By Han Yu and Melanie G. Flanders | Associate Fellow
China’s increased demand for English-based technical communication—in combination with the emergence and continuous growth of the Internet, smartphones, and social media—means China represents a range of opportunities for U.S. technical communicators to work in China or with Chinese businesses. To productively take advantage of such opportunities, however, technical communicators need to keep certain factors in mind. This article shares strategies and considerations that can help with this process. These approaches are based on one author’s experience working as a technical communicator and consultant in China for the past 10 years and the other author’s experience practicing and researching technical communication in both the United States and China.
China’s Desire to Participate in International Standards
Today, the Chinese government is keen on increasing its foreign investment in other countries, especially nations in South America, Africa, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, and along the ancient Silk Road. Given this trend and the de facto status of English as the international lingua franca, developing English-language user documentation has become a requirement for many Chinese businesses. Doing so involves addressing international standards.
In early 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed, and China’s State Council subsequently issued, “Guiding Opinions on Promoting International Production Capacity and Equipment Manufacturing Cooperation.” The “Opinions” contain principles, objectives, tasks, policies, and measures for promoting international production capacity and cooperation in equipment manufacturing. In particular, China would like to see existing Chinese standards become recognized internationally and to participate in formulating international and regional standards through interactions with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
To achieve this objective, China must compile foreign-language versions (in English at a minimum) of its technical standards for high-speed railways, power, engineering machinery, chemical, nonferrous metals, building materials, and other industries as early as possible. These developments provide opportunities for U.S.-educated technical communicators to work as writers, editors, consultants, and trainers in China.
Growth of Digital Media and Mobile Devices
Besides international business, the growth of digital media opens up internal Chinese markets for technical communication, especially in the areas of interface design and usability studies. High-speed Internet and 4G infrastructure are now commonplace in China. Additionally, smartphones and social media have taken the country by storm. According to a recent study, two thirds of China’s mobile connections happen on a smartphone, and China’s smartphone users outnumber those in the United States, Brazil, and Indonesia combined (Perez, 2015). While a large share of this market is dominated by immensely popular brands like Apple devices, China’s homegrown smartphone companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, ZTE, Vivo, Oppo, Coolpad, and Meizu have also secured a strong foothold in the local marketplace.
A major cultural communication shift has happened as a result. The typical noisy chatter on buses and subways (where phone signals do exist!) has been replaced by passengers glued to their phones. Young and old alike now regularly browse the Web, check social media, watch TV and movies, and play games. The gaming business, in particular, is big in China, and many companies are attempting to create games that appeal to international markets. These developments provide opportunities for technical communicators to participate in mobile design, game scenario development, character descriptions, and product promotion.
With the spread of smartphones, social media and mobile applications have quickly followed. While the Great Firewall of China might block several recognized social media platforms, several Chinese-created products allow individuals to network and exchange ideas online. For example, WeChat, a social-networking service parallel to Facebook, allows users to chat privately or in groups and to share status updates, photos, and videos. The video-sharing platform YOUKU allows individuals to upload and view longer videos and is similar to YouTube, while various Weibo (microblogging) platforms provide Chinese users with Twitter-like experiences. Meanwhile, ebooks have become a popular medium in China, and there are also numerous applications that allow individuals to buy things online, order food, pay bills, purchase theater tickets, and even call a taxi (a very useful app when it is raining!).
Although these applications are very convenient for Chinese users, little effort has been dedicated to developing interfaces that allow non-Chinese readers to employ such technologies. Yet there is potential both to translate and to culturally adapt these products for individuals in other countries. Doing so would provide a range of opportunities for technical communicators who have experience in translation, localization, and internationalization. It would also provide opportunities for technical communicators to work on integrating social media into product help as well as working with online user communities in a variety of ways.
Current Realities in Universities and Industry
To a large extent, technical communication as a profession and discipline (at least as it is practiced in the United States, Europe, and Japan) has a very short history in China. While this may be old news, what is noticeable is that a growing number of Chinese professionals have working titles such as “technical communicator,” “technical communication trainer,” “documentation specialist,” or “information architect.” These professionals, however, are often not trained as technical communicators per se, but as technical translators—a profession and discipline that is well developed in China.
In China, many technological and comprehensive universities offer Master’s degrees in Translation and Interpreting (MTIs). These programs help students develop language skills and subject-matter knowledge that will enable them to do translation and interpretation work in multiple specialized industries. In these programs, native Chinese speakers are trained to translate materials between Chinese and English as well as between Chinese and a growing list of other languages. Interestingly, these programs typically are not part of a technical communication or engineering department. Rather, they are found in the foreign languages department of a university. In fact, the only Chinese technical communication program the authors know of (offered by the School of Software & Microelectronics, Beijing University) is fewer than 10 years old. These factors have important implications for how technical communication is practiced in China today.
In the workplace, language and communication specialists are not the ones authoring user documentation. Rather, engineers and other subject matter experts produce such materials. This situation can be the case in the United States, but there are also important differences and complications. If you have ever complained that technical communicators and subject matter experts “do not speak the same language,” know that this situation is literally the case in China. There, the vast majority of engineers and subject matter experts do not compose or communicate in English, but instead draft initial texts in Chinese. Translators are then charged with converting these Chinese-language source materials into English-language target materials.
This process is further complicated by the different styles of communication Chinese and English-speaking cultures have (e.g., uses of direct vs. indirect references). Moreover, the Chinese engineer assigned to document a project is often a junior or an apprentice engineer unfamiliar with all aspects and functionality of the product or project. Because the documentation is not viewed as an integral part of the project (sound familiar?), trying to collaborate with Chinese subject matter experts early on in project development is difficult, or impossible. And because the engineers, rather than the translation department, typically “own” the documentation, translators or technical editors might have a difficult time following best communication practices if the engineers do not agree with certain documentation approaches.
This is not to say that this situation is always the case. In fact, some Chinese companies do employ individuals with backgrounds in communication and translation to function as technical writers. The transition to this approach, however, is slow because it means allowing people who are not directly involved in creating a product (e.g., engineers) to write about it.
Suggestions for Working Effectively with Chinese Colleagues
The economic growth and current realities in China are creating opportunities for U.S. technical communicators to work as editors, writers, consultants, and trainers there. This situation, however, does not mean that Chinese companies and colleagues will simply open their arms to professional technical communicators from abroad.
Although U.S.-style technical communication programs are rare in China, some Chinese colleagues might have had some technical communication education in the United States or Europe, or they might have participated in training opportunities that are emerging in China. Moreover, the Chinese communication and documentation specialists one encounters in China will likely have a focused educational background in translating and interpreting technical, scientific, and medical information. Given this background, it is advisable that non-Chinese technical communicators consider the following factors when working with Chinese colleagues:
- Respect your Chinese colleagues’ experience and background and shed the sentiment that they are not “technical communicators” or “native speakers of English.” Genuine respect and a desire to learn will go a long way in any type of collaboration and consultation.
- Develop good editing skills as this is a key requirement for gaining the respect of your Chinese colleagues. One of the authors once witnessed that U.S.-based technical writers lose credibility with a Chinese company because Chinese counterparts spotted language issues in the U.S. counterparts’ work.
Also know that your Chinese colleagues will likely view you as a resource, appreciate your expertise and experience, and be eager to pick your brain. You can thus be a resource by imparting knowledge positively through different everyday work and communication patterns.
- Avoid non-constructive comments, such as “What does this mean?” or “What’s this?” when reviewing Chinese colleagues’ work. Instead, attempt to decipher the meaning and ask more pointed questions, such as “Is the intended meaning [this] or [that]?” Similarly, instead of saying “too vague,” explain why something is vague or let the Chinese counterpart know what information might be missing (e.g., “Can you add some text that explains….”).
- Remember that some “issues” you see in your Chinese colleagues’ writing may have resulted from experience with different versions of English. Chinese elementary, middle, and high schools often teach British English, while colleges and universities more often teach American English—often without explaining dialect differences to students.
- Learn to spot, decipher, and correct Chinese-English, or “Chinglish,” which contains nonstandard expressions that directly and (often) crudely translate Chinese words into English without consideration of syntax or context. So, if you see an “odd” expression, use it as a learning opportunity and ask your Chinese colleagues what it means. It may be a result of Chinglish, and the colleague will likely appreciate knowing the proper expression.
- Volunteer to be an informal trainer. If you are working with a group of translators or technical writers and you see patterns of communication that need to be altered, offer to provide periodic, interactive training sessions (with lots of examples) to address these issues. Training sessions can address technical writing best practices as well as grammar issues.
- Be prepared to explain why something needs to be done a certain way whenever you offer suggestions.
When Your Chinese Colleagues Disagree….
Because your Chinese colleagues likely have more training in translation and interpretation than in technical communication, they might disagree with some practices you take for granted. For example, they might not be able to or find it useful to consult with subject matter experts to gain clarification on an item. It is actually easy to see why this is the case once you have walked in their shoes.
A case in point: One of the authors once worked at a Chinese company where she was asked to “Americanize” (localize) documentation that had been translated from Chinese to English. After the work was finished, the documents were returned to the product developers for approval. In this instance, if the English deviated too much from the source Chinese, the developers, many of whom could read English well, would reject the translation. In situations like this one, patience and an ability to explain your work are central to getting colleagues to see things differently.
In this case, the author had to explain to the translators why certain changes were made; for example, why certain information needed to be presented as a procedure rather than in paragraph form, why some information was irrelevant to the target audience, why the target audience needed certain information that was not present, and the use of particular prepositions (e.g., is it in the screen or on the screen). The translators would then pass these explanations on to the developers. In many cases, the developers eventually agreed to the change. The justification and rationale for changes, however, had to have sound reasoning behind them for such agreement to happen. In sum, it was not enough to say “do it this way because that’s how we do it in English.”
Final Thoughts
China offers an exciting and promising, if still currently limited, market for technical communicators. Much of the training and best practices one gains in U.S. or European technical communication programs or workplaces will transfer and prepare the individual for occasional projects or even a long-term career in China. At the same time, certain seemingly common practices often taken for granted will not prevail in China—at least not now. While considerations of language and communication remain essential, so is the understanding of the people, their culture, their backgrounds, their working contexts, their relationships, and their constraints.
References
Perez, Bien. 13 July 2015. China has more smartphone users than US, Brazil, and Indonesia combined. Business Insider. Retrieved 7 January 2016, from www.businessinsider.com/china-has-more-smartphone-users-than-us-brazil-and-indonesia-combined-2015-7.
HAN YU (hyu1@ksu.edu) is Professor of technical communication at Kansas State University, where she teaches technical, engineering, science, and business communication. Han’s current research focuses on visual communication in science and technology. She recently published The Other Kind of Funnies: Comics in Technical Communication in Baywood’s award-winning technical communication series. Han worked in China and the United States as a technical editor and translator and is the founder of Pub and Prosper, where she provides editorial assistance to academic writers in STEM.
MELANIE G. FLANDERS (melanie_flanders@hotmail.com) lives in Nanjing, China, where she has worked as a technical editor, trainer, technical writer, and English teacher for 11 years. Wherever she is, Melanie likes to immerse herself in the local culture, customs, and cuisine, and observe the idiosyncrasies in each place. She contributed a chapter to Negotiating Cultural Encounters: Stories in Intercultural Engineering and Technical Communication, edited by Han Yu and Gerald Savage.
