Copying us on your message lets me to know that you sent the file on time, and lets the other professor know that her students will have received the files and can begin working on their assignment.
8. Remember to attach your files.
9. Reply to your translation partner’s questions promptly. Your partner needs your answers to continue working on his or her assignment.

NOTE: Copy me on your answers to your partner’s questions.

4. When your partner’s assignment for the other professor is done, he or she will send you their translation. Respond to your partner in a friendly and appreciative way.

For more information, see Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions > Translation element.

 

Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions

Core assignment: Technical procedure

Q: I can’t think of a procedure to write about.

A: The objective of this assignment is to practice using instructional writing style with a procedure that you’re familiar with.  If a procedure doesn’t occur to you, do a search using your major field in quotation marks followed by the single word <procedure>.

If searching isn’t productive, contact a favorite teacher in your major department for ideas. If you hit a dead end, then you can write about a procedure related to a hobby or special interest.

Q: What are procedures that students with my major have written about?

The table below shows just a few topics that have worked for students in the past.  Only a few majors are listed, and many more topics are possible for each.

 

Major	Procedures
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering	How to measure water contamination How to take a core sample
Agricultural Systems Management	How to design a transfer chute How to prepare a combine for harvest
Chemistry	How to prepare a chemistry lab How to conduct a chemical experiment
Civil Engineering	How to build a portion of a [bridge/road/pipe system, etc.] How to design a drainage ditch
Computer Science	How to assemble a desktop computer How to analyze an algorithm
Criminal Justice	How to produce a forensic photograph How to collect physical evidence
Electrical Engineering	How to design or troubleshoot a circuit How to apply an electrical device in a certain context
Exercise Science	How to train for a sport How to exercise an injured joint
Film Studies	How to build a film print How to process black and white film
Industrial Engineering & Management	How a/an [x] moves down an assembly line How to set up a vertical milling machine
Mechanical Engineering	How to build or repair a/an [x] How to rebalance the blade of a riding lawnmower How to disassemble and reassemble a Briggs and Stratton engine
Soil Science	How to collect and test a soil sample How to prevent erosion in a catch basin

 

Q: How do I know how many illustrations to use?

A: Include at least one illustration per stage.  Sometimes, one illustration can comfortably include all of the elements referred to during the steps involved in that stage.  If a stage is complex, however, the reader might benefit from seeing an illustration for each step.

Translation element

Q: Do I have to do any translating?

A: No. You’re only providing English text for a European student to translate into another language.

Q: Who is my translation partner?

A: Your partner is a student at either University of Trieste in Trieste, Italy, or Arhus University in Arhus, Denmark.  He or she is majoring in translation studies and will be a professional translator for a corporation, a publisher, a government agency, or another type of organization where translation is needed.

Q: How do I know who to send my files to?

A: Early in the semester, the European professor receives a list of your names, university e-mail addresses, and technical procedure topics.  She assigns her students to each of you.  A week or so before you send your partners your files, your partners will send you e-mails in which they introduce themselves to you.  This way, you can just reply to their messages when it’s time to sent them your files.

Q: My message to my translation partner bounced.  What’s the problem?

A: Your Technical Procedure file is too large for your partner’s e-mail service to handle.  If this happens, your partner will NOT know that you tried to send the files, and will not send you a message to try resend them.

If you receive a bounced-message notice, do the following:

1. Divide your Technical Procedure file into three parts. It’s not possible to find out the attachment-size limit for your partners’ accounts, so I recommend dividing into three parts to avoid possibly having to divide your again, which can be frustrating.
2. Save the parts as “[Your name] Technical Procedure part 1 of 3,” “…part 2 of 3,” etc.
3. Send one part per e-mail, including “Part 1 of 3” etc. in the subject line.
4. You only need to copy your original message to your partner into the first message. Explain that your first message bounced, so you have divided your file in to parts, and will be sending x more messages with the rest of the parts of the file.
5. For the subsequent messages that you send with the remaining parts of your file, greet your partner again and state, for example, that attached is the second part of the file, and another part will follow shortly.

Q: Am I graded on this part of the assignment?

A: You can earn up to 20 “professionalism points” for doing the following:

• Sending your files to your partner on time
• Writing a friendly and appropriate introductory message
• Responding to your partner’s questions within quickly
• Responding appreciatively to your partner after he or she sends you their translation of parts or most of your procedure

 

 

Appendix B: Communication Objectives Worksheet (copy into a separate Word file before submitting)

Name:

Overall Purpose

Please keep the questions in this worksheet and add your answers below the questions.

1. What are you writing?
2. In this scenario, what prompts you to write?
3. What outcome do you desire from your technical procedure?
4. What outcome does your reader desire from your technical procedure?

Reader Profile

1. Who is your primary reader? Include job title and professional responsibilities.
2. Who might be secondary readers?
3. How will your primary reader use the information in your document?

Stakeholders

1. Who, besides your readers, are stakeholders in your communication?
2. How will they be affected by it?

Purpose Statement

Write a working purpose statement for your technical procedure. (See Course Handbook > Achieving a Technical Writing Style > Content Development > Purpose statement.)  Your purpose statement might change slightly by the time you turn in your assignment.

Flowchart

Your Introduction section will include a flowchart of the procedure’s major stages, to give your reader an overview of the procedure.

Create a working flowchart of your project’s major stages below.  You can start with the flowchart provided here, and add stages as necessary to describe your project.  See Course Handbook > Creating Basic Graphics > Flowcharts as needed.

As with your purpose statement, your flowchart might change slightly by the time you turn in the assignment.

Outline

Create a working formal outline below to show the structure you anticipate your procedure document will have.  To review formal outlining, see Course Handbook > Formal Outlining.

As with your purpose statement and flowchart, your outline’s structure might change slightly by the time you turn in the assignment.

• Don’t retain the numbering from your outline in your final document’s headings. See Course Handbook > Formatting assignments > Text and headings.

 

 

Appendix C: Translation Brief (copy into a separate Word file before submitting)

 

American student’s name:

Date:

 

 

1. Who is the intended reader for this procedure?
2. How will the intended reader use the information?  (What decision will be made, and/or what task will be performed?)
3. Why might the content need to be translated into another language? (Give this careful thought, and do research if needed.)
4. For what medium is the text intended (e.g., instruction sheet packaged with a product, a brochure, a web page)?
5. How will the procedure’s content be different in a translated version?
6. What references does the text include (e.g., to materials, agencies, engineering units, etc.) that might pose a problem for non-American readers?
7. In general, what special attention should the translator give to the document’s tone and terminology?
8. What special attention should the translator give to the graphics and other design elements?
9. Describe unique problem-solving that was involved in documenting this procedure (e.g., a stage that was especially time-consuming to document, an image that was difficult to capture or add labels to).
10. Ask your translation partner(s) at least two questions, student-to-student.

 

Adapted from “Translation Brief”(2007), Prof. Bruce Maylath, Engl. Dept., North Dakota State University, Fargo.

 

 

 

Appendix D: Student Sample

A student sample is embedded below as an Adobe pdf document.

NOTE: Student samples are provided so that you can see an example of one student’s approach to the assignment.  Copying this student’s wording or phrasing is plagiarism.  To avoid being overly influenced by this sample, read it through once or twice before you begin your own assignment, and then close the file.  Do not keep the student sample open as you write your own assignment.

1. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
2. Double-click the icon below. The file should open.  If you don’t see the file right away, check under other files that are open on your desktop.

If you can’t open the file from this icon, go to the Assignments area on the course website and download the “Student sample” pdf file in the folder for this assignment.

3. Hover your cursor over the post-it icons to view my comments: