(PDF) Learning Localization through Trans-Atlantic Collaboration: Bridging the Gap

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 53, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2010 1 Learning Localization through Trans-Atlantic Collaboration: Bridging the Gap between Professions Tutorial —Feature by BIRTHE MOUSTEN , BRUCE MAYLATH , SONIA VANDEPITTE , AND JOHN HUMBLEY Abstract—In light of what has taken place since their presentation at the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference in 2005, the authors describe additional requirements and merits of matching technical writing students in the US with translation students in Europe in a collaborative assignment. Where the original article dealt with how to set up and organize the collaboration, this tutorial delves into the pedagogical challenges and the process dynamics involved in such an exchange, including mediation, power, and teamwork issues. Index Terms—Editing, exchange, localization, negotiation, power, translation standards. Collaborative projects are natural in trade and industry workplaces where the increased use of students learning English communicated with each other via web-based video and text chat sessions. The authors conclude that learning a foreign digital media for quick and efficient communication Pr E is possible. The resulting increased cooperation between multinational partners is vital for expediency and success. Email as a medium is an increasingly prevalent way of furthering collaboration, allowing the employees to create a E more hands-on approach to shaping texts for users of other languages and cultures. In education, the culture definitely improved with communication methods that used online technologies. In our Trans-Atlantic Project, however, the universities are not related to each other through any formal agreements, written or otherwise. Instead, relationships are established between f individual instructors. Longstanding partners media can be employed to set up collaborative include instructors at Aarhus University’s School partnerships. of Business (Denmark), University College Ghent oo Research on international collaborative projects in (Belgium), University of Paris 7-Denis Diderot (France), and University of Wisconsin-Stout (US). IE higher education is, however, rather scarce. When we started our project in 2000, only one article was New partners have joined the network, namely available on a similar project: Duell and Gregory from the University of Trieste (Italy), North Dakota describe the two phases of the interaction between State University (US), and, for one brief year, the an English-language class in Tokyo International University of Graz (Karl-Franzens-Universität, University, Japan, and a branch campus in Salem, Austria). The project’s genesis, structure, and Oregon, US, via the web [1]. Duell and Gregory’s aims are enumerated in Humbley et al. [3] and main purpose in the project was for students vary considerably according to the wishes of the to learn how to use new electronic tools. In the participating institutions. There and in other meantime, Okubo and Kumahata have reported publications we have described the project’s history on their international educational collaboration and organic development as a grassroots network between Baylor University and Tokyo Institute of and delineated the project’s ground rules, their Polytechnics [2]. Students taking Japanese and practical nature, the theoretical framework behind the partnerships, and the logistics behind their operations [3]–[5]. Manuscript received March 05, 2009; revised July 28, 2009; accepted February 08, 2010. Generally, students are expected to have already B. Mousten is with the Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University, Aarhus DK-8210, Denmark (email:

). mastered the necessary computer skills and B. Maylath is with North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND proficiency in language skills. The project differs 58108-6050 USA (email:

). from most other exercises in that students are put S. Vandepitte is with Translation Studies, University College Ghent, Ghent B-9000, Belgium (email: sonia.vandepitte@hogent. into a semi-lifelike situation: Technical students be). learn how to relate to prospective translators of J. Humbley is with Université Paris 7-Denis Diderot, Paris their work, and translation students have contact 75205, France (email:

). with the writers of their source texts, who also act IEEE 10.1109/TPC.2010.2077481 as their clients. Thus, students become aware of 0361-1434/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE 2 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 53, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2010 the diversity of the world community in which their or not to delegate power to the target market), technical documents travel. must be made according to company policies. An investigation of one of these companies (VELUX) In this paper, we attempt to an- concluded that swer the following questions: global and local forces vary from market to • What potential challenges might instructors market, and therefore it is difficult, maybe face new to these partnerships? Can baseline impossible, for a company with VELUX’s requirements or criteria be established to ensure corporate principles to define the borderline that obstacles can be overcome? When a new between global and local forces, because the project assignment is substituted or when a borderline differs with the locales in question. project assignment takes on a new character, [11, p. 232] what can instructors be alerted to? • What can be learned from collaborative projects, not only by students and staff, but COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP REQUIREMENTS also by researchers engaged in writing and translation-process studies? Establishing Goals Instructors must discuss goals, some of which are shared but some of which can vary tremendously. In our Trans-Atlantic PREVIOUS RESEARCH: SNELL-HORNBY, Project, this occurs during the initial stages of a TYMOCZKO, AND GENTZLER Pr E According to Snell-Hornby, The tendency towards the end of the twentieth century, and not only in Translation Studies, was clearly away from E strict compartmentalization and towards project, similar to the process of creating values and visions in a company. The following issues soon emerged. Defining Common Ground: The common denominator for all our exchanges has been raising awareness of cultural differences and inclusion of some sort of translation or “text transfer.” f interdisciplinary cooperation, away from rigid ideology and towards real-life experience. [6, This concept has, however, been criticized over p. 150] oo the years [7, pp. 12–16], [12, pp. 1–6]. Since the Trans-Atlantic Project involves the travel of texts Although some research has been carried out in this from one culture to another, we have gradually IE area [3], [7]–[9], a more thorough understanding of replaced the term “text transfer” with “text travel.” the processes involved is needed. Many analyses The latter draws increased attention to the process, compare translations with the original text or rather than just source and target texts. Text intention, but the complexities and problems travel, therefore, covers diverse processes in the involved in the translation process still remain Trans-Atlantic Project such as texts flowing in unresolved. In localization, for instance, one different directions at different times, subjected to of the marketer’s decisions is to opt for either diverse cultural and linguistic changes on the way. simultaneous market access or delayed market access. The latter may involve more traditional Involving Partners: Participants already in the ontogenetic work stages, whereas the decision to network can easily take for granted problems market in many markets simultaneously calls for they had when they first joined the network. completely different work processes, among them Hubscher-Davidson reminds us that successful preparing documents in different languages at the collaborative work needs to be participatory and same time. This challenges the concepts of source involves all parties, and in this connection, she and target texts. draws attention to the importance of detailed communication between the instructors [13, p. Tymoczko and Gentzler mention different roles 87]. Along the same lines, Ramsden emphasizes assumed by different actors in different projects. cooperation in saying that teachers foster learning Two of their points relate to our Trans-Atlantic by listening to students and other teachers in Project in collaboration, namely, that the translator an effort to improve teaching practices [14, pp. was never a neutral party in the translation 113–116]. process and that today’s translation takes place from multicultural environment A to multicultural Adapting to Changes: Collaborative partnerships environment B [10, pp. 216–217]. Thus, a multitude are not only occupied with internal organization of choices, many of them subjective (e.g., whether factors; external factors may surface too, and when MOUSTEN et al.: LEARNING LOCALIZATION THROUGH TRANS-ATLANTIC COLLABORATION 3 Fig. 1. Direction of text travel. they do, they can reshape the project. This occurred that might be substituted and eventually settled on in 2006 when the European Union introduced a proposal texts. These included persuasive features, new standard for translation, the EN15038:2006. a prerequisite for inclusion in the course at Ghent. Although this standard does not use the term Although the NDSU students were urged to choose “text travel,” it specifies how any translation can topics that could be applicable in Belgium (e.g., go through obligatory and nonobligatory phases vaccinating cattle against anthrax, developing before it reaches a new audience. The obligatory emergency procedures for an influenza epidemic), phases require a qualified translator bilingual in the proposals addressed highly specific local laws the two languages and a reviser, different from the and customs. The professional writing students translator but bilingual in the same two languages. were not aware of the extent of local rootedness The standard also mentions a third player in the until they began comparing legislation and agency text transfer, a reviewer who need not be bilingual. directives in their native and adjoining US states Pr E Rather, the reviewer familiar with the subject matter can qualify for the job as a monolingual representative of the target culture and does not have to be a language professional [15]. For this review to be relevant, however, the reviewer must at some level be a subject matter expert or a locale expert. (See Fig. 1.) E of North Dakota and Minnesota and the Canadian province of Manitoba. Through internet research, they then tried to investigate corresponding Flemish, Belgian, and European Union regulations but could find little in English, the only language in which any of them had more than a basic knowledge. Faced with more complexity than they f anticipated, the NDSU students often left their texts Another example is when teachers’ curricula oo general and did not reach the level of complexity change and new or substituted assignments that the Ghent students were used to. However, require surmounting obstacles and mishaps. One the students did experience a cross-cultural IE of these difficulties occurred when the students at cooperative exercise. the University of Paris 7-Denis Diderot had heard lectures on the general principles of technical Organizing Cross-Professionally writing based on the genre of instructions. Basic Workflow Chart: Many projects have evolved When topics arrived from the University of from our Trans-Atlantic Project network; however, Wisconsin-Stout (UW-Stout), it became apparent their commonalities are detailed in Mousten, that the assignment for them was not writing Vandepitte, and Maylath [5, p. 133]. There we instructions, a relatively formalized text type, but advocate simulating a real client for a text, writing a report, which is much less formal. The according to Freinet’s pedagogy [16], to allow change in focus turned out to destabilize the French technical writing students to learn technical writing students. An unforeseen change in the writing skills in the text-production phase and translation assignment led to the translation students’ not students to learn translation, revision, editing, and knowing exactly what was expected of them, maybe adaptation skills. because of their limited grasp of the technical writing principles. With that in mind, we devised the chart in Fig. 2 for prototypical projects. As Fig. 2 shows, the initial A related problem arose in the exchange between cooperation was simply designed. The instructors Belgian students at University College Ghent and at participating universities define the scope of the US as well as the Canadian students at North cooperation. The technical writing student(s) then Dakota State University (NDSU). In Fall 2007, it undertake(s) the first step, writing or preparing turned out that the new upper-division course a set of instructions. A translation student(s) Business and Professional Writing in NDSU’s then translates the text, contacting the technical recently developed “vertical writing program” did writer, if necessary, to clarify points and discuss not include the instruction-writing assignment. Via differences in languages, systems, markets, and email, the instructors discussed other assignments cultural references. Most often, negotiation and 4 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 53, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2010 Pr E E f oo IE Fig. 2. Document travel and negotiation at the outset. mediation take place via email, though sometimes a exchange via videoconferences has sometimes been software platform such as a wiki or other website is impossible because the institutions’ semesters have effectively used. The translated, localized document not aligned; however, feedback between instructors is then returned to the writers, sometimes with has been consistent and continual. comments attached about changes prompted by the need to localize. Finding a Window of Opportunity: The time available for collaborative projects tends to be With time, the process often becomes more shorter than participants anticipate. For example, complex. The participants and their roles may vary, in the projects conducted between Paris and Stout, reflecting point 2 (in Fig. 2): Sometimes text travel the window of opportunity is fixed between October starts with the translators, who translate a text 10 and early December. Because of differing from their native language to the technical writing holidays, a provisional calendar should be fixed by students’ language for the latter to review, edit, the two instructors on a week-by-week basis. (See and render idiomatic. The only constant comes Table I.) at point 3, where negotiation and mediation take place via email. At point 4, the target market may During the exercise, it is important for both parties differ. At point 5—project evaluation—the ideal to realize that each is complementary to the other MOUSTEN et al.: LEARNING LOCALIZATION THROUGH TRANS-ATLANTIC COLLABORATION 5 TABLE I CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS AS PLANNED FOR 2007 FOR THE FRENCH-AMERICAN PROJECT Pr E but that the various phases must occur in the right order. In this case, with the Americans writing the texts and the French translating them, the Americans initiated the process, their texts constituting the core exercise around which all of the rest revolved, but the French students’ turn at E taking initiative came soon after. The implications discussion. For that to occur, priming is necessary, especially on the translators’ side. The experience of multiple videoconferences has convinced us that each class needs to discuss ahead of time what questions to ask, the answers they might expect, and how they might incorporate the answers into their work. After the videoconference, it is f of this power struggle will be discussed. From useful to spend half an hour analyzing what has a practical point of view, however, the ordering oo been achieved and what has not. The end of the meant that any delay on the Americans’ side had exchange is also a key period. In this case, since the serious repercussions for the entire project since UW-Stout students finish their semester before the IE they were initially a step ahead. In addition, a new Paris students do, any delay means that the French phase was introduced in the 2007 project, where students have no one to answer their questions—if the French students were to compose a document the delay is a long one—or to react to their report. on the same subject as their American partner, The wrap-up meeting is important for the students but in French, before they received the English to reflect on their achievements, and since it is the version for translation. In principle, this additional last phase, it is the one most often sacrificed. phase should have facilitated operations, as the Americans got two bites at the cherry: First, they But the end of the exchange is not the end chose their topic, and then they had a couple of the project. It is up to the participating weeks to write it. The catch was that there were instructors to exchange notes to build on project now two deadlines. The complementary nature achievements, analyze the reasons for breakdowns of the cooperation also meant that the American in communication, and prepare for the next students might not have focused on answering exchange. the French students’ questions when posting their Dealing with Differences writing exercise. Continual Awareness of Cultural Differences: By The videoconference has been the high point of the common consent, the instructors participating in exchange, but its timing must be carefully planned. the Trans-Atlantic Project have recognized that the As it almost inevitably occurs outside ordinary full impact of cultural differences is not sufficiently class times because of time zone differences, the recognized by the participating students. Part of the students must know about it in advance, preferably problem is that students do not always have a firm at the beginning of the semester, so that as many grasp of their own culture and are not completely students as possible can participate. But it is not prepared to approach the cultural content of enough to hope that the students will turn up on their overseas counterparts. The US students are the appointed day with questions to spark enriching imbued with the notion of American exceptionalism 6 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 53, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2010 (a trait of which their Canadian classmates are Stout students never received this feedback, acutely aware). The consequences for collaborative so the Paris students did not learn how their projects like ours are that US students are seldom appraisal was received by their American aware that significant differences between national partners. American instructors have, however, cultures even exist and, when they discover shown the reports to students in the next differences (such as those in measuring volume semesters’ classes. The translation students’ or weight), they assume that American ways appraisals of their partners in America during must be better. (For a description of American previous semesters have helped alert the exceptionalism and its dangers, see Madsen [17].) writing students to the seriousness of their In addition, young Americans’ growing aversion to role and common pitfalls. group responsibility has, at times, surfaced, a trait perhaps best described in Twenge, most notably in These three innovations seemed to offer the the chapter titled “An Army of One: Me” [18]. That French students a more autonomous approach to said, one of the main goals of the Trans-Atlantic translation, thus better preparing them to handle Project is to heighten students’ awareness of issues that arose in the texts. The differences cultural differences, starting with their own. were most obvious in the planning of the texts’ content and organization. The American students To illustrate, we turn to the American-French often introduced the topic with an example, often connection. To raise their consciousness, taken from personal experience, and only in the the French students are given training in development would they deal with general issues. (1) Pr E technical writing and experience in actually writing documents. In addition, to prompt the French students to take more initiative, three main innovations were introduced: A quick introduction to the principles of technical writing. E The French students usually started by giving an outline of the structure of their report and what the reader would find in the various sections before announcing the topic in general terms. Their examples were shorter than those in the Americans’ texts, and it was quite exceptional for them to give any personal experience. The greater involvement f (2) Obtaining the topics from the technical of the American students in their topic, reflected students in advance of the full documents’ oo in their use of the first person, was often toned arrival and allocating these topics to the down in the translation by using an impersonal translation students on a volunteer basis. The construction to avoid the texts’ reading as an IE French students researched the topics, using egocentric monologue. From a presentation point French-language sources supplemented by of view, the structure of the report was clearer documents in English and other languages in the French versions, and the translators were found on the web. They then wrote their often chagrined by what they perceived as a lack of own draft document in French on the same structure by the American students. subject as their prospective American partner. As anticipated, the independently written Keeping a Balance of Power: The earliest stages of documents gave the authors a cultural the Trans-Atlantic Project involved only an easterly and methodological anchorage that proved direction of text travel, namely, from the US to useful when they tackled the American texts. Denmark and Belgium: American students wrote The documents that the French students instructions for use in Denmark and in Belgium’s produced—in a very short time—were Flanders with texts thus translated into Danish evaluated by the French teaching staff. This and Dutch. The cooperation later expanded to focus experience gave the French students insights on different matters, such as the communication into the same sort of work that their American between the parties and the cultural perspectives counterparts were conducting and, at the that had to be considered. When a Danish same time, allowed them to think about translation class that had already had experience their own achievements. Instead of being with the usual project was paired with the capstone mesmerized by the incoming document, they class of senior technical communication majors at were able to analyze the differences rationally UW-Stout, the direction of text travel was reversed. and use their newly learned writing principles. This experience revealed a shift in power balance. (3) A written report to their American partners Several years later, this experience reoccurred that analyzed what had been achieved. when Belgian translation classes were paired with Unfortunately, due to timing difficulties, the capstone classes of English majors at NDSU. MOUSTEN et al.: LEARNING LOCALIZATION THROUGH TRANS-ATLANTIC COLLABORATION 7 In contrast to their early exchanges, the students communication problems in cyberspace to at Aarhus were asked to find a technical text on-site communication [20, pp. 222–227], in a Danish trade and industry magazine and this seems to be a point worth considering. If translate it with the purpose of informing the the project managers do not set aside time American readers about a development in another for team members to become acquainted, the part of the world. Interestingly, this reversal in members will delve into this matter at random. the direction of text travel also meant a change in (2) Team members perform better with a detailed team members’ roles, even though the participants translation brief. Such a brief, as we have were the same kinds of actors: American technical designed it, provides team members with writers and Danish translators of technical texts. information about the origin and purpose of The US students had to edit a text already written the text; reasons for certain inclusions and and, to clarify points in the text, they had to exclusions from the text; the context for which more consciously understand the semantics and the text was written, including the audience pragmatics of the text. and the medium; and, finally, the envisaged use in the new setting. According to Risku, Although the US technical writers in the this is what happens in the workplace: Denmark-to-US direction of text travel were still supposed to have a slight advantage when it came Technical communicators participate to knowledge of the target language (English) in the selection of media and content, and knowledge of technical matters, they were whereas translators are seen primarily Pr E presented with issues and problems for which they did not have a quick solution. In their email exchanges, they made cautious comments along the lines of “We are not very familiar with this subject, and therefore our comments must be evaluated carefully, before they are incorporated in the texts.” E as language experts responsible for the linguistic transformation of source material. [21, p. 189] This traditional distinction of assigned roles had to be abandoned in the Trans-Atlantic Project. Even though the overall text type had f Our experience in the Trans-Atlantic Project has been agreed on between the instructors in shown us that the power balance between the the US-to-Europe direction of text travel, the different actors in the text creation and translation European translators still had to define the oo process depends on different parameters. Who is responsible for drafting the text? Since the next medium and, to some extent, the content for each text as they saw fit for the local context. IE person in line is supposed to work on this drafted However, in Europe-to-US text travel, the role text, a potential power struggle already lies in the of selecting the medium and content was sequencing. Add to this the power struggle of the divided among the team members with the mediator to adapt the text to the target audience. American students at the helm because they One way to ease potential differences between were closest to the available choices of media. the participants is to thoroughly prepare for the (3) Clarify goals rather than roles. Even when project, which involves the following three points: team members are at ease with one another, and even when the brief specifies most (1) Team members need to become better points of discussion, teamwork is essential acquainted with each other. In the beginning, in reaching a satisfactory goal. Coppola and we simply initiated the translation process; Elliot have identified trust as essential in however, we soon found that the team virtual teams for the work to be successful members spent valuable time getting to know [22], something we noted early on [3] when we each other and asking questions about their turned to Fukuyama’s work [23] during the collaborative partners, seemingly to pave first years of the Trans-Atlantic Project. Trust the way for fruitful cooperation but at the turned out to be essential in our projects, as expense of project time. Paretti commented we witnessed the team members automatically on this point in an article on “distributed building personal relationships before actually work,” where she points out that “to prepare starting the project. This added focus on trust students to collaborate on distributed teams and close relations should be seen as a logical with subject matter experts and with other and necessary step because there is no chance professionals” is a challenge [19, p. 222]. of meeting the team partners in person. Coupled with Dean, Osland, and Solt’s study Consequently, gaining knowledge depends on in which students identified and compared teamwork, trust, and personal relationships. 8 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 53, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2010 Mediation as the Hub of Success: Recent (2) The term “terminerer” (terminate) was discussions in process management, action borrowed via English from Latin and may be research, and translation studies have included used in the language for specific purposes topics such as mediation and learning, as well as (LSP) register for this language domain. power and process. Seeing the web as intercultural However, the conventional Danish word would marketing communication, Hermeking considers be “afbryde” (cut off). the translators as professionals performing the (3) Another LSP concept in this context is roles of culture mediators, marketing professionals, “absolut temperatur” (absolute temperature), and web designers [8, p. 48]. Risku sees text which may remind the lay reader of the production as teamwork in which each expert concept of “absolut nulpunkt” (absolute within an area contributes essential information, zero). However, “absolute temperature” is not and the decision making depends on the status and normally recognizable to the reader. Although power of the experts [21, p. 94]. Katan comments the synonym “termodynamisk temperatur” on the intricacies of framing text through cultural (thermodynamic temperature) is also an LSP filters and says that a cultural mediator must be term, it helps readers retrieve notions of able to frame a particular communication within heat/cold and changeable conditions. its cultural context and, in turn, disassociate from (4) The precaution, however, taking the form of that frame to a virtual text that guides the mediator a negation (“ikke særlig” = not particularly) when creating a new text for a new addressee [9, was omitted from the text. As a result, the pp. 324–325]. hedging in the statement was removed from Pr E No matter which way the direction of travel goes, it is clear that mediation of the text travel and, thus, cultural travel, turns out to be the hub of E success—or lack of it. It sustains a work process that is organic and subject to development. For (5) the translated/revised version. The Danish phrase “men ikke særlig nøjagtig metode” (but not particularly precise method) was rendered in English as the stronger and clearer phrase “but imprecise,” which is the only semantic difference between the source and target texts. The change takes the form of f example, in the Europe-to-US direction of text a negation, going from an adverb (ikke = not) travel, a European translator-reviser team works oo to a prefix (im-). with a reviewer team in the US. Hence, three project (6) One small change, important in English, is phases can be identified as the formal ontogenetic the deletion of the hyphen between “low” IE phases for the team, namely, translation, and “cost.” Its elimination transforms the revision, and reviewing. The accompanying email compound adjective into two separate correspondence between the team members can adjectives. According to most British and be considered the informal ontogenetic text phase. American style guides, this omission is a Below, the formal ontogenetic text stages are mistake. presented and elaborated in an example from a text on recharging batteries. In the Danish The native-speaker review group changed the text excerpt, (which is a bit sloppy as a source text and as follows: bears much English influence,) and its English Some low-cost chargers quit (7) charging translation, the numbers refer to the comments a battery (8) by measuring the absolute that follow. temperature of the battery, (9)—simple but Danish: Nogle low-cost (1) ladere terminerer (2) imprecise method of determining the amount ladningen ved måling af absolut temperatur of energy in the battery (10). (3)—en simpel men ikke særlig (4) nøjagtig They made four changes: metode. (5) English: Some low cost (6) chargers terminate (7) They replaced the term “terminate” with “quit.” charging by measuring the absolute In doing so, they replaced an LSP term with an temperature—a simple but imprecise method. ordinary word, adding a touch of the colloquial (4) + (5) to the text. (8) They made explicit that the activity of charging (1) The term “low-cost” has been borrowed directly involved a battery and, thus, clarified the from English; the normal Danish word would statement (“charging” became “charging a have been “billig” (cheap/inexpensive). battery”). MOUSTEN et al.: LEARNING LOCALIZATION THROUGH TRANS-ATLANTIC COLLABORATION 9 (9) They inadvertently introduced a grammatical implies that the responsibility of shaping the text mistake by leaving out the indefinite article during text travel must, in general, be assumed by “a” in front of “simple.” all actors in the team rather than by the sender (10) They also elaborated on the method alone. The situation corresponds to a music (“imprecise method” became “imprecise composer writing the notes but the performance method of determining the amount of energy being shaped by the musicians. in the battery”). What the Trans-Atlantic Project has taught us The aforementioned translation, revision, and is that obtaining good results inevitably calls for review stages for just one sentence included (1) strong team member participation and productive problems with the use of loan words in the source dialog. In turn, the dialog brings virtual team texts; (2) change from LSP and, thus, field-specific members closer to one another, while the focus on register, to language for general purposes (LGP) different educational backgrounds fades slightly. and, thus, a common register; (3) problems in This does not mean that problems do not arise. dealing with field-specific register; (4) cultural On the contrary, the results of collaboration modes of expressing negatives; (5) removal of have varied with the people involved. The organic hedging; (6) deviation from writing rules; (7) formal development of teamwork has depended on versus informal style; (8) explication; (9) grammar; successful collaboration within the team. The (10) inadvertent deletion; and (11) addition. To quality of the resulting texts reflects the same summarize, it is not surprising that discussion phenomenon. Some changed texts have come Pr E about the formulation and translation of a text can be a nerve wracking experience. As for the informal ontogenetic stages, which involve negotiation and mediation, it is noteworthy that they were absent for this example. The E translator/reviser group members accepted most across very successfully; others have been changed in ways that made the texts illogical or introduced new errors. In general, the better the cooperation, negotiation, and mediation, the better the results. REDEFINING COMMON GROUND f changes but rejected the edited parts where It is difficult to imagine future translation studies semantic changes occurred. They returned another oo without process studies. Likewise, it is difficult version in which they explained why they rejected to imagine technical information travel without some of the changes. translation being involved. Moreover, the increased IE complexity of structures in translation and Cross-Cultural and Cross-Professional Research: technology makes it hard to imagine either without If international collaboration is introduced at the effective team collaboration. Therefore, we see a new master’s degree level (as is the case at Aarhus organizational setup that is already used in trade School of Business/Aarhus University), it may and industry. Theoretically, and in our teaching of serve as the subject of student research projects, technical writers and technical translators, we face such as a thesis. For instance, one Danish master’s the challenge of preparing students for this kind of candidate compiled a corpus of the exchanges collaboration. involved in the Trans-Atlantic Project and analyzed the cultural differences in email communication The above assumptions call for the role of the between US and Danish students. She found that translator to change from being a loyal translator to the differences were minute, and a significant being a critical filterer and a more independent actor difference occurred in only one parameter: It was in the process of converting source text into target more important to the Americans to be competitive; text. This role transition calls for collaboration with among the Danes, it was more important to be other professions and understanding and inclusion cooperative [24, p. 77]. of cultural differences. For translators, this is acknowledged in Cronin’s Researchers will also find that collaboration is stance that fruitful ground for investigating cross-cultural and cross-professional aspects. On the relationships translators are first and foremost mediators. between source text/source culture and target They are the medium by which texts from text/target culture, Reiss and Vermeer’s Skopos one culture and language are transmitted to Theory [25] has gained ground along with Sperber another. Translation is a subset of the larger and Wilson’s Relevance Theory [26], applied in sets of transmission and mediation. In this particular to translation by Gutt [27]. This, in turn, respect translation has similarities to other 10 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 53, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2010 forms of mediation and transmission in our How does one get across in the translated society. [28, p. 90] message something which is different in L1 and L2, not simply because the languages are To perform this act of mediation in relation to a new different, but because in the two languages’ locale, the translator and other actors are central. cultures, the conventions on how something is The examples in this paper demonstrate that the communicated are not the same? [30, p. 189] mediation skills needed in a translation process are no less vital today than previously. We add another question: How do we bridge the gap between the different professions, where Translation studies have dealt with this issue, process in the virtual team is decisive for usability too, and as the cultural turn in translation has and successful communication? Usability is often become the power turn [27]–[29], “with questions considered in terms of the source text but not of power brought to the fore in discussions of both the target text, though it is equally important translation history and strategies for translation” there. Some student translators tried running [10, p. xvi], our recognition of the power turn usability tests for the texts that they translated becomes essential in defining contemporary but sometimes encountered a problem familiar problems and processes in virtual networks. in industry: If the process or procedure is place-bound, as it has been in student-produced The overall question is whether universities instructions for cleaning a local swimming hall, prepare students of technical writing and technical Pr E translation for this challenge. The translation brief has forced the parties to define roles, means, and ends more specifically, but the brief has shown that the reader profile for the actual text in the new locale is sometimes unclear and not sufficiently E defined in the discussion of the brief. Even if a text has been prepared for a certain newspaper, this inserting a roof window, or changing tires on a specific brand and model of motorcycle, the means for usability testing are simply not at hand. For this reason, the translator often has to resort to a mental usability test [5, pp. 134–140]. Beerli, Falk, and Diemers sum up the gap between different professions neatly: f does not equate to defining one or more reader There are many cultural factors that influence groups, let alone writing precisely for them. oo knowledge transfer, including lack of trust, differences in cultural backgrounds, perceived In relation to the way translation has been perceived loss of status and rewards, lack of time and IE and taught for a long time, the EU standard raises conducive meeting places, and intolerances for new questions and issues in translation studies, mistakes. [31, p. 10] rhetorical studies, and process studies. We have to prepare students for jobs that encompass It seems that our Trans-Atlantic Project touched knowledge workers from different fields. The upon practical and theoretical issues that have Trans-Atlantic Project is an attempt to clarify the included all of the points in Beerli et al.’s statement. role of the translator as the mediator of knowledge. Therefore, some measure of success must be In our earliest publication [3], we wrote that the acknowledged, although some issues probably project’s results offer evidence that Rothkegel’s still need to be addressed. Prime among these are query remains perhaps the most relevant and the informal ontogenetic stages essential to group pressing question in global technical discourse: decision making. REFERENCES [1] B. Duell and W. Gregory, “Hands across the water: A pan-Pacific collaborative English language teaching project,” J. Tokyo Int. Univ., School Bus. Commerce, vol. 56, pp. 120–137, 1997. [2] M. Okubo and H. Kumahata, “Collaborative cultural studies over the Internet: Learning cultures with virtual partners. A project between Baylor University and Tokyo University of Polytechnics,” in Proc. Annu. Nat. Convention Assoc. Educational Communications and Technology, 2001, pp. 18–23. [3] J. Humbley, B. Maylath, B. Mousten, S. Vandepitte, and L. Veisblat, “Learning localization through trans-Atlantic collaboration,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Professional Communication Conf., 2005, pp. 578–595. [4] B. Maylath, S. Vandepitte, and B. Mousten, “Growing grassroots partnerships: Trans-Atlantic collaboration between American instructors and students of technical writing and European instructors and students of translation,” in Designing Global Learning Environments: Visionary Partnerships, Policies, and Pedagogies, D. Starke-Meyerring and M. Wilson, Eds. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2008, pp. 52–66. MOUSTEN et al.: LEARNING LOCALIZATION THROUGH TRANS-ATLANTIC COLLABORATION 11 [5] B. Mousten, S. Vandepitte, and B. Maylath, “Intercultural collaboration in the Trans-Atlantic Project: Pedagogical theories and practices in teaching procedural instructions across cultural contexts,” in Designing Global Learning Environments: Visionary Partnerships, Policies, and Pedagogies, D. Starke-Meyerring and M. Wilson, Eds. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2008, pp. 129–144. [6] M. Snell-Hornby, The Turns of Translation Studies. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins, 2006. [7] A. Pym, The Moving Text: Localization, Translation, and Distribution. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins, 2004. [8] M. Hermeking, “Lokalisierung von Webseiten: Interkulturelle marketing-kommunikation,” MDÜ, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 48–53, 2008. [9] D. Katan, Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators. Northampton, MA: St. Jerome Publishing, 2004. [10] M. Tymoczko and E. Gentzler, Translation and Power. Amherst, MA: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2002. [11] B. Mousten, “Globalisation and localization influences on web site text distribution: A case study of text travel between two VELUX web sites,” Ph.D. dissertation, Københavns Universitet, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2008. [12] S. Susam-Sarajeva, Theories on the Move: Translation’s Role in the Travels of Literary Theories. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Rodopi, 2006. [13] S. Hubscher-Davidson, “A reflection on action research processes in translator training,” The Interpreter and Translation Trainer, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 75–92, 2008. [14] P. Ramsden, Learning to Teach in Higher Education. London, UK: Routledge, 1992, pp. 113–116. [15] European Union, Eur. Std. EN 15038, 2006. [16] C. Freinet, Les CEuvres Pédagogiques. vols. 1–2. Paris, France: Seuil, 1994. [17] D. Madsen, American Exceptionalism. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1998. [18] J. Twenge, Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Pr E Miserable Than Ever Before. New York: Free Press, 2006. [19] M. C. Paretti, “Work in progress: Using e-portfolios to capture both process and product for assessing communication skills,” presented at the IEEE/ASEE Frontiers in Education Conf., Savannah, GA, 2004. [20] B. Dean, V. Osland, and M. Solt, “Lessons learned in the implementation of e-teams,” Int. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 21, no. 2, 2005. [21] H. Risku, Translationsmanagement: Interkulturelle fachkommunikation im informationszeitalter. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. E [22] N. Coppola and N. Elliot, “Big science or bricolage: An alternative model for research in technical communication,” IEEE Trans. Prof. Commun., vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 261–268, Sep., 2005. f [23] F. Fukuyama, Trust. New York: The Free Press, 1995. [24] E. Sehested, “Kulturelle dimensioner i email-korrespondancer,” M.Sc. dissertation, Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus, Denmark, 2006. oo [25] K. Reiss and H. J. Vermeer, Grundlegung einer Allgemeinen Translationstheorie. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1984. [26] D. Sperber and D. Wilson, Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1986. IE [27] E. Gutt, Translation and Relevance: Cognition and Context. Manchester, UK: St. Jerome, 2000. [28] M. Cronin, “‘Thou shalt be one with the birds’: Translation, connexity and the New Global Order,” Lang. Intercult. Commun., vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 86–95, 2002. [29] M. Snell-Hornby, “Communicating in the global village: On language, translation and cultural identity,” Current Issues Lang. Soc., vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 103–120, 1999. [30] A. Rothkegel, “Transfer of knowledge in cross-cultural discourse,” in Language, Text and Knowledge: Mental Models of Expert Communication, L. Lundquist and R. J. Jarvells, Eds. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter, 2000, pp. 189–206. [31] A. Beerli, S. Falk, and D. Diemers, Eds., Knowledge Management and Networked Environments. New York: AMACOM, 2003. Birthe Mousten lectures at the Aarhus School of Business, Sonia Vandepitte is a lecturer of English. She teaches English Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. She teaches courses grammar and translation from and into English, coaches in English for science and technology and web-related student translation businesses, and coordinates research text production. Her recent research comprises her Ph.D. activities. She has published on intonation, causal expressions, dissertation from the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, knowledge retrieval, methodological issues in translation Denmark, “Globalisation and localization influences on web studies, translation competencies, anticipation in interpreting, site text distribution—A case study of text travel between two and international teaching projects. She supervises projects VELUX web sites,” as well as two coauthored chapters in on parallel and comparable corpora and electronic feedback in Starke-Meyerring and Wilson’s Designing Globally Networked ESL learning. Learning Environments—Visionary Partnerships, Policies, and Pedagogies. John Humbley is a professor of applied linguistics and Bruce Maylath is a professor of English at North Dakota State terminology in the Department for Intercultural Studies University, Fargo, where he teaches courses in professional and Applied Languages (EILA) at Université Paris 7-Denis communication and linguistics. His current research focuses on Diderot, Paris, France, where he is in charge of the master’s translation issues in technical communication. His best-known degree program. He has published in the field of terminology, book chapters appear in Carolyn Rude’s Technical Editing (4th lexicology, and translation studies, and has participated in ed.) and Deborah S. Bosley’s Global Contexts: Case Studies in several dictionaries. International Technical Communication.