I found chapter 8 to be somewhat of a refresher for me as far as the concepts in the chapter go. I feel like by this point in most of our lives we have a pretty solid idea of how to outline and draft documents. However there were some key points I took away from this document. I’ve definitely had to write some documents where I implemented some of these useful key points I observed in the reading
Just last year I had to write a budget analysis for a project plan for my job at ITAP. I noticed that the patterns of arrangement pretty much outlined exactly how I organized most of my document in this scenario. More specifically speaking I noticed that without even thinking about it I had written a “Costs and Benefits” document. The document basically outlined what the project would cost us in the present and possibly in the future with things such as maintenance costs. All the while it also explained how the project would benefit our department in the future in any possible form.
I feel like most of the techniques in this document actually become second nature to use once we’ve been writing for awhile. Based off of the objective of your writing there are many different styles that we develop throughout our lives. However, when I took a deeper look into many of these techniques I noticed there is always room for improvement. There were many techniques that while they seem obvious, we don’t always implement in our writing. As we’ve discussed before from previous readings, we really need to take into account all ends of our audience. The last section of the document outlined something I’ve never really strongly considered in my writing.
Writing a cross-cultural document means you must consider whether your audience is from a high-context culture or low-context culture. It never really occurred to me how much the organization of a document can affect how your audience perceives a document. I do believe that when dealing with any cross culture both sides should be considerate and take into one another’s cultures into consideration. Then this makes me wonder though, do I really need to organize a document just to cater to someone else’s culture, when they may already put themselves in my shoes and see things from my perception. I know this may sound a bit rude but practically thinking if each party takes each other’s cultures into consideration, would we really lose that much in translation (per se) from one culture to another. I’m having trouble wording my thought here, but hopefully someone might understand what I’m trying to say.
All in all I do believe many of the techniques and concepts outlined in this chapter will be very effective when used in my writing. Like I feel many of these become almost second nature to us throughout our various writing experiences, but we should always take any measures we can to properly and professionally improve our writing. Whether this means writing an outline or determining the genre of your document to write more effectively, it will ultimately benefit your writing in the long run.
Cross Cultural Discussion
I also found the final section of the reading, on cross culture considerations, to be very interesting and insightful. To me, it seemed like the combination of an earlier chapter, concerning the understand of one's target audiences, and the current chapter, involving the organization of a technical document. I thought the example provided did a great job of illustrating both of these topics, and showing the real-life application and occurance of such situations. It was a helpful reminder about the varying perspectives and expectations people have, coming from different cultures and backgrounds. I haven't had to consider this much yet in my career, but I'm confident that I will in the near future.
Cross Cultural Overlap
I'm not sure that I entirely understand Matt's thoughts on cross-cultural documents, but I think it has to do with the effort of catering to another culture and whether it's necessary for people on both sides to put that effort in. In my opinion, it is. Look at the people in our own society. How many are able to effectively communicate technical information in our own culture, let alone something completely foreign? I think that both sides should make efforts to learn about each other so that there’s an overlap of understanding. For example, if the Japanese have a minor understanding of our writing style, and we have a minor understanding of theirs, then there’s a good chance that one of us will recognize any discrepancies when they arise and be able to compensate for them. Then there’s a better chance that information is communicated accurately. Like Matt said, it’s difficult to explain. I don’t think that the employment project requires any cross-cultural writing, so we’re probably safe for now anyway.
Necessary in globalized economy
I wondered how necessary it was tailoring your writing to another culture especially in the globalized economy that we live in today. Most business transactions and deals are done in English. Personal communication is almost becoming less and less personal. I'd also venture to guess that no one is taking this time to do this or consider it as there is always something else that they could be doing. I wonder if since this is the first time I've heard about this if it has Sort of become a lost art? Although I can't say I do to much international business so it would be hard for me to say. It couldn't hurt thought to have this in the back of your mind just in case you need it in the future.
Andy
Second Nature
Aside from the cultural aspect of the chapter, I completely understand what your saying about these techniques being second nature. I too have used many of these techniques in my past writing without even knowing it. After reading this chapter, it all seems like common sense. I agree that we all develop certain styles of writing throughout our lives, but that these are a combination of different techniques. Now that I consciously know about these different techniques, I can use certain techniques when they are necessary. I think this will make it easier to write and organize certain papers where my typical style doesn't exactly fit.
Culture
I think I understand where you are coming form on your thoughts about cross-cultural documents. The reading makes it seem like it is completely the writer’s responsibility to accommodate all the readers, even those from other cultures. It seems to me like there should be some sort of middle point that everyone can agree on. If there were some sort of agreed upon standard for writing cross cultural document it would just make everything easier. I know that when I am reading something I usually try to understand where author is coming from, but I realize that most people do not do this.
Bpo you nailed it
That’s exactly how I feel. This form of communication isn't a one way interpretation. Both parties should make it a point to understand where each other is coming from so they can interpret the writing better. This middle point you spoke of is a great solution. It would allow each party to come to a common consensus as to how they can better understand each other. Then one side doesn't have to completely change the way they write, just because another culture might not understand them. However, like you said, most people don't necessarily always try to put themselves in the writer’s shoes.
Finally
Finally someone else said it too. The cultural bickering and trying to cater to everyone gets old. I wish people in a sense would “get over themselves” and realize everyone is different and that no harm was meant. I certainly think it’s a good idea to try to make your document as culturally friendly as reasonably possible, but it shouldn’t take longer to adjust the document for the reader as it should to write it. And agreeing with Matt, I don’t think that’s rude at all, I think it is rude to believe that everyone else should do it your way.