Weiss E.H. The Elements of International English Style. A Guide to Writing English Correspondence, Reports, Technical Documents, and Internet Pages for a Global Audience

M.E. Sharpe, Inc, 2005. — 157 p. — ISBN: 0-7656-1571-1.This book presents both kinds of tactics—advice and examples—on how to turn a first draft by an E1 writer into a draft more suitable for E2 readers. Its main audiences are Business students, graduate and undergraduate, especially those concerned with international business who find that their texts do not adequately address the problems of International English, Communication students, especially those preparing for careers in business and technical writing/editing, Trainers and seminar leaders,especially those who organize and facilitate workshops and short courses on international and inter-cultural communication, Business professionals,especially those who have become aware of the difficulties and frustrations of using English as a global language of commerce, and Writers and editors (business and technical) whose job is to revise
E1’s drafts and prepare them for an international readership.The Language of Global Business Is International English
A Riddle
What Is International English Style?
The Two Strategies: Culture-Free, Culture-Fair
Discussion Questions
Sources and Resources
Principles of Simplicity
Meaning and Risk
Ogden’s Basic English
Tactic 1: Adopt a Locally Invented, Controlled English
Tactic 2: Adopt a Reduced Dictionary
Tactic 3: Adopt an Industry-Sanctioned Controlled English
Tactic 4: Choose Words with One or Few Meanings
Tactic 5: Avoid Verbs with Two or Three Words in Them (Phrasal Verbs)
Tactic 6: Use the Simplest Verb Forms
Tactic 7: Define Many Terms in a Glossary
Tactic 8: Choose Words that Are Pronounceable
Tactic 9: Do not Coin Words that Are not Needed
Tactic 10: Avoid Redundant and Wordy Expressions for Time and Place
Tactic 11: Avoid Unhelpful Redundancies
Tactic 12: Avoid Nominalizations
Discussion Questions
Sources and Resources
Principles of Clarity
The Problem: Clear Only If Known
Tactic 13: Be Careful of Loosely Connected Words and Phrases
Tactic 14: Be Aware of Frequently Misplaced Descriptive Words
Tactic 15: Do not Confuse Frequently Confused Terms
Tactic 16: Form Words in Standard Ways
Tactic 17: Use Standard Spellings
Tactic 18: Avoid Converting Nouns into Verbs
Tactic 19: Be Aware of the Several Englishes
Tactic 20: Be Careful with Money and Dates
Tactic 21: Avoid Illogical or Arbitrary Idioms
Tactic 22: Avoid Words that Can Have Opposite Meanings
Tactic 23: Avoid Abbreviations, Contractions, and Acronyms
Tactic 24: Avoid Figurative Language in General
Tactic 25: Avoid Literary and Cultural Allusions
Tactic 26: Avoid Military and Sports Vocabulary
Tactic 27: Avoid Technical Terms Used with Nontechnical Meanings
Tactic 28: Avoid Business Jargon and Fashionable Business Terms
Tactic 29: Avoid Regionalisms and Slang
Tactic 30: Avoid Sarcasm or Irony
Tactic 31: Avoid Humor and Wordplay
Tactic 32: Suit Your English Idiom to the Local Language
Discussion Questions
Sources and Resources
Reducing Burdens
Reading and Stress
Tactic 33: Prefer Shorter Sentences
Tactic 34: Prefer Simple Sentences to Compound Sentences
Tactic 35: Prefer Simple Sentences to Complex Sentences
Tactic 36: Retain Certain Optional Words
Punctuation and International English
Tactic 37: Use Commas Aggressively
Tactic 38: Use Hyphens Aggressively
Tactic 39: Avoid Quotation Marks
The Burdensome Page
Tactic 40: Do not Justify Text, but Do not Break Words at the Ends of Lines
Tactic 41: Create a Readable, Accessible Page
Tactic 42: Reduce GOTOs
Tactic 43: Break Apart Long Paragraphs
Tactic 44: Convert Some Paragraphs into Lists
Tactic 45: Convert Some Paragraphs into Tables
Tactic 46: Convert Some Paragraphs into Playscripts
Tactic 47: Convert Some Paragraphs into Decision Tables
Tactic 48: Convert Some Paragraphs into Logic Diagrams
Reducing Burdens as an Ethical Objective
Discussion Questions
Sources and Resources
Writing for Translation
Limits on Translation
Translation Is a Business Expense
Preparing a Manuscript for Translation
Controlled Language and the Future of Translation
Discussion Questions
Sources and Resources
Principles of Correspondence
Business Letters: An Exercise in Style
Tactic 49: Eliminate Western Letter Lingo and Formats
Tactic 50: Adopt the Receiver’s Format
Tactic 51: Emulate the Receiver’s Opening Paragraph and
Customary Closing
Tactic 52: Emulate the Receiver’s Content Restrictions
What about E-mail?
Adapting E-mail for International Recipients
Discussion Questions
Sources and Resources
Principles of Cultural Adaptation
Was der Bauer nicht kennt
Tactic 53: Be Extremely Polite and Formal
Tactic 54: Assess Other Cultures without Stereotyping
Tactic 55: Localize Radically
Tactic 56: Define Your Graphics Strategy
Tactic 57: Consider Hall’s Context Continuum
Issues of Philosophy and Hypernorms
Discussion Questions
Sources and Resources
Appendixes
Projects for Students of International English
Sentences that Need Editing
Instructional/Technical Passages that Overburden the Reader
A Portfolio of Bad News Letters
An Internationalized Website Checklist