As defined in the previous section, culture is "the coherent, learned, and shared view of a group of people about life's concerns that ranks what's important, furnishes attitudes about what's appropriate, and dictates behavior" (p. 327). As the world continues to push towards globalization, the divide between cultures is becoming increasingly clearer. When working with an international team on an international assignment, it is important to remember that no one culture is greater or more important than another. It is also imperative to know that not all behaviors are based in culture. Sometimes, diverse cultural identities that encompass diverse values in a group can lead to tensions (Levitt 2019). This part of international communication is unavoidable, but being aware of differences and addressing those differences can help not only assuage tensions, but can also educate individuals in the group about their differences.
When working on international documents, certain aspects of culture become more or less important depending on the situation at hand. For example, when writing a document that deals with the environment, knowing the general opinion on environmental policy politics is more important than knowing what’s the most popular music group at the moment. Technical communicators often ask themselves a series of questions: What aspect of the culture is the document dealing with? What is the general opinion on the information contained in the document within that culture? How could the information be best presented to individuals of this culture? These questions and similar ones are necessary to ensure cultural awareness.
Translation within localization is replacing one word in a language with another word in a different language to “duplicate meaning interlingually” (Gonzalez, Zantjer, p 272). However, directly translating a paragraph from one language to another can yield some confusing results. Different languages might use different words to express a similar situation, or have words that don’t exist in the original language of the artifact. For example, in the study run by Gonzalez and Zantjer (2015) One student described a story in which family members remained chatting at the dinner table long after the table had been cleared. The previous sentence is about as short as you can describe that particular action in English, however, in Spanish, it’s referred to as “sobremesa” (p 280), which literally translates to “over the table”. Both the translated and untranslated instances refer to the same occurrence, however, sobremesa has much more cultural distinction. Thus, translators not only replace one language with another, but build and contribute to the understanding of the artifact. When translating an artifact from one language to another, it is important to conduct usability tests in each target language, to assure that the translation was successful and conveys similar meaning.
Localization also functions in user experience design. Of course, the translation plays a part in users being able to use the artifact, but the design itself also plays a major role in how users of a particular culture interact with the document. This is where Information and Communication design, or ICD, comes into play. According to Walwema (2016), ICD is “the art of crafting specific messages to achieve desired goals among target audiences” (p 38). Take google, arguably the most widely recognizable search engine, for example. Google is used almost exclusively by many people in the United States and other western countries, but it hasn’t made its mark everywhere in the world. In South Korea, many people choose to use Naver.com instead. Why is this? It’s all in the culture. South Koreans, as shown by Walwema, tend to dislike the bare-bones, minimalist style of Google’s user interface. Instead, they prefer a search engine that resembles a department store filled with eye-catching animation and design features (p 41). Google’s design is more closely aligned with western culture, whereas Naver.com has a site tailored to the interests and desires of Koreans.
Keeping this example in mind, it is important to note that not all members of a culture have a unified perspective and unified wants. Just as well, no culture is fixed, and what people of a certain culture want today may not be the same thing they want 5 years down the line. Being able to successfully localize an artifact means that it is flexible, willing to adapt, and designed for different users within a particular context. Cultural sensitivity plays a role in localization as well, as technical communicators want to make sure when localizing an artifact, they aren’t putting all people of a culture into a box. Every culture has different needs, and every person has different needs, so keeping that in mind will allow technical communicators to have a successful document in any culture.
Overall, I learned that effective cross-cultural communication requires cultural understanding, respect, and a desire to learn. In order to change an article for a new culture, technical communicators must remember that every culture is different, and no one culture is greater than the other. From there, localization can occur. Localization through translation and ICD allows for an artifact to be better tailored to a culture. By being flexible, adaptable, and culturally sensitive, technical communicators have the ability to effectively communicate within any culture.