Language

Keeping it simple is the key to technical texts and making sure that the language they contain is both clear and to the point is one of the core values of technical communication. This is not just an altruistic and caring principle aimed at making life easier for readers; it actually makes sense for a variety of reasons. If you bear in mind that in reading technical texts, readers are usually trying to do something else and need the text do help them do it, then we do not want to distract them from this task by making them decipher overly complex language or fantastically creative and ornate, but ultimately unintelligible, language.

So, by keeping things simple, we reduce the amount of work readers have to do and we reduce the risk that something will be misunderstood or otherwise impede the smooth flow of information. This is particularly important where readers are in a hurry, are stressed or where they are not native speakers of the language. Some of the key ways in which the clarity and simplicity of technical texts is improved is to use simple declarative information instead of complex sentences and to provide clear and simple instructions which are in chronological order or which present a logical cause and effect structure.

• SAUBER HK10F is not classified as a dangerous substance in accordance with the relevant laws governing chemicals.

• The detector automatically checks the condition of the batteries.

• The HA-100B is a wireless glass-break detector that provides easy and reliable protection against robbery.

Example 1: Simple declarative sentences

• From the main menu, select "Installation" and then "New Installation".

• If the cycling device triggers an alarm, mount the unit in a different location.

Example 2: Clear and Logical Instructions

Scientific texts also make use of simple language to a certain extent, but owing to the different aims and intentions, they need to use a broader range of linguistic devices to do this. So while a technical text seeks to get information across as clearly and effectively as possible, scientific texts are not always concerned solely with conveying information as much as they are with creating some sort of effect or eliciting some response from the reader. As a result it is not unusual to see passages of text composed of quite long, complex sentences involving the type of language more commonly associated with more conventionally creative types of text. This can be seen in the following example taken from a scientific textbook:

• In cystic fibrosis, the combination of thickened secretions and repeated viral, 5. aureus and H. influenzae infections in early life lead to severe bronchiectasis; chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and sometimes Burkholderia cepacia, results in fatal destruction of the lung in spite of frequent courses of potent i.v. and nebulized antibiotics. (Murray et al. 2005:36)

Example 3: Complex sentence structure in a scientific text

Example 3 also illustrates a rather interesting feature, which typically sets scientific texts apart from technical texts: Latinisms. Whether as an acknowledgement of the scientific tradition or as an essential part of scientific discourse, the use of terms and phrases in Latin is an ex­tremely common feature of scientific language, particularly the binomial nomenclature used in biological and life sciences. Naturally, this has its roots in the status of Latin over many centuries as being the language of knowledge and of the educated. A word of caution is needed, however. While Latin was used as a lingua franca (now I'm doing it!) for the global scientific community, it would be unwise to assume that all languages use Latin as part of their scientific discourse. What is commonplace in certain language families might be unheard of for language families which have never come into contact with Latin or which cannot trace their ancestry back to Latin.

The following example-taken from a popular science book entitled Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World-displays complex language and a concerted ef­fort by the author to help readers understand the implications and associations of the information being conveyed. The result is, admittedly, a rather challenging sentence.

• We emerge blinking, then, from the great Varanger ice age - the last snowball earth - which ended some 590 million years ago, into a world in which the surface oceans and the air are well oxygenated - well enough for us to breathe - but the deep oceans are still stagnant, like the Black Sea today, saturated in hydrogen sulphide. (Lane 2002:69)