Writing Globally

The global marketplace and the Information Age have combined to extend documentation across national borders. To date, however, few programs in scientific and technical communication have taken steps to accustom their students to the translation procedures they must undertake and the mind-set they must adopt to ready documents for translation. This article argues that technical communication courses, particularly introductory courses in technical writing, must include a translation component if they are to prepare students for the kind of work they are now likely to encounter as technical communicators.